Stats

Why do people keep going on about his performance from 1 game? WOW! Annoying thing is there is about a whole page of complaints of his performance against France on the De Bruyne page itself. Give it a rest. He is young, improving and will have have bad performances as part of his learning curve. Not making excuses for him but yes it was a friendly so move on. His next game he will probably bag a couple anyway

Wenger has lost the plot. I don't get his ways and neither do Arsenal fans who believe he is deluded. They have got rid of Gervinho and not replaced him with a winger. Got rid of Djourou and Miquel on loan while Vermaelen faces a few weeks on the sidelines and he has not bothered to get a CB in for cover. Is he crazy? There only signing this summer has been that free transfer of Sanogo who will rarely see first team action. I reckon Villa can get something from the game tomorrow. Anyway not our transfer business anyway

But Torres is always bad and Lukaku is probably the one most geared up for the game considering he played some football in midweek. He will be raring to go and probably has greater match sharpness.

He will start a lot of games actually. Not every game but used as rotation for sure.

Well to be honest although he would suit their style of play, right now he does not have the quality to play for them. Real Sociedad finished 4th last season and have got two important matches to get in the UCL. You would think they would aim higher than Josh. He was on loan at Boro last season and while I did not watch him very much he got mixed reviews there and I still think he ha s a lot to prove so if he managed a loan there that would be quite generous. It is a tough one for Josh as although he is still young and may play a few games this season if he does not manage a loan, much more was expected of him from when he first broke through but he has some ways stalled. Some people say it would be good if he stays with the team for this season and plays some games but I think it will be a waste of time. He will be more than 75% of the times, stuck to playing U21 football. I think he needs a loan where the playing style suits his play. A 4-3-3 set up and there is no point of him staying here while he is really down the pecking order. I am sure Mourinho wants him to gout on loan definitely so he can observe him. I don't agree with the thesis of chucking him in for the cup games. He needs regular first team football on a regular basis. Whether that has to be a Championship team again the so be it, however good players who are capable pf playing for us should be able to prove out on loan that they are ready to prove a point when they come back to us.

I don't think so. It is 50/50 really. I have a feeling Oscar and Hazard will both start then if Mata does not start as expected by many I reckon it is out of him and Moses for the starting slot. I just hope Ramires is not ton the RW and we put our natural wingers there.

Did you see Wilshere's performance tonight? Did not really want to go back to this but had to. England's biggest talent by miles. Take notice please.

No disrespect to him but he was never going to be in the frame to play against Hull anyway.

Not good enough for us but quality signing for them. If it was not for his injuries I believe he could be a regular for Spurs. He has strength, good technique, excellent range of passing and I think that is an excellent buy for them if they are to try and stay in the PL.

Fair enough. Turned my head a little.

I don't want him because he will command £100k+ wages. I know Rooney is the same but he will offer us more years plus I believe he will not block the progress of strikers like Lukaku because I believe he can play that no.10 role and is proven PL quality. I still think Eto's is quality and although I don't rate it among the best, there are decent teams in the Russian league and he still scored goals however he has not played in the PL before and Rooney has. Eto'o does not have many years left and the PL is a total different league. I know he is proven but I doubt he will be the success people expect him to bring her short term. That is just my personal opinion anyway. I would rather us invest elsewhere like Rooney or stick with our current crop of strikers than him and I think it is a kick in the teeth for someone like Lukaku as in we are basically saying you are not good enough for this season so we are looking elsewhere.

Don't want Eto'o at all. Probably would score a few goals however I don't want a 30+ plus striker here on wages over £100k a week. No thanks. People say Rooney will demand more wages than Eto'o however if we were to get one out of the two I would rather Rooney at the age of 27 than Eto'o at the age of 32.

If Rooney comes here I can see him sometimes playing behind Lukaku in that no.10 role.

I want him to stay however he does not "owe us" anything. Even though he has had moments where he had been poor he always displayed qualities as well and was never that bad where supporters could possibly turn on him like Torres. He has owed us anyway with his performances because when people doubted him he came back stronger and proved to be an excellent CB for us while displaying a few good performances in the DM/CM spot. Like I said though I reckon he will stay but if he wants to move I am not going to see him as some sort of traitor who owed us something.

Saturday it was.

Will never get bored of watching over this goal repeatedly: Pure class!

I wonder how Mourinho sees Lukaku. Does he believe he is ready to start or much of an impact player? I am not sure. Last season for WBA he scored many when coming from the bench, eg hattrick against United in one half, terrorrised Liverpool home and away when coming off the bench but at same time deserves a starting berth. Interesting.

Watching the match preview on Sky Sports. Curbishley really does not have a clue. For a start he put Torres up and then when he debated on who might start up front he said he think he might get the edge over Ba and Schurrle but it is a hard one. Hello, Lukaku is not on loan anymore. He is a Chelsea player and he did not even mention his name. Bloody disrespectful. Weird though that he has Mikel to start on Sunday and even though I think Mikel will become an important part of Mourinho's plans I am unsure he will start this game. The analysis should have been from a Ray Wilkins type of person. Someone who actually watches us and looks at he new boys like MVG.

The day Lukaku gets his first competitive Chelsea goal I will be so happy for him. Hope he can get it on Sunday. He dreamed of playing for Chelsea when he was younger and has made significant strides plus wanted to join us over many other clubs and has been patient and waited his time and now is ready to prove his worth this season. Really think he is going to surprise people this season. Beast!

I know people want KDB to start but do people really think he is going to start? He was decent in pre-season but not brilliant. I can see Moses starting. He has played himself in the team for Sunday IMO. Similar to what Cundy said on Chelsea TV. Hazard will start and I don't know if Mata starts but if not, probably be Oscar. I think Moses direct style of play will suit him to start the match. I can see him causing Hull plenty of problems if he starts.

Most people seem to want KDB to start but I can't see it. Hazard will be one for sure. Mata if fit and Oscar is likely to play. If Mata does not play I can see Moses coming in instead of KDB.

I would like to see this team played. I would not mind Cahill playing alongside Luiz or Terry for this match as I think these are games he tends to thrive in. I would like to see Moses start based on pre-season form and same goes with MVG. If Mata is unfit, i guess play Oscar in the middle however I trust Mourinho with any of the attacking options he decides to choose for this match. COYB! Cech Ivanovic - Luiz - Terry - Cole Ramires - Van Ginkel De Bruyne - Mata - Hazard Lukaku

Nice to see Lukaku get on the scoresheet again. Like some others think, I thought KDB was pretty average first half. Room for improvement but I struggle to agree with other people who believe he will be a key player this season. Like I said before he will be used as rotation and even with Mata likely to not start the game against Hull or miss it completely, I still think KDB is likely to be a sub as I think there are others in the pecking order ahead of him. He is very versatile though and that is where KDB could prove really useful. Schurrle is impressing me though. Think he has got the abilities to succeed here. Fast, strong, direct, technique and young, he will get better. Anyway good to see Bertrand impressing again, always thought he has been underrated and puts in a shift. Hazard is going to be unreal this upcoming season, you can just see it. Looks like Lukaku will get the nod for Hull and I hope so, will be really interesting. hope he can prove a point this season. Now let's just get this Hull thread started and get the match thread as big as possible. Eager for the PL to start again!

Regardless of the level of the Dutch league compared to others, scoring a hattrick at the age of 17 is astonishing. Clear talent. Not the worse of leagues and only just turned 17 which is the frightening thing. Hope he stays at PSV though so he can fully develop. Going to be some player for sure. Got a tough choice though out of Holland and Belgium and possibly but doubt it, Morocco.

I am sure Schurrle will start this match. Did not start the last two and he will be eager to impress Mourinho.