Thomas Tuchel believes Tammy Abraham is missing that “little bit of luck” required to thrive as Chelsea’s attacking spearhead.

England striker Abraham is the Blues’ top scorer this term with 12 goals in all competitions, but was dropped from the match-day squad for Sunday’s goalless draw with Manchester United.

Abraham was an unused substitute in last week’s 1-0 Champions League win against Atletico Madrid, and before that was hauled off at half-time during the 1-1 draw at Southampton.

Blues boss Tuchel continues to insist his selection decisions have not been pointed in any way against Abraham, but did concede that the 23-year-old has been missing a level of fortune lately.

“I joined the Mainz academy but this was exactly the year he left, so we never met in Mainz actually.

“Then I was his successor in Dortmund, so we did also naturally not meet.

“And of course we meet when there’s a farewell game for a player we both coached in Mainz, then we meet and sit together and talk. It’s a lot of fun to talk to him – he’s super interesting.

“We meet at coaches’ meetings, at UEFA meetings, and we use the time to have lunch or dinner together around these meetings.

“He’s always super funny and very, very interesting. But it’s not as close as it seems, maybe.”