Werner and Havertz accused of being "carried" by Chelsea team-mates

Former England and Liverpool star Michael Owen has dubbed league leaders Chelsea as a "ruthlessly efficient" side, but feels Thomas Tuchel's men are "carrying" underperforming stars like Timo Werner and Kai Havertz.

Chelsea are one of three sides who have taken 13 points from their opening five Premier League fixtures, and sit top ahead of second-placed Liverpool and third-placed Manchester United, the latter of whom are two goals shy of Chelsea and Liverpool's goal difference of 11.

The Blues most recent league outing saw them cruise past Tottenham Hotspur on their own patch, goals from Thiago Silva, N'Golo Kante and Antonio Rudiger enough to secure an impressive 3-0 away win over their London rivals.

Thiago Silva's goal opened the scoring for Chelsea in their 3-0 away win over Tottenham Hotspur (Photo by James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images)

Tuchel made his first marquee signing as Chelsea manager this summer as he enticed former Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku to Stamford Bridge for the second time in the Belgian's career for a fee of £98m.

Lukaku has taken to life back at Chelsea in his stride, notching three goals in four Premier League games and as a result pushed Werner out of the starting eleven, while Havertz is left to compete with the likes of Mason Mount, Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic for limited attacking midfield places.

Both Werner and Havertz have struggled to have much of an impact in Chelsea's race to the top of the table, with just one league goal and assist between the pair of them - a poor return considering their combined transfer fee of £117m.

Owen believes that Chelsea are 'steamrolling' teams, as he highlighted the strengths of Tuchel's side.

"If I could describe them [Chelsea] in one way it would be: efficient," Owen told Premier League Productions.

"They do not look like conceding a thing, they don't look like scoring five or six goals, but they're just brutal, ruthlessly efficient at the moment.

"They've got a centre-forward now [Lukaku], who you expect to cause danger every time he gets the ball, a focal point they can hit it to, they've got runners off him, they can cross the ball and expect him to be in there.

"They've got a very solid base in midfield, big squad, they just look like they're a well-oiled machine at the minute.

Michael Owen believes Chelsea are "carrying" Timo Werner and Kai Havertz ( Image:

Getty Images)

HAVE YOUR SAY HERE! Are Werner and Havertz underperforming? Comment below.

"Even one or two injuries, as long as it's not to the main man up front, they look like they've got cover in every position."

Owen did go on to address the big-money signings of last summer, explaining: "They're actually carrying one or two players that aren't really hitting it off; Werner's not been a good signing as of yet, question marks about Havertz, he keeps playing him but I'm waiting to see him put in some really good performances.

"So there's still a couple of players you expect to see a bit more out of, but even without them they are just steamrolling."