The 2018/19 season is closing in on another spectacular end with all sorts of permutations and combinations possible in terms of where teams end up. Given how cash-strapped the Premier League is nowadays, even mid-table sides of yesteryear are able to attract the best of football talent. This means that the disparity in quality between the big wigs and teams that used to hover about in mid-table obscurity is getting narrower. With the competency of the league being at its peak, it’s no surprise that people are lining up their bets on leovegas.com/en-in/. World class or at least good strikers are usually difficult to find and in recent years, the number of quality strikers available around the world has dried up meaning that there are very few genuinely world class strikers around. With the value of players on the transfer market being inflated in recent years due to players like Pogba, Bale, Neymar and Coutinho bought for some truly ridiculous fees, the prices of strikers was always bound to shoot up considering that goalscorers are always the ones that command the highest of fees and goals are the hallmark of the game. Every side wants a premier goalscorer because, at the end of the day, goals decide games and goals are what we come to watch as fans, which translates to how viable a great striker is in terms of marketing revenue. Every title-winning side has had a first class striker who scores bundles for them, and the difference between a mid-table side and relegation favourites could prove to be how many goals they’ve got in their team.
The importance of a goalscorer couldn’t possibly be underscored more by the fact that many sides have failed to make good on their initial promise due to not having a proper or reliable goalscorer who’ll turn up when it matters the most. A fine example in recent times was the Arsenal side of 2013/14, who were buoyed by an unstoppable Aaron Ramsey in midfield and Mesut Ozil at the peak of his creative powers had come in fresh from Real Madrid. They were probably the best side in the league besides Manchester City that season and could’ve eclipsed them at one point only if they had a reliable goalscorer upfront. Olivier Giroud is a fantastic target man who can really bring the best out of faster attackers who know how to play off him. However, he wasn’t a reliable goalscorer who could snatch a goal from anywhere and wasted tons of chances, which led to him being slagged off by fans over the course of the season. One could say the same about the Chelsea side of this season, who were playing so well at the start of the season and started to fall apart mostly cause they didn’t have a proper striker up front. Morata’s form was so dire that they decided to offload him to Sevilla on loan and replaced him with Gonzalo Higuain. Higuain has been more or less alright compared to Morata, however, he hasn’t really set the world alight and has actually done little to stop Chelsea’s downturn in form. A side that was unbeaten for two months now finds itself at 6th and ailing although there’s little chance of them dropping down further given that the Top 6 are pretty much in a league of their own at this stage with Wolves about 13 points behind them despite their own impressive run of form as of late. Liverpool’s fantastic attacking trio of Salah, Mane and Firmino have been the difference between them being perennial pretenders to actual title contenders. At Manchester City, there’s plenty of goalscorers who could get the job done although Aguero is the one that makes the difference year in and year out. It’s an indictment to his prowess and longevity despite suffering from so many injuries and setbacks. All in all, a great striker can pull the weight for you even if the rest of your team isn’t playing too well.
We shall take a look at the five best strikers in the Premier League this season:
1. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Arsene Wenger was always known to be a parsimonious spender, with his record signing for the longest time being the 16 million he splurged on Andrei Arshavin before he finally decided to splurge on the likes of Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Alexandre Lacazette. Many fans at this point though will agree that the signing of Aubameyang, however, was something he should’ve done a couple of seasons ago given how Arsenal would flail about without a goal machine up front. Aubameyang is a world-class poacher, with his speed being the stuff of legends amongst those who’ve used him or come up against him on FIFA. He’s not just a pace merchant, however, having an innate instinct to find himself in the perfect goalscoring position and find space. Although he was speculated to displace an out-of-form Lacazette when he was first brought in, they’ve gone onto form a real friendship on and off the pitch and seem to have developed a chemistry that makes them a devastating striking duo whenever they’re paired up together.
2. Alexandre Lacazette
Although Lacazette isn’t really at the top of the goal scoring charts with his 12 goals this season, it is worth mentioning that he has 7 assists to his name too which means that on paper, he has had a direct hand in 19 goals which are pretty useful on his part. However, his functions aren’t limited to his stats. He has been the one player who has let his other qualities, like his ability to hold up the ball, win aerial duels, dribble at players and work tirelessly to help in defence that has really won the fan’s hearts. Although by no means it is being implied that he’s a world class striker, but Alexandre Lacazette’s role in Arsenal’s relatively first season post-Wenger means he’s definitely one who’s relevance is understated.
3. Roberto Firmino
Like Lacazette, Firmino doesn’t exactly boast of unreal goalscoring numbers. However, he’s a vital cog up front to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool machine enabling Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah to utilize their pace and attacking abilities to the fullest with his link-up play and ability to direct attacks in general as a false nine. Numbers aren’t everything, and Firmino is proof of that.
4. Harry Kane
Harry Kane is more than a striker at Spurs, given the fact that his goalscoring ability and general play is what makes the rest of the side tick. The past few weeks Kane’s performances suffered a downturn, the rest of the team seems to have followed suit and haven’t quite turned up as well. Nonetheless, he has 17 goals this season and is up there like he has been for the past two to three seasons. A really intelligent footballer who seems to smell goals out of nowhere, Harry Kane is probably one of the best strikers in the world at the moment and not just in the league.
5. Sergio Aguero
Sergio Aguero is bound to go down as a legend at Manchester City, having scored the winning goal to seal their league title win back in the 2011-12 season, which was also his debut season. Since then, he has gone strength from strength despite long injury layoffs to become the 8th highest scorer in the Premier League. With 18 goals and at the top of the goalscoring charts in the Premier League, Aguero is the one expected to pick up the Premier League Golden Boot at the end of the season granted he stays fit and firing.
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