Chelsea’s Alvaro Morata comes head to head with another big-money summer arrival on Sunday, in the shape of Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette, as their sides meet at Stamford Bridge.
The two strikers came into the Premier League as record transfers for their clubs – Morata joined Chelsea from Real Madrid for £65 million while Lacazette moved from Lyon to Arsenal for £52 million.
Daily fantasy football game Oulala.com have published figures from stats experts Opta to see how they have fared in the opening four games.
Morata has played seven more league minutes than Lacazette and has been far more productive, registering three goals and two assists compared to the Frenchman’s two strikes.
This has led to the Spaniard being directly involved in a goal or an assist, on average, every 55.6 minutes. Lacazette has taken an average of 135.5 minutes to do the same.
Morata’s underlying stats also dominate Lacazette’s on a per-game basis, registering more key passes (1.5 to 1.3), winning more aerial duels (1.5 to 0.8) and recording more shots (3.5 to 1.5).
However, Lacazette has attempted (and successfully completed) more dribbles (1 to 0) per match.
A lack of supply from his team-mates could be highlighted by Lacazette’s fewer shots, although he has been more clinical than Morata, converting 30 per cent of his chances, compared to 21 per cent from the Chelsea striker.
With Chelsea and Arsenal spending well over £100 million on the forwards, Morata and Lacazette will be expected to provide the ammunition in what could be a goalfest.