Arsenal have announced the long awaited transfer of Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon, so let’s take a look at what this transfer means for Olivier Giroud and how the two compare.
The strikers enjoyed very different seasons last time out with Lacazette making his way to 45 appearances for Lyon, scoring 37 goals with a total playing time of 3,480 minutes.
On the other hand, Giroud struggled through the whole season. While he made only 5 appearances fewer (40 games), and scored 16, his game time was reduced to 1,780 minutes, half that of Lacazette.
Both players have different physical attributes and the way they contribute to their teams is different. Giroud is limited to playing only in a central attacking role while Lacazette can be effectively deployed on either flank as attacking winger as well as through the middle.
Attack build up
In terms of build up, we took a look at their ability to keep possession and create chances, and here, the difference obvious.
Per-match statistics show that Lacazette creates 1.53 chances on average, with 1.43 key passes. Giroud on the other hand only produces 0.59 chances with 0.48 key-passes.
Yet, Giroud managed to make seven assists compared to the five of Lacazette last season. This could be down to the fact that Arsenal have better players surrounding Giroud than those at Lyon.
In terms of holding the ball and keeping the possession with completed passes, both players have similar abilities that make them rather hard to dispossess.
Lacazette has a slightly better pass completion rate than Giroud (78% – 72%).