Following a frustrating January transfer window for Arsenal, in which they were unable to bring in any new faces, despite striker Gabriel Jesus being ruled out for the season, and winger Bukayo Saka out until March, the worst possible news struck just days into February. All the Gunners’ eggs had been placed in the basket of forward Kai Havertz staying fit, with the German their only obvious senior option up-top. Nevertheless, the 25 year old tore his hamstring at a Dubai training camp and was ruled out for the rest of the campaign. At that point it looked as though Arsenal’s season had been derailed. They were going to have to fight for the Premier League and the Champions league without a single senior striker in their ranks.
Indeed their domestic campaign fell apart, as Liverpool cruised towards the Premier League title. However, the Gunners are in the Champions League semi-finals, after overcoming holders Real Madrid in the quarter-finals with none other than central midfielder Mikel Merino leading the line. The Spaniard scored and assisted in the Gunners’ 7-1 drubbing away at PSV in the round of 16, before scoring in the first-leg against Real Madrid, and providing two assists at the Santiago Bernabéu. Mikel Arteta’s team will play PSG in the semi-finals, with the first leg to be played at the Emirates this Tuesday, and it’s been a similar story for the Parisians in terms of excelling without an orthodox no.9
Luis Enrique has a classic striker within his ranks in Portuguese forward Gonçalo Ramos, but instead has opted to play winger Ousmane Dembélé up front this calendar year and the Frenchman is in the form of his life. He has been incredible. Since the turn of the year, the 27 year old has scored 24 goals in 24 games. The fluidity of the front three of Dembélé, Kvicha Kvaratskhelia and either Désiré Doué or Bradley Barcola has helped transform PSG into one of the best teams to watch on the planet. Whilst the other semi-finalists of Barcelona and Inter Milan are fairly reliant on orthodox strikers in Robert Lewandowski and Lautaro Martínez respectively, Arsenal and PSG are proving there is another way
As illustrated in the graphic above, only Borussia Dortmund striker Serhou Guirassy, Barcelona winger Raphinha and Bayern Munich bagsman Harry Kane have provided more goal contributions in the knockout stages of the Champions League this season than Merino and Dembélé. Both players have five goal contributions in knockout games this season, with Merino’s numbers coming from just four matches. Three months ago the Spaniard had never played a single game up front in his career. Yet he has added another dimension to the Gunners’ attack. He holds the ball up well, is superb in the air, and can drop into midfield to create overloads.
For Dembélé, his unpredictability has often been one of his biggest weapons. Allowed something of a free-role by manager Enrique, he pops up in all sorts of positions across the front line, and is always a willing runner in behind. He has also demonstrated his instinct for goals, highlighted by his poached finish at Anfield against Liverpool in the Champions League round of 16. His sheer numbers across all competitions have been frightening.
As shown in the graphic above, Merino (0.60gpg) cannot compete with the incredible 0.95 goals-per-game (gpg) of Dembélé when playing up front this season. However, the Spaniard does have a slightly better assist rate of 0.30 assists-per-game (apg) compared to 0.25apg for the Frenchman. It should also be noted that PSG have run away with the Ligue 1 title, and many would consider the standard of the French top-flight to be considerably lower than the Premier League. Regardless of what happens in the semi-final between Arsenal and PSG, to have got this far without an orthodox striker is some achievement and a testament to both managers. Expect both of these players to play a key part in this tie.
