Aleksandr Mitrovic vs Dwight Gayle – Two different strikers travelling similar paths
Aleksandar Mitrovic signed a permanent deal worth £20million with Fulham this summer, after joining the Cottagers on loan from Newcastle United in January (Sky Sports).
His presence helped them win promotion to the Premier League but this season, the Serb has exceeded all expectations, scoring four goals in four games so far. He is currently the top scorer in the Premier League and has been the key man for the club up front.
On the other hand, Dwight Gayle joined Newcastle United from Crystal Palace in 2016 and helped the Magpies earn promotion to the Premier League.
The 28-year-old starred for Newcastle in the Championship with 23 goals from 32 games, but his performance in the Premier League last season was nowhere close to that. The forward only managed to score six goals in 35 appearances.
As a result, manager Rafa Benitez loaned him out to Championship club West Brom, in a deal which involved Salomon Rondon going the other way. (Independent)
Now, both Mitrovic and Gayle have managed to hit the ground running for their respective clubs this season. While the former succeeded in taking his game to a new level in the Premier League, the latter has already scored three goals from his first five games for West Brom.
Truth be told, Mitrovic has been deadly up front for Fulham, having scored three out of his four goals with headers. His positioning inside the box has been good along with his probing runs in and behind the defensive line.
Stats Comparison
The Serb has a pass success rate of 83.3% and averages up to 4.5 shots per game, out of which 2.5 of them have come from inside the penalty area. The majority of these shots are actually headed attempts on goal.
The 23-year-old has provided 19 accurate short passes per game, which goes on to show that Fulham have used him effectively as their target man to link the play in the final third.
Gayle is more of a pacey and hardworking striker, who can also play as a left-winger. The 28-year-old averages 2.2 shots per game, out of which 1.6 have come from inside and 0.4 have come from outside the box.
One commonality between these players is their attempts to link the play with their teammates with short passes in the final third. While Mitrovic has averaged 19 accurate short passes, Gayle has recorded an average of 11.2. Meanwhile, the latter has an overall pass success percentage of 78.4%, slightly lower than the former.
Stats courtesy:- Whoscored.com
