Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette needs to establish his quality

Alexandre Lacazette has fallen off the goalscoring boil a little. As Arsenal prepare to travel to Crystal Palace on Thursday, he must re-establish his quality.

Alexandre Lacazette has played 284 minutes of football since he last scored a goal. That is equivalent to more than three full games. For any striker, that is a troubling development — scoring and scoring consistently is the expectation for any centre-forward of a top side. For a striker of Lacazette’s undoubted quality, calibre and price, it is extremely worrying.

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What is especially concerning is that in those 284 minutes of football, Lacazette has had chances to score. He made more than one strange decision in front of goal against Newcastle, at one moment attempting a difficult and far-too-cute chip when in behind the defence; he had had eight shots in his last three Premier League starts.

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Now, some would argue that it would be more troubling if the chances weren’t present in the first place. At least that there are opportunities available to him. That is the general thinking. But Lacazette carries a reputation as a prolific, clinical, high-scoring centre-forward. That is what Arsenal were buying when they chose to break their transfer record in the summer window.

Now, I am not doubting the talent of Lacazette. Against Southampton, for example, although he and the side did not score until the 87th minute when the Frenchman wasn’t on the pitch, Lacazette, through his spatial recognition, his intelligent movement, and his caressing and creative touches in the final third, was still Arsenal’s most prominent and purposeful attacker.

But there is a question to be asked of form. Will Lacazette be a player that suffers from fluctuations in the level of his performance? Will he be the relentless goalscorer that Thierry Henry was, for example? Or will he flitter as the season progresses?

As Arsenal prepare to travel to Crystal Palace on Thursday night, a game that they must win to keep pace with those in the top-four race, Lacazette has the chance to reaffirm the worries that he cannot score goals at a regular frequency.

Palace have been much-improved under Roy Hodgson in recent weeks. This is not the pushover that they were earlier in the season. Arsenal will have to work hard to secure the three points. They will also find it difficult to create chances and score goals. In Palace’s last six games, they have conceded just four goals, including three clean sheets.

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If Lacazette can perform against the Eagles, getting on the scoresheet in the process, then he would go a long way to settling any fears regarding his goalscoring consistency. Let’s hope that he can do exactly that. A stale Arsenal attack is in need of a little spark, that is for sure.