Arsenal: This is Alexandre Lacazette’s chance to distance himself

Arsenal have had Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for pretty much the entire year, but now that they don’t, Alexandre Lacazette has to take advantage.

Arsenal‘s striker situation has been the one consistent all year long. Even though they both miss their fair share of chances, no one is going to question how elite these two are. They’re two of the best in the Premier League, and the stats reflect that.

And the benefit to having two of them is that you can lose one and still stay strong. Which is what the Gunners are dealing with now – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was out of commission following a minor sinus procedure against Wolverhampton and he is doubtful to be ready in time to face Leicester City.

In his absence, Alexandre Lacazette has a fantastic opportunity to distance himself from this need to have a top-tier striking mate to keep him at his best. For as much as I love Lacazette, he has the tendency to get down on himself and fall into ruts, and it’s been the arrival of Aubameyang that has benefited both of them to no end.

And we should be all about that life. Why shouldn’t we? Two elite strikers that act like best friends and are always there to bail each other out of sticky situation and goalless stretches. What could be better than that?

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All that said, it’s still a competition. These two still compete for playing time more often than not, as Unai Emery isn’t always willing to start them in tandem. That means that whoever is the best fit for any given match often gets the nod over the other, obviously.

That being the case, Lacazette has an amazing opportunity here to establish himself as a self-sustaining forward and stake a claim to being the preferred striker of the two. He’s already a shoo-in for player of the season, but he’s also been limited on playing time lately because of Emery’s want to always get Aubameyang in there.

Without that looming over Lacazette, he has free reign to do as he pleases and really stand out.

Of course, a lot of that depends on the team’s ability to create chances for him, which was an immense failure against Wolverhampton.

Against Leicester, depending on what happens, Lacazette could find himself with another premium chance to stand on his own two feet again and deliver some security in his individuality. It would be a nice thing to see.