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Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette needs goals like team needs him
Alexandre Lacazette has not scored in a month. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is suspended for three games. Lacazette needs a goal just as much as Arsenal need him.
It has not been a prolific run of form for Alexandre Lacazette. He has played quite well over the course of the last month, especially since Mikel Arteta has taken over as head coach and reinstated him as the lone centre-forward and spearhead of the Arsenal attack. But goals have been difficult to come by.
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In fact, Lacazette has only five Premier League goals on the season. He has not scored in any competition since December 5th. It is troublesome, to say the least, even if his all-around play has been superb.
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In his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s match against Sheffield United, Arteta was asked about how he, the coaches, the players and the club more generally can help Lacazette amid this goalscoring slump:
"“You can help him by talking to him and giving him confidence, but that ball has to end up in the net. I think that’s the best medicine for strikers. What we have to try to do is put Laca in positions where he can have as many opportunities to do that as possible during a game.”"
Essentially, even though Lacazette has performed admirably without scoring goals, for the sake of his confidence, especially in front of goal, where his impact is most necessary given that he is a striker, he needs to see the net ripple. And Lacazette is not the only one who needs it.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will miss the next three matches thanks to a suspension after his red card in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace. Those three matches are Saturday’s home match against United, the midweek trip to Chelsea, and the FA Cup fourth-round tie versus Bournemouth.
Aubameyang has scored 48% of the Gunners’ Premier League goals this season. Only Danny Ings has scored a higher proportion of his team’s total goals. He was the club’s top scorer last year with 22 in total, is already on 14 this season, and has largely been the primary source of goals throughout the season, no matter who is in charge. In his absence, Arsenal need someone to step up.
Lacazette may be struggling for surety in front of goal, beginning to doubt his quality, questioning when that next goal will come, but over the next three games, Arsenal need him. Outside of Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe, Sokratis and David Luiz are the only other players to have scored more than one league goal.
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Arsenal do not have many goalscorers to call upon. Aubameyang was their chief goalscorer, and Lacazette was meant to be his deputy. With the chief now out of town, it is time for the deputy to step up, whether he believes he is ready or not.