Aubameyang or Lacazette – Who leads the line for Arsenal in 2021/22?

With two top class attacking options at his disposal in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, who does Mikel Arteta pick to lead the Arsenal attack for the upcoming Premier League season?

It is no secret that Arsenal has some serious weapons in the final third. Both Aubameyang and Lacazette have proved up to the task of leading from the front. However, both have shown their shortcomings during games and this has led to Arteta to chop and change at centre-forward.

However, Arteta has caused some angst with his team selections. Often Aubameyang was used out on the left to allow Lacazette to play centrally, a move that did not get the best out of Arsenal’s skipper and too many times he was barely sighted. A passenger.

Through the middle is where Aubameyang is best suited for Arsenal, yet Lacazette offers more for the team than just sheer goalscoring leading to confusion as to which player Arteta selects.

Should Aubameyang or Lacazette lead the line for Arsenal in the 2021/22 Premier League season?

So, who should lead the line for Arsenal this campaign?

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

The Arsenal captain had an indifferent 2020/21 campaign. After back-to-back seasons of 22 goals in 2018/19 and 2019/20 in which he played 36 Premier League games, the Gabon international only managed ten goals in his 29 matches.

It was no secret that Aubameyang had his issues last campaign, off the field as well as on the field. Regularly used out on the left-wing in the early beginnings of the campaign, Aubameyang was often the forgotten man as Lacazette was often preferred through the middle.

Then he was used centrally and still Aubameyang did not seem right. Ultimately, he was a by-product of what was happening upfield and as we know, Arsenal left a lot to be desired. The lack of a recongised No. 10 for so long exacerbated the creative issues.

Far too often Arsenal was slow to bring the ball forward, allowing opposing teams to set up behind the ball in two low blocks of four. For someone who has the pace that Aubameyang does, that leaves him little to no room to utilize it.

Often hardly touching the ball during games, Arsenal’s captain was a shell of his lethal self that tore the Premier League apart in his previous two seasons.

Fast forward to pre-season and by all accounts, Aubameyang has looked as sharp as ever, albeit missing several chances against Hibernian and Rangers, something that plagued him last season too. Given he is Arsenal’s captain and has the clear finishing ability he has when up and going, Aubameyang could lead the line for Arteta. He most likely will.

At 32, his instincts needs to be catered to. Let him find space in the danger zones.

Alexandre Lacazette

The Frenchman had an indifferent season last campaign. While statistically having one of his better terms, Lacazette was guilty of missing a host of clear-cut chances in games that Arsenal would ultimately go on to lose.

However, despite his second-best goal return for the Gunners (13), Lacazette brought more to the table than just his stats and at times made him a better option up front than Aubameyang.

Lacazette’s hold-up play improved as the season progressed, and his link-up with Bukayo Saka, Nicolas Pepe, and Emile Smith Rowe brought the best out of those around him. His impressive displays often came in Arsenal’s big games too as he proved to be the difference. The 30-year-old may endure slumps of form but his knack of turning up for the occasion remains untouched. This led to him being selected ahead of Aubameyang and forcing the Gabon international to settle for a place out wide for spell at the turn of the year.

However, what this did was stunt the growth of Gabriel Martinelli and to a lesser extent Nicolas Pepe as Saka is a certain starter on the other wing. Lacazette has proven he can be a vital cog in Arsenal’s attack, but it was the constant wasting of his chances that caused some angst with the fanbase.

His worth to Arsenal seems to be more with his all-around game, rather than his goal tally as he brings players like Saka and Smith Rowe into play. An enabler for others to prosper, being a connective piece and arriving in the box to get on the end of chances was a balance he failed to strike.

With just a year left on his current contract, it remains to be seen whether he gets another deal. Is Arsenal better served to keep him for one last year or try or move him on before he becomes a free agent? Either way, Lacazette has proved he can be a valuable asset when in form, but will he get the nod over the captain? We wait with anticipation. He has looked the better of the two in pre-season.

Mikel Arteta has two good options to lead the line but just who will he opt for? With no European football at all next term, the focus on the Premier League will be huge. It’s effectively a 38-game season. Both Aubameyang and Lacazette can have focused campaigns with only the league to be overly concerned with.

They will be fresh and essentially only playing once a week; the pressure will be on both to have significantly better seasons than they did last campaign. Boasting such differing qualities, the scope is there for a shared mantle.