Welcome to The Radar, a Sky Sports column in which Nick Wright uses a blend of data and opinion to shed light on need-to-know stories from up and down the Premier League. This week:
🔴 Gyokeres’s struggles explained
🍒 Kroupi’s immense potential
🔍 A player to watch this weekend
Arsenal’s Gyokeres problem
It was a tale of two strikers watching Arsenal and Manchester City from the Emirates Stadium and Selhurst Park press boxes last weekend. Erling Haaland was in typically devastating form. Viktor Gyokeres’s performance felt familiar for different reasons.
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Gary Neville gives his verdict on Arsenal’s title chances after the latest round of games
Another blank, this time against bottom side Wolves, meant the £55m signing from Sporting has failed to score in 11 out of 14 Premier League appearances this season. It is a record roughly the inverse of Haaland’s and it is becoming a growing source of unease.
It may seem an unfair comparison. But these are the standards. Haaland’s goals against Crystal Palace put him on 17 for the season in the Premier League. He had an even higher total at the same point of his first campaign, no bedding-in period required.
Of course, it is Arsenal, not Manchester City, who sit top right now. They remain a formidable outfit collectively. But the “major impact” predicted by sporting director Andrea Berta from Gyokeres when he was signed in July is yet to materialise.
At 27, with a Haaland-esque scoring record behind him, he was billed as the ready-made No 9 supporters craved. But the worry is that the physical advantages he enjoyed in Portugal have been lost in the far tougher conditions of the Premier League.
Consider the drop in his duel success rate, from 50 per cent in Portugal’s Primeira Liga last season to just 37 per cent this term.
Viktor Gyokeres’ output has dropped dramatically since joining Arsenal
The Wolves game, during which he only had 15 touches and one shot, was just the latest in which he has struggled to exert himself.
A dip in his output was to be expected given the step up in quality. But the extent of it, four months in, is a cause for concern, even factoring in last month’s unfortunately timed injury.
Mikel Arteta has been at pains to highlight the importance of his contribution out of possession. There is no doubting his work-rate. But he has also acknowledged that, ultimately, Gyokeres will be judged on goals. “That is logical,” said the Arsenal boss.
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Watch Gyokeres’s best moments before his injury against Burnley
For now, they continue to elude him.
The defining image of his performance against Wolves was of him failing to reach Bukayo Saka’s low cross in the first half, caught on his heels, as he was from Declan Rice’s ball in late on against Aston Villa in Arsenal’s previous Premier League game.
Being in the right place to convert chances such as those should be meat and drink for a penalty-box poacher. But the late arrivals have become a theme. Gyokeres is averaging only 0.76 one-touch shots per 90 minutes. Haalaand, by contrast, is averaging 1.85.
It was to the surprise of no one at Selhurst Park on Sunday that the Norwegian only needed one chance to break the game open, his first goal coming from a characteristic one-touch finish as he found room in the Crystal Palace box to head home a cross.
Gyokeres, though, is not getting enough shots off generally.
His overall average of 1.98 per 90 minutes puts him 45th this season among the 81 players listed as forwards by Opta with at least 20 per cent of minutes played. Gyokeres sits between West Ham’s Niclas Fullkrug and Brighton’s Georginio Rutter on the list.
The numbers raise questions about service.
Gyokeres is a different profile to Arsenal’s other options up front, preferring to play off the shoulder of opposition centre-backs, with space to run into. Naturally, then, he needs to be fed differently.
But his team-mates are trying. Arsenal have made more through-balls than any other Premier League side this season, according to Opta. Their average has increased by nearly 80 per cent, from just over two per game last season to nearly four this term, reflecting a concerted effort to add greater incision to their passing.
Tracking data from GeniusIQ shows his runs are being targeted by passes at a higher rate than either Hugo Ekitike’s at Liverpool or Haaland’s at Manchester City.
Of course, those passes need to be right. His team-mates are still adapting to him. Arteta has spoken of the need to build up chemistry and connections on the pitch.
But Gyokeres must do his part too.
Too often, when he is found, he is unable to hold on to the ball. It is partly a technical issue but it is also one of space.
According to GeniusIQ, Gyokeres has averaged the least space when available to receive passes of any Premier League player this season, at 3.14m, a statistic which reflects his struggle to create separation from his markers through his movement.
Gyokeres has 3.14m of space on average when available for passes, per GeniusIQ
Creating that space is of course more difficult when you come up against deep-lying, compact defences as often as Arsenal do. But that challenge is not unique to them.
Haaland and Ekitike face similar circumstances with Manchester City and Liverpool and yet average 4.92m and 5.32m of space respectively when available to receive passes.
Arteta and his staff will aim to resolve some of these issues on the training pitch. Gyokeres is not the first player to require a period of adaptation to the Premier League. It is far too early to write him off.
Saturday 20th December 7:45pm
Kick off 8:00pm
But scrutiny of his suitability to the side has been intensified by the return to fitness of Gabriel Jesus, whose all-action displays recently have contrasted sharply with those of his new team-mate.
Gyokeres is of course a different player, signed to provide the killer instinct Arsenal lacked. Haaland shows that touch volume is not important if the goals flow. But the feeling remains that Arsenal are a better side with a striker who gets involved in their approach play.
Their two best attacking performances of the season, against Tottenham and Bayern Munich last month, came with Mikel Merino starting up front, interchanging positions with team-mates and dropping into midfield, while also providing a threat in the box.
“I actually think it’s going to be tough for Gyokeres to be the first-choice Arsenal striker,” said Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher on Monday Night Football, when it was noted he will soon be fighting for a place with the returning Kai Havertz as well as Jesus and Merino.
Gyokeres deserves credit for shouldering the attacking burden on his own in the early months of the season. But he may come to reflect on the period as a missed opportunity to establish himself.
The time to seize his chance is overdue.
Kroupi showing potential
When looking through the data on Premier League strikers this season, one name that leapt out was that of Bournemouth’s Eli Junior Kroupi. The 19-year-old, signed from Lorient in February and scorer of his side’s fourth goal in the 4-4 draw with Manchester United, looks a big talent and the numbers back up the eye test.
His latest effort was ruthlessly taken with his weaker foot after finding a gap between Lisandro Martinez and Ayden Heaven and showed, again, the variety he is capable of.
His tally of five Premier League goals includes a long-range strike against Nottingham Forest and a pair of superb volleyed finishes from inside the box against Leeds and Crystal Palace.
Eli Junior Kroupi has five Premier League goals this season
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola has talked up his goalscoring instincts and there can be no doubting his efficiency. Kroupi has reached five goals in only 423 minutes of action as he is rotated with Evanilson, who has only scored twice.
Only Haaland has a better scoring rate among strikers this season and that is not the only metric in which Kroupi ranks highly. The sample size is still small but the early evidence suggests Bournemouth have picked up another young gem.
Player Radar: Who else to keep an eye on
Staying on the theme of strikers, Dominic Calvert-Lewin looks primed to cause Crystal Palace problems on Saturday having finally hit form for Leeds, with four goals in his last four games.
Live Radar: What’s on Sky this weekend?
A bumper schedule on Saturday sees Tottenham host Liverpool from 5pm on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event ahead of the 5.30pm kick-off. Everton vs Arsenal and Leeds vs Crystal Palace are then available to watch on Sky at 8pm.
On Sunday, Aston Villa’s meeting with Man Utd is live on Sports Premier League and Main Event from 4pm, with kick-off at 4.30pm.
Monday Night Football rounds off the Premier League weekend with Fulham vs Nottingham Forest, live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 6.30pm, kick-off 8pm.
Read last week’s Radar column
The last column analysed the unique profile of Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly as a left-back. Aston Villa’s Ian Maatsen and Brentford striker Igor Thiago also featured.
