Time to rank the strikers

The top 25 as we head into the November break are...

Arsenal didn’t end up making a move for striker this past summer, though the club’s fans were some of the loudest in insisting that they really needed one. This of course despite the modern goal record being re-written this past season, and the form of Kai Havertz, and … do we really need to go over this again? We’ve all heard it, right?

As we look past this weekend to the impending November break, many Arsenal fans are likely to still feel as though the club doesn’t have its set-in-stone striker. That’s understandable enough, as Kai Havertz has been the (more or less) Ødegaard cover on occasions when other missing midfielders have forced Arteta’s hand.

But! Havertz would still rank as about an average striker in terms of goal return through his first 10 Premier League games this season. That’s pretty significant considering how many times he’s started as a “dual 10” tasked with very non-striker things, and I’d imagine that number ticks up as he gets more time as an actual traditional number 9.

You may remember from last time that Havertz’s hot second half of the season placed him tops among my list over the summer, and I’m happy to report that nothing has changed there — Kai would still top this ranking, which does include each of the past two seasons. Chart below:

Kai is among the most secure guys in possession on this list, is a solid creator, obviously a great duel winner and is taking more shots. Generally his shooting could be better, but again hopefully less time shuttling between midfield and attack will help there. That should also help with the thing everyone cares about most, goals. Kai is 1st in my two-season ranking, but ‘twere I to look at just this season, he’d be more around mid-teens. But, early days, hence why I’m using both seasons.

Shall we get into the list?

First, disclaimers, as always:

• This list is created relying fully on statistics from this season. Players are rated using a whole bunch of data points of varying weights.

• Minimum for inclusion was 400 league minutes, which about 4.5 full games. So you’ll miss someone like Jhon Duran, whose form over more minutes should make him magically appear here sooner rather than later.

• I usually aim on the younger end, but I’ve expanded my ages a little higher to include some guys who are “realistic” transfer targets.

• I always encourage a healthy dose of the eye test before forming a final opinion on any player, so consume responsibly.

• All scores are subject to an adjustment according to league strength, so you shouldn’t have to mentally raise or lower rankings to make it more “fair.”

• We don’t have Turkish league numbers, so no Osimhen. He’s still among my favorites, particularly after smashing Spurs this week.

And we’re off!