Olivier Giroud vs Harry Kane
The look of disbelief on the Arsenal fans when they saw Olivier Giroud getting hauled off against Chelsea said it all really. Arsenal needed a goal and for all the hate that Giroud gets from the Arsenal fans, he still is one of the most lethal strikers in the Premier League.
While Giroud certainly divides opinion from the Arsenal supporters, his counterpart from Tottenham certainly has all the support he could want not only from his own supporters but also from the English national side.
Harry Kane has been wowing Premier League fans for more than a year now and even though many thought his season had petered out after a slow start, the English attacker has shown that he has the ability to score goals and that he hasn’t been found out by defenders at all.
Giroud and Kane are both known to be clinical finishers but Kane does a lot more running and harrying of the defenders when compared to the French striker. We look and compare both the players thanks to stats from Squawka.com based on their performances in the league season thus far.
Giroud vs. Kane: The battle of London
Both players have taken part in 23 league games this season and have an equal number of successful passes per 90 minutes. Giroud just about shades this stat with 20.2 passes while Kane comes in with 19.8 per 90 minutes. However it is the English striker who has a better pass completion rate with 73% compared to Giroud’s 68%.
It isn’t just how successful they are with the passes; it is what they do with it which is more important. Giroud creates 0.9 chances per 90 minutes while Kane chips in with 1.2 chances created per 90 minutes, not much to separate the duo with this regard as well.
Goals would always be the most important stat between the two and it is Giroud who leads in this as he averages 0.7 goals per 90 minutes while Kane only manages 0.6 goals per 90, yet again nothing much to separate them.
While everyone does speak about Kane’s ability to win headers, it is Giroud who does more of his scoring with his head as he averages 0.3 headed goals per 90 minutes while Kane comes in with 0.04 headed goals per 90 minutes.
In fact, his heading accuracy makes Giroud a more lethal striker than Kane, at least in terms of winning headers. The French attacker wins more than half his aerial duels while Kane wins just 1/3rd of his.
Giroud does have a great scoring record this season and for all the vitriol he gets from the Arsenal fans, he actually is doing a good job. He may not do all the running around that Kane does but when it comes to scoring goals, he is one of the best in the league and certainly a great option for Arsenal as they chase for the Premier League crown this season.
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