Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger took plenty of stick when he left Alexis Sanchez out of his starting XI at Liverpool last weekend.
The Gunners went on to lose 3-1, with Alexis coming off the bench for the second half.
Alexis is widely regarded as Arsenal’s best player, but is he terribly overrated? These stats suggest he most certainly is…
Doesn’t score enough in big games
Despite playing up front for much of the season, Alexis has only averaged 0.41 goals per 90 minutes in the Champions League, according to Squawka. That is inferior to Mesut Ozil (0.58), Theo Walcott (1.32), Olivier Giroud (0.57) and Lucas Perez (1.97).
And his record against fellow members of the Premier League’s big six isn’t great either. He has only netted against England’s top sides in six games across three seasons.
Runs less than Ozil!
Stats from Sky Sports reveal that, despite completing 90 minutes for Arsenal 20 times this season, Alexis has not yet run 10km or more in a game
Ozil has covered at least 10km in 14 of his 16 full shifts, while Giroud has ran more than that distance every time he has played the whole 90.
Weak in the air
Alexis is not a tall man and, of course, he was not signed by Arsenal to win headers.
However, every player, especially those playing up top, needs to be able to compete in the air.
Having won just 17% of his aerial duels this season, Alexis is failing in this area. By comparison, Walcott has won 37% of his battles in the air.
Wenger said his decision to drop Alexis against Liverpool was to allow his side to play more direct.
You can’t go direct when your front man is losing more than four challenges in five!
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