Benjamin Sesko outshines Viktor Gyokeres in key metric on debut | OneFootball

Manchester United and Arsenal both had new strikers making their Premier League debuts at the weekend with varying results.

Intertwined chase

The Red Devils were interested in Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres earlier in the summer as he had previously worked with Ruben Amorim at Sporting CP.

Arsenal were also keen on the Sweden international but were also actively chasing Benjamin Sesko.

Nonetheless, Gyokeres made his preference for Arsenal known and United finally completed a deal for the Slovenian at the beginning of the month.

As fate would have it, both players made their debuts against the other club who chased them this summer.

Interestingly, they did not spend any time together on the pitch as Gyokeres started but was subbed off before Sesko entered the fray.

Comparison

The Times have highlighted how the two strikers fared and there is one clear winner.

Gyokeres was on the pitch for a total of 60 minutes while Sesko only managed 25 minutes.

Nonetheless, the statistics show that Sesko made much more of an impact on the game.

Arsenal’s new forward did not manage a shot or to create a chance as he was well shackled by Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt.

On the other hand, Sesko managed two shots and created two chances despite being on the pitch significantly less time than his opponent.

The United striker also had one more touch in the box but crucially these were all much closer to the net than Gyokeres, whose touches were more on the edge of the penalty area.

Sesko early promise

Both players will need time and nobody would sensibly judge either in their first game of the season.

Sesko’s impact was promising however, especially in the context he had only one week of training and no pre-season preparation with his new teammates.

The Times damningly summed up Gyokeres’ impact as “he was bullied off the ball too easily, looked slow, was let down by his first touch, struggled on any level to get into the game, and even when he was making the runs in behind, his team-mates weren’t finding him; it is a relationship that needs work.”

Contrastingly, Sesko was described as “of the two forwards he showed more promise in his 25-minute cameo than his Swedish counterpart. The two chances he had, which were both weak headers, were nothing to get too excited about, but the main thing for Amorim would have been that he was in the box to get on the end of them.”

Finally, the key difference was with the big Slovenian, “you can see how Sesko will slot into this system and become the focal point that they were desperately looking for in the first half.”

In contrast, Gyokeres’ role at Arsenal was certainly less defined, at least on the basis of the match at Old Trafford.

Featured image Matt McNulty via Getty Images

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