Why Aubameyang could be a suitable replacement for Barca’s Suarez

According to El Chiringuito (h/t Daily Mirror), Spanish giants Barcelona are considering Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as a potential replacement for their 32-year old striker Luis Suarez.

Suarez, who is into his fifth season at Camp Nou has been key for the Catalonians- winning the treble in 2015-16 amongst many other trophies.

The Uruguayan continues to be a prolific goal-scorer even now but age has slowed down the former Liverpool man.

Off late his form has not been the best and the 2013-14 premier league top-scorer has managed to score just one goal in his last four appearances.

Meanwhile, Barcelona was impressed by the speedy and powerful Aubameyang, who became the sixth-fastest Gunner to score 50 goals (78 appearances).

With Antoine Griezmann yet to make an impact since his summer move, and mostly made to play out wide by Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde, the Gabonese striker could be a possible January target for the Catalonians.

Now let’s quickly analyse both the striker’s stats and see who has fared better for their respective sides.

Game time

The 30-year old Gabonese striker has spent more minutes on the pitch than his Barcelona counterpart. According to Whoscored, Aubameyang has spent 1080 minutes on the pitch compared to Suarez’s 654.

The Uruguayan missed a few initial matches due to injury while Aubameyang has appeared in all their 12 league outings.

Goals scored

Aubameyang has scored eight goals and is his side’s leading goal-scorer in the premier league.

Meanwhile, Suarez has netted six times from eight games, two less than Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.

Aubameyang, the 2018-19 premier league joint top-scorer has 22 goals from 30 league matches to his credit while Suarez has one less, from 31 matches.

Shots per game

The Arsenal captain has more shots per game (2.7) while the 2019-20 La Liga champion is not far behind with an average of 2.5.

Pass success

The Gabon striker’s pass success rate, however, is a little less than Suarez’s. The former Borussia Dortmund finisher has an average of 70.9% compared to Suarez’s 73.6%.

It is no doubt the Uruguayan has a better pass success rate as his side Barcelona plays a more possession-based game, unlike Aubemayang’s Arsenal.  

The Arsenal man nevertheless has a better key pass rating (0.8) than the veteran Barcelona finisher (0.5).

Dribbles completed

Though both the players are good dribblers of the ball Suarez (1) gets the nod ahead of the Gunners striker, who has a 0.5 rating under his belt.

Aerial abilities

The 187cm tall Aubameyang should have been naturally better fitted for the aerial duels however Suarez, who is shorter of the two has won more aerial battles (0.4) than his taller counterpart (0.3).

Verdict

With an overall rating of 7.25, Suarez has been a vital member of the Catalonia side this season.

Meanwhile, Aubameyang’s total average reads 6.95- less compared to the veteran. Statistically speaking, Suarez seems to have outperformed the Arsenal skipper in some departments.

However, it should be noted that the Arsenal man has played more league encounters than the Uruguayan.

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Secondly, Aubameyang alone has done the bulk of scoring for his side Arsenal (16 goals altogether), unlike Suarez whose Barcelona has a whopping 33 goals to their name.

Hence, it is logical to conclude that Aubameyang has had a better season as a finisher than Suarez, and could turn out to be a suitable replacement for the latter at Camp Nou.