Chelsea’s Diego Costa and Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero are the Premier League’s joint top goal scorers this season.
It is most likely going to be the Spaniard or the Argentine who will finish the season as the league’s top goal scorer. But who has been the better player so far this season?
Starting off with goals scored, both players have scored nine goals for their respective clubs. Diego Costa (7) may have played two games less than Aguero (9), but the Argentine has played 622 minutes whilst the Spaniard has played 585 minutes, 37 minutes less. Therefore, whilst many will see Diego Costa scoring the same amount of goals in two games less, is actually on 37 minutes less, less than half a game.
When it comes to how the goals are scored, Diego Costa statistics shows he is the more versatile of the two. From Diego Costa’s nine goals, he has scored four using his left foot, three using his right foot, and two using his head. All of them were scored inside the area as well. Aguero on the other hand has scored one goal using his left foot, eight using his right foot, none using his head, and all but one of his goals have come from inside the area.
In order for a striker to score, he needs to takes shots, accurate shots. Aguero has taken 43 shots in total, around 4.78 shots per game, with a shot accuracy percentage of 65%. Diego Costa however has taken fewer shots, but has a higher shot accuracy percentage. The Spaniard’s shot accuracy percentage is 84% from a total of 22 shots, around 3.14 shots per game. Whilst it is important for a striker to take as many shots as possible to increase his goal scoring chances, these shots need to be on target as well to further increase these chances.
Next is match performance against big teams. It’s important for these players to perform in these games more than any other as they have the biggest influence on the final places in the Premier League table at the end of the season. From the teams that finished in the top six last season, Diego Costa has played against Everton, Manchester City, and Arsenal, but Aguero has played against Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham.
Diego Costa scored twice in 6-3 away win at Everton, and once in the 2-0 home win against Arsenal, but failed to score against Manchester City. Aguero also failed to score when his side met Chelsea, but he did score in the 3-1 home win against Liverpool, the 2-2 away draw against Arsenal, and scored all four in the 4-1 home win against Tottenham. Aguero may have scored more (6) in big games than Diego Costa (3), but neither player’s team have lost a big fixture.
A striker can’t just show up in the big games though, he has to be consistent throughout. Six of Aguero’s nine goals have come from four games against big teams. In the remaining five games against what some might say, lesser sides, he has only scored three goals. Three of Diego Costa’s nine goals have come from three games against big teams, meaning the remaining six have come against lesser sides. What this shows is Diego Costa is more consistent, scoring against anyone, no matter the opponent. Aguero though is only showing up for big games, and not against lesser sides. Strikers need to score no matter who the opponent as the result could play a huge influence come the end of the season.
Diego Costa is a better striker than Aguero. He is more versatile as he has scored goals with his left foot, right foot, and with his head so far this season. The Spaniard has scored the same amount of goals as the Argentine in a smaller amount of time and with fewer shots on goal as well. Diego Costa also has consistency as he has scored in all but one game in the league for Chelsea this season. The only place he needs to improve upon is scoring in the big games, like against Manchester City, as these games could win or lose Chelsea the title come next May.
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