It has been a very exciting season in the WSL 2021/2022. The title fight was taken to the last day of the season and ultimately it was Chelsea that got the trophy and can call themselves champions. It was very close and in this article, we will take a look at Arsenal and Chelsea strikers.
So how well did the strikers do in the league and how do they compare to each other? We are using data to analyse two strikers from each club. The data is from Wyscout and is collected on June 15th, 2022. The aim of this article is to look at which players of the top sides have been performing very well, according to the data.
I’ve chosen the players who primarily played as a striker, and did not have a striker as a secondary position. This means that some players with better goalscoring data aren’t considered, but for this analysis the pure striker role is significant.
Arsenal: Blackstenius and Miedema
Stina Blackstenius joined Arsenal in the winter from BK Häcken and she needed little time to adjust to the WSL. We have collected her performances in this percentile pizza plot below.
As you can see Blackstenius does excellent in the shooting metrics. She scores in the 96th percentile for goals per 90 and in the 96th percentile for non-penalty goals. As her shots per 90 and xG per 90 are significantly lower, she does very well to convert those chances. She scores high on touches in the box per 90 and as well as in the assists per 90 metrics: 76th and 80th percentile.
Vivianne Miedema doesn’t really need an introduction, but the striker has had a largely different role this season. How well did she do as a striker, though?
Miedema is an elite striker. She scores above the 90th percentile in goals per 90, non-penalty goals per 90, xG per 90, shots per 90, assists per 90, and touches in the box per 90. In fact, there is only one data metric where she scores under the 86th percentile: crosses per 90. That’s a really impressive set of data, considering she has been playing a bit deeper this season under Jonas Eideval.
Chelsea: Kerr and England
The queen of the WSL was Sam Kerr with her goals. There is no denying that, but what does her whole profile look like as a Chelsea player?
We just need to have a look at the goalscoring metrics and see that she is the absolute best in her field. She does extremely well in the shooting metrics and in the touches in the box per 90. Yes, you can see she is a real striker with her eyes focused on the target, but she isn’t exactly bad at the creating part. She scores well above average in the crosses per 90, xA per 90, and assists per 90.
Bethany England might be the Chelsea player that is a bit underrated because of Kerr, but she is always good for goals throughout every season.
The data shows us that England is a great striker at Chelsea. A similar profile to Kerr’s, with scoring in the 90th percentile and up for goals and xG. 88th percentile she scores for touches in box per 90, and what’s different to Kerr – she scores incredibly high on assists per 90 too.
Arsenal and Chelsea strikers compared
In the comparison radars above, we have compared the strikers to each other. In the first radar, you can see that Kerr is better in the goalscoring metrics, but that Miedema does better in the xG, the volume of shots, xA, and assists. Miedema is better on more metrics, but in the actual goalscoring – Kerr is the top.
If we look at the Blackstenius v England comparison, we can Blackstenius is better in the goalscoring metrics as well as in the dribbles metric. But, in all other metrics, we see that England is superior in that sense.
