£63m Arsenal star urged to follow Leeds United and Erling Haaland example by Gary Lineker
Leeds United's Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been in scintillating form of late.
Red-hot Leeds United striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been singled out as an example for one struggling fellow Premier League No.9 to follow.
Like Calvert-Lewin, Viktor Gyokeres joined a new club in the summer when he swapped Sporting CP for Arsenal in a £63.5million deal. The Swedish international scored twice in a 5-0 rout against Leeds in August but has only scored three Premier League goals since, despite playing for a side who have scored more goals than every team except Manchester City.
Calvert-Lewin also endured a slow start in front of goal but has burst into life in recent weeks, with seven goals in his last six appearances helping to lift Leeds out of immediate danger and seven points clear of West Ham in 18th. The 28-year-old has benefitted from a change of system and appears under instruction to stay between the posts, where all of his goals have come from.
Sharp movement has been the key for Calvert-Lewin, be it returning from an offside position against Brentford, sneaking in at the pack post twice against Crystal Palace or darting into space at Sunderland. And struggling striker Gyokeres has been urged to follow in the Leeds man’s footsteps to improve his own tally.
"I have watched him quite closely the last few weeks,” Lineker told The Rest Is Football of Gyokeres. "Like most strikers, he waits to see where the ball is going and then attacks the space, but that's what defenders do.
“As a striker you've got to gamble on where you think the ball might go and you go just as its about to be crossed, so that way, you steal a march on the defender. A lot of the time the ball won't go that way and I don't see him doing it that often.
Leeds United example for struggling Arsenal star
"Dominic Calvert-Lewin did a perfect example of how to do that for the Leeds goal at Sunderland. He didn't wait, he pulled away and then sprinted at the near post and hoped the ball would be delivered there.
“I don't see that too often from Gyokeres, at present and the players that score big numbers will do that. The likes of [Erling] Haaland, [Harry] Kane and [Robert] Lewandowski will make those kind of moves into spaces. I've always thought you can learn to do that and it's the common sense of probability when you think about it."
In finding the net at Sunderland last weekend, Calvert-Lewin became the first Leeds player to score in six consecutive games for 65 years and will hope to make it seven-in-a-row at Liverpool on Thursday. Not since 1930 has such a feat been achieved by a player at his club.
Calvert-Lewin scored in the reverse fixture, a dramatic 3-3 draw at Elland Road earlier this month, burying a penalty to make it 2-1 and give Leeds life. That result was part of a five-game unbeaten run that is still going and could extend to six if they can take a point of three from Anfield on New Year’s Day.