When assessing the best attackers during the opening six weeks of the Premier League season, it would be easy to jump straight to the top scorers’ chart.
However, while all-important, there are many factors which need to be considered when deciding who are the leading attacking players in the top flight.
For example, whether you play for a team which creates numerous chances or a struggling side which requires you to have a super-high conversion rate; whether you have been consistent across a number of games or whether you had one particular encounter when you shone.
After looking at the list, I have plumped for three players whose Premier League highlights jump out.
There is, of course, only one place to start and the identity of this player will not surprise anyone.
Erling Braut Haaland (Manchester City)
A few weeks ago, I pondered exactly how far this unstoppable Norse goal-God could go?
Even before it was announced he was to join Manchester City in May, the talent was clear and he had proved himself one of the best goalscorers in Europe from the moment that he burst on to the scene.
In every direction you look, his statistics are breathtaking and show no sign of abating now he is playing for the champions of England.
According to former Premier League striker Troy Deeney, ‘unstoppable’ Haaland could redefine the role for the next decade.
According to respected football journalist Fabrizio Romano, the impact of his move will be incredible. One of his all-time favourite transfer deals in recent years, ‘an excellent player in a club that has an extraordinary ability to plan for the future’.
Eleven goals and one assist in his seven Premier League outings so far speak for themselves.
If the SBOTOP Premier League betting odds offered options for top scorer this season, he would probably have been favourite before a ball was kicked.
Six weeks in and he is already five goals clear of his nearest rival.
Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal)
If ever a player has lifted a club just when it needed it most, it is Brazilian Gabriel Jesus.
He left City in the summer, partly to make way for Haaland, but every inch a champion and someone who had contributed to the club’s successes in recent years.
Since arriving in North London, he has been a catalyst and given them belief.
Four goals and three assists only tell half the story as the Gunners finally look to have a player who is a fitting beneficiary of the club’s fabled number nine shirt.
His manager Mikel Arteta has said as much: that his new signing’s attitude is rubbing off on team-mates.
And a former player who knows a thing or two about scoring goals, Michael Owen, was fair to say Jesus would perhaps have had more credit had it not been for the outstanding Haaland.
Indeed, his all-round play has made him a crucial aspect to every phase of play with his willingness to press, as well as operate in areas outside the penalty box, make the £45 million paid to City seem like a bargain in today’s market.
He offers tenacity also, as shown by four bookings in his seven outings.
Now a talismanic figure in a fluid, attacking team rather than playing second fiddle to other stars, Jesus has the chance to express the world-leading talent that compatriot Ronaldinho once raved about.
At the centre of a young and vibrant Arsenal attack that is scoring 2.42 goals per game on average so far this term, could he be the missing piece to the Gunners jigsaw that fell short of their objectives last season?
Are the early league leaders, genuine title contenders? I don’t think so.
Are they making genuine and sustainable progress after some false dawns? Almost certainly.
Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham)
Here is a player who scored for fun in the Championship last season.
As the Cottagers rampaged their way to the title, Mitrovic broke Ivan Toney’s record for the most goals scored in a Championship season by February; surpassed Guy Whittingham’s record for the most scored in a 46-game campaign and drew level on 43 with the late, great Brian Clough in the all-time charts.
The Serbian striker rightly could look back on the 2021-22 campaign as one of the most memorable of his career, not only because of the history he made, but because it has helped Fulham return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
The nagging doubt before a ball was kicked this time was could he deliver consistently in the Premier League.
Well, based on the evidence so far – kickstarted with a fine opening day double against Liverpool when he ran Virgil van Dijk and co ragged – the answer is an emphatic yes.
Six goals and seven games in, Fulham are sixth in the top flight and defying those who predicted they faced a relegation battle.
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