Manchester United’s capture of Romelu Lukaku and Chelsea’s addition of Alvaro Morata will, without a doubt, be two of the most significant moves of the summer transfer window.

Antonio Conte’s Chelsea are attempting to defend their crown, while United will be in search of their first Premier League title under Jose Mourinho. The two strikers will be crucial to the success of their respective teams, but which superstar will score more?

As of late July, Lukaku stands at 15/4 in the top goalscorer Premier League odds, while Morata can be backed at 9/1.

The only player ahead of the Belgian in the bookies’ estimations is Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur, who has claimed the accolade for the past two seasons with goal tallies of twenty-nine goals last season and twenty-five in the 2015-16 campaign.

United’s £75 million signing is favoured to build on last term’s impressive showing for Everton, during which he put away twenty-five goals and narrowly missed out on the Golden Boot. This was by far his best return in England’s top flight to date, and a massive improvement on the eighteen goals scored in 2015-16.

Lukaku is believed to be at an advantage to Morata as he has spent the past six seasons in England and is familiar with the style of play. But the former Everton frontman is joining a side that were far less clinical than the reigning champions Chelsea last time out. The Blues scored an impressive eighty-five times during their onslaught on the title, while United only mustered fifty-four despite having Zlatan Ibrahimović leading the line for most of the season.

Mourinho will be hoping that Lukaku is the answer to United’s lack of ferocity, and the Portuguese’s side will certainly play to the 24-year-old’s strengths. The new signing bagged six headed goals last season for Everton, who put in 767 crosses throughout the entirety of the campaign. United are big on wing play and delivered the fourth-highest number of crosses in the division with 848.

Morata is arguably more of an all-round player than Lukaku, and scores a varied range of goals from headers, long range efforts, and with his weaker foot. In addition to that, he is coming in at Stamford Bridge as a like-for-like replacement for Diego Costa, who managed twenty strikes for the champions last term. If he can make the transition seamlessly then the former Real Madrid player could see his Golden Boot odds slashed.

One big factor that will work against Morata, however, is the fact that when fit Eden Hazard will probably be the designated penalty kick taker for Conte, while Lukaku should be given spot-kick duties at Old Trafford. This could give the United forward the edge slightly as Mourinho’s side put away just three penalties last season.

Morata’s fitness could also potentially be an issue. The Spain international has never completed more than 1500 minutes in a top flight season, and only started fourteen La Liga matches for Zinedine Zidane’s side last time out with Karim Benzema preferred. Lukaku, on the other hand, has clocked over 2000 minutes for five consecutive seasons, and his ability to play numerous games has rarely been questioned.

As it stands, Lukaku looks to have the edge over the Premier League newcomer, and United have an opportunity to hit the ground running with some tantalising fixtures over the first four weeks. It’s going to be hard to overlook the Belgian in the race for this season’s Golden Boot especially if he can form a formidable understanding with pal Paul Pogba on the pitch.

Posted on July 27th, 2017 by admin
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