5 of the worst Premier League strikers so far in 2017/18
With just 12 games remaining for most of the sides in the Premier League this season, it’s been another year largely dominated by star strikers. Harry Kane has already bagged 22, Mohamed Salah is close behind on 21, and usual suspects such as Romelu Lukaku, Sergio Aguero, Roberto Firmino and Jamie Vardy have been practically as reliable as ever.
For every Kane or Salah though, this season’s seen as many strikers having major issues with their form. Whether it’s down to a lack of service, a lack of confidence, or plain bad luck, the following 5 strikers simply keep on misfiring in 2017/18.
They could end up picking up their form towards the end the season, but right now you wouldn’t want them on your side. With that said, these have been 5 of the worst Premier League strikers this season:
#5 Fernando Llorente (Tottenham Hotspur)
Last season, Fernando Llorente was one of the Premier League’s most reliable strikers, scoring 15 league goals in 33 games at struggling Swansea. If anything, he was one of the main reasons that Paul Clement was able to keep the side in the Premier League.
It was pretty clear though that going into 2017/18, the Welsh side would find it hard to keep hold of their Spanish star, and even brought in Chelsea starlet Tammy Abraham on loan to serve as their new striker.
Tottenham, meanwhile, were looking for a backup for Harry Kane after Vincent Janssen misfired throughout 2016/17, and so they identified Llorente as their man. Despite rumours linking him to Chelsea, he joined Spurs on the summer transfer window’s deadline day for a fee of £12 million. And unfortunately for the Spaniard, it’s been downhill ever since.
Llorente has only started one Premier League game – against old club Swansea ironically – which was to be expected given Kane’s form, but he’s made 13 appearances from the bench and has only found the net once.
It’s a record that’s just as bad as Janssen’s last season! It simply feels like a case of Llorente’s battering-ram style not fitting into Tottenham’s usual way of playing, and realistically, he may have made a mistake not taking the move to Chelsea when it was offered.