Scores, dribbles and creates more: Five reasons why Suarez is better than Aguero
Luis Suarez and Sergio Aguero are battling with each other every week, wrestling at the top of the scoring charts in the Premier League. Both players are in scintillating goal-scoring form and it doesn’t look like it will stop anytime soon. Suarez grabbed himself five goals in the past few days; Aguero got two, pushing the Uruguayan ahead of his South American rival.Liverpool are also ahead of Manchester City in the league table so Suarez is winning both of their battles, but who is the better player? Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has already made his mind up, but is the Chilean correct in his assertions?
Suarez missed the first five games of the season and has now scored 14 goals in 10 matches. Only two other players in world football hit that type of goal ratio.
This screenshot is taken from the Squawka Football App – Download it here
Aguero has missed just one match this season and has 12 goals in 14 appearances. An impressive tally but has fallen into the shadow of Liverpool’s number seven. The Argentine’s chance conversion is not as good as Suarez’s either. The Uruguayan has scored 27.5% of his league chances while Aguero has scored 24% of his. That’s not a huge margin but it still pushes Suarez out in front.
This screenshot was taken from the Squawka Football App – Download it for free here
Suarez has become a lethal finisher of chances since his arrival in England. He struggled in the first 18 months to score regularly but he is now one of the most feared goal scorers in the world. He has scored 14 goals from just 31 shots on target, an average of a goal every 2.2 shots on target.
Aguero has been a constant goal threat since his expensive arrival from Atletico Madrid. He challenged for the Golden Boot in his first season but struggled under Roberto Mancini last season. He is now in the form of his life, though, scoring a goal every 2.5 shots on target.
Unsurprisingly, both players’ shooting accuracy is the best out of the forwards at their respective clubs. Aguero has hit 60% of his shots on target and Suarez has a similar figure, hitting the target with 61% of his shots.
Luis Suarez Shot Accuracy (61%)
Sergio Aguero Shot Accuracy (60%)
As you can see, both players are close together on so many levels, but Suarez is edging Aguero in them all. Goals scored, shot accuracy and shot conversion have all been dominated by the Uruguayan. Chance creation is also another victory for Suarez.
Aguero and Suarez are different types of players. Both are quite creative but Suarez is far and away a more creative, all-round forward whereas Aguero – while he tries to create as much as possible – is much more of a poacher than Suarez.
The Man City frontman has completed 23 key passes this season, assisting four goals. Suarez, on the other hand, has completed four more key passes but two less assists. This means that while Suarez is creating more chances, his team-mates aren’t as good as scoring as Aguero’s, or possibly, the chances that Suarez creates aren’t as good as Aguero’s. I’d pin it on the former.
Luis Suarez Chances Created (27)
Sergio Aguero Chances Created (23)
In terms of Squawka Performance Score ranking, both players come second at their respective clubs. Yaya Toure has pipped Aguero at City while Steven Gerrard leads the way at Liverpool. Suarez is way ahead of Aguero, though. The Uruguayan has scored 607 points compared to Aguero’s 551.
Only Aaron Ramsey and Gerrard have scored more points than Suarez this season.
You could pin this down to Suarez’s all-action game and that he is, without doubt, Liverpool’s most important player. Aguero, on the other hand, isn’t as all-round as Suarez and, arguably, isn’t City’s most important player. It takes a great player to take that pressure on their shoulders and thrive off of it and that’s what Suarez does. Aguero does too, but the pressure and reliance on Suarez is far greater than that of Aguero.
That can be proven with his unbelievable performance against Norwich City last week. It was up there with one of the best matches a player has had in the Premier League. With the Reds missing Daniel Sturridge for the next month, Brendan Rodgers warned his teammates not to rely on Suarez to score all of the teams’ goals.
Suarez had other ideas, though, scoring four goals – three of them incredible – and assisted Liverpool’s other goal on the night. He scored 193 points in the Performance Score system to notch the highest score this season for a single player from Europe’s top five leagues.
In that match, he hit just one of his seven shots off target. Two of his goals were absolutely stunning and will definitely feature in the goal of the season polls in May.
We all know how confident Suarez is when taking players on and it’s shown from his statistics. He has completed 40% of his take ons (33/82) compared to Aguero’s 38% (23/60). He regularly attempts around seven take ons per match and is actually averaging 8.2 per game. This confidence and exuberance is what sets Suarez apart.
Luis Suarez Take-Ons
Sergio Aguero Take-Ons
Suarez has done wonderful things with a football this season. Aguero has been fantastic, too, and will no doubt continue his superb scoring form. However, he just can’t get near to Suarez’s level of performances and the figures that he’s posting. He has been absolutely devastating and, if he carries on like this, Liverpool will be pushing the top four all season and may even have an eye on the title.
You could argue that, as an out-and-out striker, Aguero would pip Suarez but as an all-round player who can create chances, beat men and score incredible goals at a ridiculous rate, the Argentine comes nowhere near close to Liverpool’s Uruguayan superstar.