English football loses its superstars. Or so it seems, anyway, amid the talent drain to Spain. Yet on Sunday, two goal machines meet, beginning a duel for Premier League glory, the Golden Boot and perhaps even the unofficial title of the world's best centre forward.
Luis Suarez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robert Lewandowski and the Manchester United pair of Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao are contenders but two of the prime candidates are Diego Costa and Sergio Aguero. The Chelsea target man has made statistically the best start to a Premier League career, with seven goals in four games. The Manchester City poacher has the lowest minutes-per-goal ratio of anyone in the division's history who has struck 30 times or more: he goes just 114 minutes between strikes on average.
The predators leading the line at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday are strikers with similarities and not just because both endured a World Cup to forget and were used as substitutes in the Champions League on Wednesday.
While other elite players quit England for Spain, this pair made the opposite journey. Indeed, they proved prolific for the same club, Atletico Madrid. The Estadio Vicente Calderon is a place where goalscorers flourished - Falcao, Diego Forlan and Fernando Torres all enhanced their reputations as Atleti players – and it is also ideal scouting ground for English clubs.
The rivalry in the Spanish capital makes it very hard for Real Madrid to sign directly from their neighbours so, if Barcelona do not buy their prize assets, the opportunity is there for the Premier League clubs. Chelsea seized it this summer, just as City did three years earlier.
Even if Atletico's British brand of football, their willingness to play 4-4-2 and go direct, their hustling, bustling style and hugely energetic, ultra-committed approach offered signs that Costa would succeed in England, his first four fixtures have still been remarkable.
He has been an injury doubt for the last two league matches. In that time, he scored twice against Everton and a hat-trick against a Swansea City defence previously only breached once. The doubters wondered if he would be a one-season wonder, if his magnificent 36-goal campaign for Atletico would be an outlier and he would never prove as potent again. They are being answered. Chelsea are being transformed.
Eden Hazard was the Blues' leading scorer in the league last season with 14 goals. With only a 10th of the season gone, Costa is already half way to equalling that tally. Sunday represents his toughest test to date, against the outstanding defender in England, Vincent Kompany, but it is hard to imagine a man who scored a winner in a Madrid derby at the Santiago Bernabeu last season being cowed.
While other elite players quit England for Spain, this pair made the opposite journey. Indeed, they proved prolific for the same club, Atletico Madrid. The Estadio Vicente Calderon is a place where goalscorers flourished - Falcao, Diego Forlan and Fernando Torres all enhanced their reputations as Atleti players – and it is also ideal scouting ground for English clubs.
The rivalry in the Spanish capital makes it very hard for Real Madrid to sign directly from their neighbours so, if Barcelona do not buy their prize assets, the opportunity is there for the Premier League clubs. Chelsea seized it this summer, just as City did three years earlier.
Even if Atletico's British brand of football, their willingness to play 4-4-2 and go direct, their hustling, bustling style and hugely energetic, ultra-committed approach offered signs that Costa would succeed in England, his first four fixtures have still been remarkable.
He has been an injury doubt for the last two league matches. In that time, he scored twice against Everton and a hat-trick against a Swansea City defence previously only breached once. The doubters wondered if he would be a one-season wonder, if his magnificent 36-goal campaign for Atletico would be an outlier and he would never prove as potent again. They are being answered. Chelsea are being transformed.
Eden Hazard was the Blues' leading scorer in the league last season with 14 goals. With only a 10th of the season gone, Costa is already half way to equalling that tally. Sunday represents his toughest test to date, against the outstanding defender in England, Vincent Kompany, but it is hard to imagine a man who scored a winner in a Madrid derby at the Santiago Bernabeu last season being cowed.
source goal.com
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