Race for the Premier League title: Jamie Vardy, Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero, Olivier Giroud analysed

By Peter Smith

The Premier League's top four go head-to-head on Sky Sports on Sunday, with leaders Leicester travelling to Arsenal and Manchester City hosting Tottenham.

Just six points separate the teams in the table and this weekend offers the perfect opportunity for them to make a statement of intent in the title race.

To build up the big showdowns, all this week Sky Sports will be analysing the teams.

Who's the best striker in the Premier League. This is what you've been saying...

On Monday we looked at their goalkeepersassessed their defences on Tuesday and compared their midfielders on Wednesday.

Now, it's time to check each team's strikeforce. Here's what the statistics say…

Advertisement

Top-four strikers compared

Player Team International caps Transfer fee
Jamie Vardy Leicester City 4 (England) £1.7m
Harry Kane Tottenham 8 (England) N/A (Academy)
Olivier Giroud Arsenal 44 (France) £9.6m
Sergio Aguero Man City 69 (Argentina) £38m

GOALSCORING

Image: Jamie Vardy has scored 18 Premier League goals this season

Goals

Also See:

Goals & Assists

Player Goals Assists Total
Jamie Vardy 18 3 21
Harry Kane 15 1 16
Sergio Aguero 14 2 16
Olivier Giroud 12 3 15

When it comes to goalscoring, Jamie Vardy has been the Premier League's best in 2015/16. The Leicester City striker has 18 goals so far this season - an incredible improvement on the five he managed in 2014/15. Vardy has also chipped in with three assists, meaning he's had a direct involvement in 45 per cent of Leicester's 47 goals.

Tottenham's Harry Kane (15) and Manchester City's Sergio Aguero (14) aren't far behind in the scoring charts, with Olivier Giroud on 12 for Arsenal. The quartet all feature in the top seven Premier League goalscorers this season, with Everton's Romelu Lukaku (16), Watford's Odion Ighalo and Leicester's Riyad Mahrez (both 14) also in the running for the golden boot.

SHOOTING

Shooting

Player Shooting accuracy Shot conversion rate Big chance scored/missed Big chance conversion rate
Jamie Vardy 58.21% 26.87% 11/13 45%
Sergio Aguero 60.38% 26.42% 8/10 44%
Harry Kane 64.29% 21.43% 13/11 54%
Olivier Giroud 53.45% 20.69% 6/12 33%

Harry Kane has the best conversion rate of the top-four's leading strikers when it comes to putting away clear-cut opportunities.

The Tottenham man has scored 54 per cent of the big chances presented to him this season. In contrast, Arsenal's Olivier Giroud has scored six such openings and missed 12 - a conversion rate of 33 per cent.

Kane also has the best shooting accuracy, hitting the target with 64.29 per cent of his efforts at goal, while Aguero comes out on top in terms of shot conversion, scoring with 26.42 per cent of his strikes. 

Image: Harry Kane has put away a higher percentage of clear-cut chances than Aguero, Vardy and Giroud

APPEARANCES

Game time

Player Mins/goal Minutes played
Sergio Aguero 95.43 1336
Jamie Vardy 121.33 2184
Olivier Giroud 141.5 1698
Harry Kane 147.07 2206

Aguero has the best goals/minute rate in the Premier League, of strikers to have scored at least five times. However, the problem for Manchester City this season has been keeping him fit. He's played just 1336 minutes in 2015/16 - 870 fewer than Kane. That's the equivalent to more than nine and a half games.

Image: Sergio Aguero has scored every 95.43 minutes on average this season

Only ever-present centre-back Toby Alderweireld has played more minutes than Kane at Spurs this season. Vardy has also been available for every Premier League game for Leicester. Giroud, though, has spent time on the bench earlier this season when he was duelling for the Arsenal striker role with Theo Walcott. 

Watch Arsenal v Leicester from 11.30am and Man City v Tottenham from 4pm, live on Sky Sports 1 HD on Sunday.  Or watch all day for £6.99 without a contract, on NOW TV

Outbrain