Ranking England’s options at centre-forward based on this season’s Dream Team stats
With an international break looming we thought it would be fun (in the loosest sense of the word possible) to analyse England’s centre-forward options through the prism of Dream Team stats.
You don’t need to be a fortune teller to predict Harry Kane’s (£6.9m) supremacy but it may give us an indication as to who is most worthy of playing understudy to the Three Lions’ captain.
With Raheem Sterling (£6.1m) and Marcus Rashford (£5.0m) more likely to play as wide forwards under Gareth Southgate, we narrowed down the centre-forward options to: Kane, Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£4.3m, Danny Ings (£3.9m), Callum Wilson (£2.9m), Patrick Bamford (£3.6m) and Tammy Abraham (£3.5m).
At the time of writing, Jamie Vardy (£4.6m) remains retired from international football.
BETWAY NEW CUSTOMER OFFER: BET £10 GET A £10 BONUS*
GOALS
- Kane – 24
- Calvert-Lewin – 19
- Bamford – 13
- Abraham – 12
- Wilson – 10
- Ings – 9
The modern centre-forward is tasked with many duties but goals remain their primary currency.
Kane leads the way, as expected, while Calvert-Lewin looks set to comfortably finish as runner-up in this category.
Abraham has scored just six league goals this season but he’s succeeded in the domestic cups and has a Champions League goal to his name this season as well.
ASSISTS
- Kane – 16
- Bamford – 7
- Abraham – 6
- Wilson – 5
- Calvert-Lewin – 5
- Ings – 3
A significant increase in assists has been the defining feature of Kane’s season as he’s exhibited a telepathic understanding with Son Heung-min (£4.6m) — Southgate would love him to establish a similar understanding with Sterling.
As the focal point of an extremely attacking team, it’s not a surprise to see Bamford leading the best of the rest.
The bottom three have all missed games through injury at times this season.
STAR MAN AWARDS
- Kane – 11
- Calvert-Lewin – 4
- Abraham – 4
- Bamford – 3
- Wilson – 2
- Ings – 0
More of the same from Kane and another disappointing showing from Ings, who may feel hard done by given some of his performances in the first third of the season.
7+ RATINGS
- Kane – 24
- Calvert-Lewin – 16
- Bamford – 13
- Abraham – 11
- Ings – 10
- Wilson – 7
It seems to be a two-horse race for second place between the Leeds and Everton No9s with the Toffees’ frontman holding a slender advantage in most metrics.
POINTS
- Kane – 282
- Calvert-Lewin – 180
- Bamford – 137
- Abraham – 130
- Wilson – 89
- Ings – 80
Kane’s dominance is best displayed here as everything comes together to give him the highest points tally among all Dream Team players, regardless of nationality.
Abraham’s points total is surprisingly good consider how often he has been used as a substitute under both Frank Lampard and Thomas Tuchel.
OWNERSHIP
- Kane – 41.7%
- Calvert-Lewin – 15.6%
- Bamford – 4.2%
- Ings – 2.9%
- Abraham – 0.9%
- Wilson – 0.7%
Ownership is a good reflection of public opinion and you can see that Dream Team gaffers concur with the raw numbers.
A clear of podium of Kane, Calvert-Lewin and Bamford has emerged but whether Southgate sees an identical hierarchy remains to be seen.
Bamford is the only uncapped striker of the six but his stats would justify a call-up as England plan Euro 2020 (2021) success.
The biggest conclusion, and one that was already known, is just how devastating an injury to Kane would be for the Three Lions.