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England coach Gareth Southgate was looking forward to seeing Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski square-off with Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane, but a knee injury to Poland’s striker took away that opportunity.
When assessing the two players, Southgate thinks the center-forwards have some similarities.
“I think the two are similar,” Southgate said (per the Evening Standard). “There are not many outright No. 9s in the world at the moment at really elite level. [Romelu] Lukaku is obviously one. The two boys we’re speaking about are. I suppose [Sergio] Aguero has been. But you don’t get that profile of forwards so often.”
Sports Mole captured more from Southgate who noted that many modern center-forwards are really outside-forward hybrid types.
“There’s a lot more of the interchangeable forward players that can play as an inside forward or a wide forward and be devastating in those areas, like Kylian Mbappe, who can play number nine but is normally just as effective in those wider areas,” said Southgate. “They’re difficult to come by and when you’ve got one like we have, it gives you a reference point, can lead the line, can link and as we said the other day, not just top goal scorer in the Premier League but top for assists as well, it’s a fantastic player to have in our group.”