The season of the centre-forward: What sets apart the Premier League's leading strikers?

But such demands tie into the evolving expectations of elite-level forwards, in which "just" scoring goals isn't enough and a ferocious work ethic and selflessness are pre-requisites. 

Luis Suarez is an example of a striker who defends aggressively from the front, while Lionel Messi contributes a huge number of assists, and wide forwards like Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery have added relentless industry to their formidable talents. 

Aguero turned 29 in the summer, and it feels as though this could be the year where he is spoken about in the same bracket as those examples, if he can stay fit. As Benjamin Mendy told our writer James Ducker, Aguero has already established himself as City's undisputed talisman. 

"Kun Aguero, he is a hero within the team, there’s respect for everyone, but he’s truly respected by all the players, irrespective of age," Mendy said. "Look at the 6-0 win against Watford - we won a penalty and everyone knows Sergio takes our penalties but he said, ‘No, let Raheem take it’. Kun doesn’t just want to be the star himself. He wants all the players to shine, everyone to be brilliant."

Romelu Lukaku - the poacher 

Six games, six goals

On Romelu Lukaku, Jose Mourinho said last weekend: "I knew he would always score goals, I knew he would always score more goals for us than for Everton or West Bromwich Albion. That’s logic."  

Certainly Lukaku has been prolific so far, with six goals in his first six league games for Manchester United. A look at his statistics suggests Lukaku has been very effectively fulfilling the paradigm of the "poacher" striker. 

On average, his goals have been scored from just 8.6 yards (lower than all his rivals bar Jamie Vardy) and his expected goals (xG) is higher than anyone in the division at 5.61, suggesting he is consistently finding himself in very dangerous positions.

Raising the bar further for in the realm of penalty box poachery, two of Lukaku's last three Premier League goals have been close-range rebounds from his own shots. His six goals have also been a satisfying spread of three with his left foot, two with his right and one with his head. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lukaku's single-minded focus on finding space in the penalty area has meant he has conserved his energy elsewhere on the pitch. His 9.01 kilometres covered per 90 minutes is far lower than the other strikers on this list, with Jamie Vardy the next lowest on 9.79. 

But with creative midfielders like Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Juan Mata pulling the strings outside the box, Mourinho will be happy for Lukaku to keep doing what he's doing - especially as he has also chipped in with an assist and 10 chances for his team-mates. 

Alvaro Morata - the all-rounder  

Six games, six goals

Much has been made of the differences between Alvaro Morata and his predecessor Diego Costa, but one area where they are similar is in their all-round contribution to the team. 

Just as Costa was, Morata is adept at holding the play up and bringing others in. Morata has already contributed two assists, and on Saturday against Stoke all 25 of his passes were directed backwards towards supporting players.

He has also demonstrated that he is as adept in the air as he is on the ground, with three headed goals to go alongside three goals with his right foot. In addition, Morata puts in a real shift for the team, and has covered 10.27 km per 90 minutes, a rate bettered in this list only by Gabriel Jesus. 

Morata also boasts has the best goals per minutes ratio of all the strikers in this list (one every 76 minutes), and the best shots to goals ratio (38.46 per cent). 

An interesting quirk from Morata's goals so far is that his xG is only 2.94, which effectively means that he has scored more than double the amount of goals than would have been expected from the positions he has been shooting from.

Looking ahead, you would suspect that this is an unsustainable rate and Morata's goalscoring output may slow down. Alternatively, you could interpret the figure as testament to his ability to score from difficult positions, which bodes well for the season ahead. 

Harry Kane - the shoot on sight merchant

Six games, four goals

Harry Kane plays like the kid in the playground who shoots pretty much every time he gets the ball, and that is meant as a compliment.

Kane's single-mindedness is a major reason for why his goal return is so high, and it reflects his formidable self-belief and conviction that he will score in every game he plays. 

So far this season, Kane has got 26 shots away - far more than anyone else in this list - and scored with a paltry 10.26 per cent of his shots. Will that latter figure bother him? Of course not, the only thing that will matter is how many goals he's scored. 

A further consequence of his shooting on sight policy is that Kane's goals this season have come from much further out than his rivals - from an average distance out of 16.2 yards. 

Kane's dead-eyed focus also means that he is getting almost five shots away per game; in other words he only needs to score with around 20 per cent of his shots to be scoring a goal a game.

Jamie Vardy - the counter-puncher

Six games, five goals

Not as glamorous a name as the other strikers on this list, Vardy has nonetheless been scoring consistently this season, with five in his six games (though two have been penalties).

Playing for a less-fancied side like Leicester, Vardy's role is different from most of his peers. Used primarily on the counter-attack, Vardy often feeds on scraps and spends a lot of Leicester's matches chasing balls played in behind and harrying opposition defenders.

His goals have come from an average distance of just 8.2 yards (meaning that penalties are from relatively long distance for him), and he has only managed 10 shots a match so far this season, and 26 touches in the opposition box - the fewest of anyone on this list in both metrics. 

Allied to his predatory instincts, Vardy is also the most explosive striker in the list, with a top speed of 34.65 km/h this season. 

Gabriel Jesus - the non-stop mover

Fve games, four goals

Gabriel Jesus is far from a conventional centre-forward, but he has already weighed in with four league goals this season from five appearances. 

Surprisingly, he has only created one chance for his team-mates in those matches, which suggests Guardiola is happy to indulge his virtuoso instincts. 

Guardiola will be more happy to see the distance being covered by the Brazilian each game - at 10.52km per 90 minutes Jesus is running more than any of the other players here. He is also making far more sprints per game than any of his rivals, with 68.0, which is almost double the 37.2 posted by Harry Kane. 

All stats are Premier League only and via Opta