Why Alexandre Lacazette and Alexis Sanchez can work well together this season as Arsenal duo are shown to complement each other by new stat

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When Alexandre Lacazette put pen to paper on his Arsenal contract, the most pessimistic of fans would have worried it would mean Alexis Sanchez was on his way out.

After all, Sanchez - who is a target for a number of clubs this summer - spent a lot of last season as the most advanced striker in Arsenal's system. And that had been Lacazette's position throughout his time at Lyon. 

While there is little doubt that the France international will start on Friday night against Leicester, there will be questions of how the Gunners will line up once Sanchez is fit again.

Arsenal snapped up Alexandre Lacazette (centre) from Lyon for £54million this window

There would have been questions over whether this meant the end for Alexis Sanchez

But there is reason to be hopeful that Sanchez and Lacazette can dovetail together for the Emirates Stadium club this season. That hope is bolstered by data uncovered courtesy of the new Opta Expected Goals (xG) metric.

No player in Arsenal's first-team took it upon themselves to work as hard as Sanchez did last season, trying his absolute best to force a place in the Champions League for his side.

It led to those outbursts and tantrums on the field that characterised the second half of his season.

And the stats show that. No player in the Premier League was involved in the build-up to more goals from open play than Sanchez last season. And only one star - Christian Eriksen - was more involved in shots.

No player in the Premier League was more involved in the build up to goals than Sanchez

But it often meant that the Chile international was trying too hard on the pitch

While it means Sanchez impressed for his work rate, it probably means the powerful Chilean was trying to do too much on the field.

That may be because it is his inherent style, or it might be that he did not feel there was another player of his quality in front of goal or in a creative capacity. 

It has often been clear at Arsenal that there is a pair of stars in Sanchez and Mesut Ozil and then a cut below them for the rest of the squad.

Lacazette changes that. He is a top quality striker, something Arsenal have lacked for years. And if a player like Sanchez wants to create chances, looking up and seeing Lacazette in the box will come as a major boost.

Lacazette is the sort of striker that will benefit from Sanchez's hard work on the pitch

Which would be to Lacazette's benefit too. Opta's analysis shows that he has a higher xG rate - 0.18 - compared to Sanchez, who manages 0.12.

Digging deeper, 25 per cent of the shots Lacazette took had a 30 per cent chance of hitting the back of the net. Yet 80 per cent of Sanchez's shots had less than 10 per cent chance of being put away.

That means Lacazette - in classic poacher style - is selective with when he shoots and tends to only try when he thinks there is a good chance of scoring.

Sanchez, on the other hand, is more likely to try a shot at goal, even when he is unlikely to score.

Lacazette also has less of a habit of peppering the goal with as much frequency as Sanchez

He also has an incredible ability to only take shots when he has a high chance of scoring

Another option, Olivier Giroud, is also less likely to create chances for himself than Sanchez. But compared to Lacazette, far fewer of his shots have a high xG - just 18 per cent.

Which means Lacazette is a far better option to get on the end of any chances that Sanchez or any of Arsenal's highly talented creative players in midfield create.

Not only that, but another aspect of the striker's style means he is uniquely suited to Arsenal's passing style of play.

Lacazette has a special talent when it comes to scoring goals from wider angles, which is quite uncommon. 

Both Sanchez and Giroud - who tends to like crosses into the box - prefer chances from central areas, as do the vast majority of strikers.

Lacazette will benefit Arsenal as he likes to take shots and score them from wide angles

That is shown by Lacazette's xG map (left) and Sanchez's more central goal map

And for players who thread passes through, having a striker who can pick the ball up at wide angles and sweep it into the back of the net is incredibly beneficial.

That will be music to Ozil's ears. He created a frankly ludicrous 98 chances last season but posted nine assists. Not a bad tally at all, but not as good a rate as he might have hoped for the key passes he made.

But Lacazette is more likely to finish the sort of chance he makes.

All of which suggests Lacazette will not only add something that Arsenal's existing strikers do not have, but will work well with their existing best player - Sanchez. 

This all suggests that Lacazette and Sanchez can work together at Arsenal this season