PSV play Arsenal on Wednesday and Peter Bosz is facing a big dilemma. The coach has to choose between Hirving Lozano and Johan Bakayoko at right back. Both extremes are considered trendsetters in Eindhoven and a lot can be expected from both. However, one of the two seems to have a clear preference against the Londoners.
Due to Bakayoko’s personal choice, the PSV has an absolute luxury problem on the right flank. After the final stage of the transfer period, the club will continue to participate in the quarterly rounds of the Euros for the twenty-year-old Belgian in Eindhoven, but Bakayoko himself has not shown interest in moving to the English midfield. Thus, the young exponent of PSV with Lozano, who returned to Eindhoven for fifteen million euros four years after leaving, is an option for Bosz. The winger, originally from doNapoli, defied Nec (4-0) on Saturday night, but was not too satisfied with his performance.
However, for Arsenal’s style of play, Lozano seems to be the best choice for the match against Arsenal. The 28-year-old Mexican is someone who prefers to make late flanks when he is already close to the baseline. There is probably enough space for this, since the right winger of PSV is facing Soleksandr Zinchenko. The Ukrainian, who was on loan to Eindhoven in the 2016/17 season, is an extremely offensive winger. With this, it is likely that the rooms behind it will be large. Bakayoko is someone who usually fits the ball early or cuts inside and then plays the ball in front of the pot.
In addition, Lozano’s crosses were also relatively better last season. The 64-time national player (17 goals) scored the fifth best goal of the 47 side strikers of Serie A last season. Bakayoko took 17th place in last season’s Eredivisie, where the list consisted of 78 candidates.This means that Luuk de Jongwe can probably expect better care from Lozano than from Bakayoko.
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That could be crucial against Arsenal, of all things. According to SciSports, De Jong was one of the best strikers in the Eredivisie last season. In the open game, only Danilo(then feyenoord, now rangers) was above him, while in standard situations Henk Veerman (then fc Utrecht, now ADO The Hague) fared better.
With Arsenal, De Jong meets a relatively weak opponent in the passing game. Arsenal have won just 35.8 per cent of matches this season, compared to the Premier League average of 45 per cent. Central Defensegabriel Magellan, in particular, in head-to-head duels, he was not always strong last season.William Saliba, who forms the regular duo in the back row together with Gabriel, has shown good performances in dogfights last season.