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We are living in the age of captivating attacking football, with speedy wingers occupying the centre-stage. These skilful and creative players have become the wellspring of the goals nowadays.
But, does that mean the time of strikers is up in the game? Absolutely not. If anything today's 'No.9s' are stepping up their game. The Modern No.9 has gone from being just a poacher or a finisher to an all-round player, who fights for the ball, intimidates defenders and at times become the provider rather than the scorer.
The No.9 jersey, which was made famous by some of the legends of the game like Ronaldo, Di Stefano, Alan Shearer, still remains coveted among the top strikers of the game.
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So, with almost a quarter of the season already behind us, let us take a look at the 9 players who have done justice to the 'No.9' jersey so far.
#9 Alexandre Lacazette
Having been utilized from the bench in the first three fixtures of the season for Arsenal, it was looking like another mediocre season for Alexandre Lacazette. When finally named in the starting line-up against Cardiff, the Frenchman not only scored the winning goal, but was named the Man of the Match as well.
After his match-winning performance, the former Lyon striker has been the number one goal-threat of the Gunners side, who are on a 7-game winning streak in the Premier League.
In the 9 Premier League games he has scored 4 goals and assisted two more, making himself indispensable to Unai Emery.
#8 Mauro Icardi
Mauro Icardi has been one of the most consistent and lethal finishers in Europe for the last few years. As Inter Milan's No.9, he remains their go-to player to break the deadlock in any league match.
He has scored 4 goals and 2 assists to his name so far, which might be below his standards, but having only started in 6 games this season in Serie A, his stats are solid. He has scored twice in as many appearances in the Champions League.
He exemplified what a No.9 should do, by scoring an injury time winner against bitter rivals AC Milan in the mother of all Italian derbies at the Giuseppe Meazza.
All stats are from transfermarkt.com
#7 Robert Lewandowski
In a shocking onset of the Bundesliga season, Bayern Munich find themselves in fourth place after 8 games and it's equally shocking not to see Robert Lewandowski on top of the scoring charts.
Although behind in the Golden Boot race, the Bayern No.9 has been doing his duty unfailingly. He has found the back of the net 5 times and has been involved in two assists in 7 matches so far.
In such tough times, the German champions can always rely on their frontman who has been involved in roughly 50% of all Bayern goals so far.
# 6 Edinson Cavani
When players like Neymar and Mbappe play on either of the flanks, scoring goals can become a daunting task for any player. How Edinson Cavani still manages to squeeze in the goals ever so often, is really impressive.
The player who inherited the No.9 jersey from Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been on the score sheet 5 times this season, with 2 assist too in 7 appearances for PSG.
The Uruguayan is capable of so much more than his current tally and it is just a matter of time before he is back in the contention for the Ligue 1 Golden Boot.
All stats are from transfermarkt.com
#5 Wissam Ben Yedder
Take a look at the LaLiga table, you'll find Sevilla on 4th position, above Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. The reason for that, their attackers. They boast the second-best attacking stats in La Liga this season.
And one of the main contributor up front has been their No.9 Wissam Ben Yedder. The Frenchman has scored 5 goals and assisted 2 more, in only 5 starts for the Sevillistas in LaLiga.
He's not a traditional striker but makes up for his lack of strength by his speed and clinical finishing.
#4 Luis Suarez
Luis Suarez is one of the most deadly strikers in the world right now. The former Liverpool poacher has been phenomenal at Camp Nou.
This season, he has helped Barcelona to stay at the top of the table in La Liga with his 4 goals and 4 assists. But the Uruguayan is yet to hit top gear because we know he is much more capable than scoring 4 goals in 9 games in LaLiga.
The unfortunate injury to Messi provides him with the opportunity to establish himself as the top No.9 in Spain, if not Europe, in the coming weeks.
All stats are from transfermarkt.com
#3 Sebastian Haller
If you follow Bundesliga, then the name Sebastian Haller must ring a bell. Haller won the 2017 Bundesliga Goal of the Year award for his outrageous overhead kick against Stuttgart.
For those of you who are unaware of the development of this really lethal finisher in the Bundesliga, the 24-year-old Frenchman can be described as the perfect modern No.9 who's got the physique, speed, finishing and even acrobatic skills to terrorize the opposition defences.
The former Utrecht forward has been active in front of the goal this season too and has scored 5 goals and assisted 6 in 8 starts for the club. This youngster is a beast.
#2 Krzysztof Piatek
No one knew about this 23-year-old Polish striker last season, come this season and out of nowhere this Genoa forward fired himself right at the top of the European goal-scoring charts.
Krzysztof Piatek, leading goal-scorer in the Serie A, has literally been carrying his side in the league so far, having managed to score in 7 of his 8 appearances for the club. His individual tally of 9 goals accounts for 70% of all the goals scored by I Rossoblu.
All stats are from transfermarkt.com
#1 Paco Alcacer
No player has been more influential on the pitch than the Barcelona loanee Paco Alcacer this season.
The former Valenica striker has been on fire ever since joining Borussia Dortmund this summer. And is proving to be a worthy successor of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Coming straight to the stats, in his debut Bundesliga season, the Spaniard has scored 7 goals in 4 appearances. He made 3 of these appearances as a substitute and already boasts a brace and a 30-minute hat-trick in the league.
The 25-year-old has only been on the pitch for a total of 127 minutes and with 7 goals scored, boasts a ridiculous 18 minutes per goal stat.
The new Dortmund No.9 has proved his mettle with match-winning performances in not one but two of the fixtures coming in as a late substitute.
All stats are from transfermarkt.com
