Ronaldo and Aubameyang are KILLING Man Utd and Chelsea

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 6 Nov 2022 17:21 GMT
• 4 min read

Chelsea and Man Utd both have a lot in common.

Both teams have new managers, both spent a fortune in the summer transfer window, and both face a struggle to merely finish in the top four this season.

And one of the biggest reasons why a Champions League spot is going to be difficult to achieve is due to the lack of a suitable number nine.

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This was highlighted vividly on Sunday during the defeats suffered by both teams.

Chelsea were outplayed in their 1-0 home loss to league leaders Arsenal, who controlled the game, created plenty of opportunities and barely conceded anything.

Graham Potter’s men were completely toothless in attack. Astonishingly, lone striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had just eight touches before being substituted in the 64th minute.

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His performance was reminiscent of Romelu Lukaku’s horror show against Crystal Palace last season, when he managed seven touches in total.

Lukaku was loaned back to Inter Milan this past summer after a dreadful season following his €115 million move in 2021.

Aubameyang arrived from Barcelona to replace him in pre-season and it was hoped the former Gunner could give Chelsea a cutting edge they so badly have missed over the last two seasons or more.

However, so far there has been no real improvement for Chelsea in the striker position.

Chelsea are the second lowest scorers in the top half of the Premier League with 17. Aubameyang has contributed just one goal himself, although he does have two in the Champions League.

Man Utd have scored only one goal more than Chelsea in the Premier League – and they face a similar problem to the Blues following their emphatic 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa.

Having been left out of the starting XI in the early weeks of the season, Cristiano Ronaldo has slowly worked his way back to be the first-choice number nine.

However, the 37-year-old looks a shadow of his former great self. Like Aubameyang, he also has just one Premier League goal this season, from 10 appearances. He also has three goals in all competitions, having scored twice in the Europa League against Sheriff.

While Man Utd have looked a slicker and better structured outfit than Chelsea – the heavy defeats to Man City and Aston Villa aside – their frontline isn’t working either.

Ronaldo is too old, too slow and lacks the intensity and pressing to fit in with what Erik ten Hag wants from his forwards out of possession.

But if Ronaldo doesn’t play, Ten Hag doesn’t have any other natural strikers. The likes of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial can play as a number nine, but they are purely wide attackers.

This all means that both Chelsea and Man Utd probably need to go out and sign a top striker.

Ideally, this would be in January. But we all know how difficult it is to do (good) business mid-season.

With Aubameyang and Ronaldo remaining in their current roles in their current form, the top four is certainly at risk for their clubs.