Patson Daka Has Scored Five Goals in the Europa League & Got his Second Premier League goal in the 4-0 win over Newcastle
Patson Daka Has Scored Five Goals in the Europa League & Got his Second Premier League goal in the 4-0 win over Newcastle
Partnering Patson Daka with Jamie Vardy in the second half of the season could produce electrifying results for Leicester City – but it might be too great a gamble for Brendan Rodgers to take.
City’s £23million striker Daka has scored five goals in the Europa League and got his second Premier League goal in the 4-0 win over Newcastle United as he started ahead of Vardy with games coming thick and fast in December.
City ended last season with a front two, Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho working in tandem to guide the club to FA Cup glory and nearly seal a Champions League spot.
Daka arrived having spent much of the past season playing in a strike partnership for RB Salzburg, the Zambian firing 34 goals in 42 outings.
And upon signing, he said he was “excited to be able to be next to Vardy”, a player he grew up revering. But is it possible for the duo to start next to each other?
While Daka has been signed as a player who can have an immediate impact, he is also seen as a long-term replacement for Vardy, given their similarities. Both have pace to burn and are keen to get beyond the last man and into the box to finish.
But while Daka is used to featuring alongside another speedster, he could find himself isolated in games for Salzburg, particularly when they came up against stronger opposition. The same point has been made about Vardy, who while possessing a decent first touch, doesn’t drop deep to get on the ball often.
For Rodgers, playing two strikers who can be marked out of the game could be a risk.
Simon Clark, an Austria-based journalist who follows the country’s top flight for The Other Bundesliga podcast, would be excited to see how Daka fares alongside City’s talisman.
Soon after Daka joined, he said: “Salzburg generally played with the same style and that was in a 4-4-2, so Daka is very used to playing with a strike partner.
