Perceptions of West Ham and Arsenal star’s seasons are very different.
Ballon d’Or nominees Mesut Ozil and Dimitri Payet lit up the Premier League last season – but in 2016/17 there is only one winner so far.
Dimitri Payet has been the most creative of the so-called assist kings, with Arsenal record signing Ozil only setting up one Premier League goal all season.
The perception of the two has been very different, with Ozil’s Champions League wondergoal against Ludogorets helping mask periods of ineffectiveness in the Premier League.
The German is in the unusual position at Arsenal of having scored more goals than he has created, and has certainly added a new ruthless streak to his game in terms of goalscoring this season.
Arsenal’s form over the past two months has been superb, and they are once again inside the top four places.
Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil celebrates
To be doing this without Ozil being at his creative best speaks volumes for their all round quality, which is the opposite of West Ham and Dimitri Payet.
Payet had a slow start to the campaign after a late return to action after his Euro 2016 heroics, but he has stepped it up considerably.
He has created 16 more chances than Ozil in one game fewer, and has three more assists.
The negative is that he only has one goal to his name, but this is a figure the Frenchman is bound to improve upon over the coming months, and the strike was certainly a memorable one, a mazy solo goal against Stoke.
Perhaps a bigger problem for him is West Ham’s form, with the Hammers slumping down into 17th place in the table.
If it had not been for the club’s profligate strikers – who have yet to score a single league goal this season – the Frenchman could have had even more assists on his already creditable tally.
West Ham United’s Dimitri Payet scores their first goal
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