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By Tom Rostance
BBC Sport
A World Cup Golden Boot winner with 130 Premier League targets, the PFA Young Player of the Year or assist every 103 minutes in the top flight and among the brightest young talents of football.
Is there a front three in world soccer at the moment than Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane and Jadon Sancho?
Theyre as exciting as anything, was manager Gareth Southgates evaluation of Englands attacking options after beating Bulgaria last month.
Sterling, kane and Sancho have scored or assisted 120 goals involving them in the Premier League, Bundesliga and since the start of last season also for England. Can anybody else in the world piece with a greater three-man strikeforce?
Chart shows combined objectives and assists for three players each country from the beginning of the year to Tuesday, 8 October 2019 in league matches and internationals.
With group shapes and selections making an immediate comparison catchy this isnt an exact science. But we have chosen a front three and you can vote in the bottom for the ideal.
Southgate took England to the World Cup playing a straight three with Kane and Sterling ahead. But hes since shifted to a front , with Borussia Dortmunds Sancho replacing Manchester Uniteds Marcus Rashford for the 5-3 win against Kosovo. Those three today appear to be the first-choice attack of the manager.
No other team in Europe can beat the haul of 19 targets in Euro 2020 qualifying heading to the internationals of this week of England – theyre par by Belgium and France.
Sterling has outscored Kane for club and country – . His 12 goal involvements (goals and assists) will be the most since the beginning of last season for any player we looked at across the top 10 nations on the planet.
Sancho scored Kosovo – his first targets – and is definitely the player available to Southgate. His 19 league assists are double the next greatest – Sterling – while his 132 completed he is put by dribbles 37 clear of the Manchester City man.
Kane (26), Sterling (24) and Sancho (19) all have age on their side as well. They are some of the strikeforces trio – by two decades – we looked at.
Belgium are the side in the world so that its not surprising that their attacking options are varied and abundant. Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne has performed with the best of the three at times – but hes being disregarded because he wants to play and does if everyone is healthy.
Eden Hazard, Dries Mertens and Romelu Lukaku have started the most internationals since the beginning of last season in order that they get the nod for us.
Hazard has had his injury problems last summer since leaving Chelsea but he remains a world-class attacker – no participant we looked in has generated more chances. Lukaku might have endured a final period – and he doesnt produce much for those around him but he knows exactly where the aim is.
He averages a goal every 58 seconds within the past 14 months to Belgium. No other participant on our long record has scored more global goals in that period than his nine.
World Cup holders and also rated number two in the world – France will have the strength in depth in world soccer. Somewhere at LEquipe someones offices may have place Monaco striker Wissam Ben Yedder within their version of the piece before Olivier Giroud et Twist – .
But Giroud – despite hardly playing for Chelsea in the Premier League – remains first option for Les Bleus, starting 11 internationals because August 2018. In actuality, of all of the forwards we looked at just team-mate Antoine Griezmann and Brazils Roberto Firmino have started more in that moment.
The Kylian Mbappe of paris St-Germain stays a incredible talent and shone in the World Cup. Not Lionel Messi may match his team record of a goal every 77 minutes.
When fit, love him or loathe him Neymar remains the man for Brazil. He missed a lot of games last season but nevertheless weighed with nearly a goal per game for Paris St-Germain from the league, and he won his 100th cap on Thursday. Hes 61 goals for his country – behind Pele and Ronaldo on the list. Since the start of last season he has seven assists for Brazil – more than any other these top 10 states were assessed to by us.
Who should perform alongside Neymar? Liverpools own Roberto Firmino has started 15 days for Brazil in the past 14 weeks, with Gabriel Jesus of both Manchester City and also Richarlison of Everton sharing the next spot most frequently. As he has scored eight goals at the time in contrast to Richarlisons six, jesus gets the nod. Tough lines.
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 93 goals for Portugal and shows no indication of slowing although he might be 34.
Portugal have tended to perform Ronaldos side – the Andre of AC Milan and Manchester Citys Bernardo – within the previous 12 months. Andre Silva might have been packed off loan to clubs in Spain and Germany but remains an integral man for his nation. He played games for Portugal compared to Ronaldo since the start of last season.
Bernardo Silva and broad right of front three is much more of a midfielder however play plus has five assists in his previous 10 caps.
This summer, atletico Madrid paid # 113m for teenager Joao Felix and he started Portugals last game – but hes yet to score for his country in three looks.
We are shoehorning a bit here – Uruguay played with a in the Copa America that summer. Both and Middlesbrough man Cristhian Stuani will be the guys but are 32 years older – .
Old but gold – that the trio stay lethal at league level. Cavani is the goalscorer of Paris St-Germain and his shots on target to targets record is absurd in Ligue 1. They go in the stands or in the Web.
Suarez remains a focus for Barcelona and will be the imaginative among the trio. On top of the possibilities he lays at the Nou Camp, the former Liverpool man has generated chances for Uruguay (13) than the other two joint.
Spains assault is in a state of transition. Arsenal midfielder Dani Ceballos started in a front three last month against Romania while Suso, Mikel Oyarzabal and Isco have played attack in recent matches.
Weve gone with goalscorers who have started a minimum of five internationals in the previous season – the Alvaro Morata of Atletico Madrid, Rodrigo of both Valencia and Iago Aspas of all Celta Vigo. Aspas and Rodrigo started both matches in last years Nations League against England.
Problems here – Croatia only really play with one up front and former Leicester man Andrej Kramaric is out with an injury at the moment. Bruno Petkovic is the second cab off the rank – hes scored in five appearances for the World Cup finalists recently. But as he plays his homeland for Dinamo Zagreb – not in one of Europesbig leagues – though hes scored 20 goals in 43 games for club and country we do not have detailed data because of his league accomplishments.
Still another team facing a stage up front, together with James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao not in the squad but starters in the summertime Copa America. Falcao is injured at the moment too.
Duvan Zapata deserves his place at our trio and was excellent for Atalanta season.
And then theres Messi.
The good one continues to be an enigma on the stage, playing in the Copa America alongside Sergio Aguero along with Paulo Dybala but suspended because he was sent off against Chile. Hes already retired from the global scene.
Look to Barcelona at his numbers however – 37 goals, 91 shots on target, 97 chances created. We looked in, despite often dropping deep to have on the ball that he had more shots on goal in the league compared to any participant, and only Hazard made more opportunities. Mbappe (34) was the only other man to score over 30 league goals in exactly the identical period.
Dybala misses out on our choice since a) he has just scored six league goals for Juventus in 35 looks ( and b) Lautaro Martinez has scored nine goals in 10 starts for his nation.
Youve seen the data, and no doubt disagree with some of our choices.
Time to vote.
There was someone out there who didnt take action and who could do it
Who has the best front three in the world?
This vote will close at 19:00 BST on Friday 11 October. You may vote only once.
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