Do Fulham have a better strikeforce than Chelsea?

On Twitter the other evening a message appeared on my timeline from a Fulham fan crowing that they have a better strikeforce than their West London rivals Chelsea.

Do they really? Let's take a look;

The first thing to note is that Chelsea effectively have just two strikers. Forget the dazzling array of attacking midfielders in support, we are talking about Fernando Torres and Daniel Sturridge.

Fulham meanwhile have four strikers, Dimitar Berbatov, Bryan Ruiz, Mladen Petric and Hugo Rodallega.

Now we are not suggesting for one minute Chelsea fans would swap Torres for Rodallega, but is Fulham's quartet more attractive than Chelsea's two?

Let's take a look at the statistics for the season so far;

Fernando Torres (Chelsea): 16 appearances, 6 goals, 3 assists.

Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea): 9 appearances, 2 goals, 1 assist

Total: 8 goals, 4 assists.

Dimitar Berbatov (Fulham): 5 appearances, 3 goals, 1 assist

Bryan Ruiz (Fulham): 6 appearances, 1 goal, 4 assists

Mladen Petric (Fulham): 5 appearances, 3 goals, 1 assists

Hugo Rodallega (Fulham): 9 appearances, 1 goals, 2 assists

Total: 8 goals, 8 assists.

So what does this show? It displays that Chelsea's two strikers have contributed as many goals between them as Fulham's four. Is this because they have better service, or simply because they have played more games? It also displays that Fulham's strikers are more creative. Perhaps this is because Martin Jol's team like to line up with two up front, as opposed to Chelsea playing a lone striker, meaning there is more chance for Fulham's attackers to play off one another, rather than simply being asked to finish off chances.

The other interesting aspect to note of this debate, is that both clubs could be active in the transfer window. Chelsea have been heavily linked with Falcao, and Fulham with Darren Bent. No prizes for guessing which way that will tip the debate.

We are guessing one thing though, and that is that neither Chelsea or Fulham fans would swap what they currently have for one another. Chelsea are riding high at the top of the Premier League, and Fulham are just one point below Arsenal in seventh and the prospects for both clubs look excellent.

Whose strikeforce would you rather have? Fulham's four goalscorers or Chelsea's two? 

image: © Ben Sutherland