Kean on target in Italy U21s' rout of Luxembourg

His movement seems good and he strikes the ball well which bodes well but if he cannot put the ball in the back of the net fairly regularly then there will be those who might argue that Calvert-Lewin gives as much to the team.

I'd certainly say that right now, Dominic Calvert-Lewin offers more to the side. He has a better all round game and you could see the difference when Dom replaced him in the last match. Kean is going to be a special talent. He could be world class. I have no doubt about his potential. I would have him coming off the bench for now, though. 30 minutes in every game regardless of how Dom was playing, and then wait until Kean made it so I had no choice but to play him.

Whose your bet to finish the season with more goals?

On the basis of the performances of Sigurdsson, Iwobi and Richarlison for sure, Tosun would get some chances and he's a natural goal scorer whose confidence will be high after last night.

I would imagine if we had Vardy as our main striker I could well see us competing for a top 6 or even top 4 spot.

I'm loving his movement, first touch, power and pace. He needs a decent playmaker beside him like at Juventus where there was more creativity, speed and space for him to score.

What a striker's role is depends on the manager and system. For example, Firmino's main job at the RS is to work hard and facilitate space for Salah and Mane; goals from him are a bonus rather than his primary focus and function.

The improved performance in the last third of last season wasn't due to Dom's hold-up play in my opinion. It was only ordinary.

Obviously Liverpool score more goals. Firmino scored around 12 of 85 Liverpool goals last season which is about 14% and Calvert-Lewin scored around 6 of 60 goals which is about 10% (having started less games). Obviously Firmino is a better player but I think the idea that central strikers don't HAVE to prioritise scoring stands. It's about the team functioning properly. If the goal scoring falls mainly on wingers or an AMC, then so be it.

I'd say many factors contributed to our improved end of season but Calvert-Lewin started pretty much all of those games so you can't deny he played an important part.

Tosun is probably the best penalty box striker at the club, but his game doesn't fit how Silva wants the forwards and team to play.

I don't think Tusun will acquire the extra pace and work rate to make it but his experience and goals could be very important.

Calvert-Lewin has improved a lot over the last few seasons and I hope that continues. A few goals will do him good.

Kean is learning. He's got a lot to learn and adjust too but he's the main hope. I hope he's the top scorer at the end of the season but, like Calvert-Lewin, he's got a lot to improve on.

Top scorer probably Richarlison. But I still think he's most effective as a winger, not a central striker. He's also very young but absolute class. Still learning himself.

Firminho has scored nearly 45 goals in the last two seasons. So as a central striker I don't think he's doing too bad with scoring goals, unfortunately for us.

I appreciate yourself and a few others are very keen to defend Calvert-Lewin but, if he doesn't start putting the ball in the net more often, then he shouldn't be starting — and that goes for whoever is playing in that position, not just Dom.

Expected Goals Actual Goals
Pickford 0 0
Lossl 0 0
Coleman 2 0
Sidibe 0 0
Digne 4 1
Baines 0 0
Mina 2 0
Keane 2 0
Holgate 1 0
Gibson 0 0
Delph 1 0
Schneiderlin 0 0
Gbamin 1 0
Sigurdsson 6 1
Davies 2 0
Gomes 2 0
Richarlison 15 3
Bernard 4 1
Walcott 4 0
Iwobi 8 2
Tosun 0 0
Calvert-Lewin 10 0
Kean 12 0
OG 2 0
TOTAL 78 8

I have Charlie with 15, Iwobi 8, Walcott 4 (!), Tosun (0), DCL 10, Kean 12, Siggy 6, Bernard 4, Digne 4. I will be reviewing this regularly, let us see where we end up.

Kean and Calvert-Lewin will score no more than 15 between them. The position in Silva's formation does not give the centre-forward enough opportunities. This is the point that Sam is making above. The Firmino example is a good one. His role in the Liverpool side is not to score goals. He does score goals but that is indeed a bonus. People need to stop seeing Richarlison and Iwobi / Bernard / Walcott as wingers. They do not play as wingers, they play as forwards and the centre-forward creates space for them to move into and it is the wider forwards who should score the goals. Just like Mane and Salah score more of Liverpool's goals.

In the old systems of the 1990s and before. The striker would touch the ball last, ie to score the goal and this would be his first touch in a move. Our central forward is touching it early in the build up. He is involved and so other players get beyond him. This is the creation of space. Richarlison has far more goal-scoring opportunities than Calvert-Lewin. Some of you think this is down to talent. It's not. It's down to design. Richarlison is getting into the spaces Silva wants him to. Calvert-Lewin is pulling defenders away from that space to give Richarlison the opportunity. It's not a "defensive forward". It is clever attacking play. This is a hallmark of all of Silva's sides where the centre forward is never the top scorer. This could change if Kean proves to be as good as I think he will be, but that will require an adjustment of tactics.

Calvert-Lewin is really a midfield player pushed up front by Sheffield Utd because he is tall. Perhaps he should be tried in midfield again. He has never looked a striker to me.

You miss Sam's point. As I discussed above. Firmino may score goals, but he does not score as many as Mane or Salah. Season after season. This is not because of quality, it's because of the role he plays. The central player's not the one to score. The wider forwards get beyond him and into the space he creates, often fed the ball by him too, and so they get all the opportunities. Firmino scores less because he has less opportunity.

Calvert-Lewin has few opportunities. Richarlison is the one who gets them. Our play is designed, like Liverpool's (hence the Firmino reference by Sam) for the wider forwards (not wingers but forwards) to get past Calvert-Lewin and score. Which they do.

Thankfully Silva has sussed out his tactics early doors and we now look like scoring goals without either of them in the team. I'm certain it will the same eleven that started the Wolves game for the upcoming Bournemouth match.

If we need a Firmino-type player, let's buy a proper one with the 㿞 million we never spent on Zaha.

In some ways, he reminds me of Amokachi, though Amokachi is more elegant.

At the moment, all our strikers suffer from the same problem i.e. our lack of fluidity amongst the front four. They are playing as 4 individual players, rather than a partnership of 4 attacking players.

We are not creating enough opportunities for the lone striker, though the saving grace is that our play facilitates our flank attackers to come into the central space.

Firmino and most centre-forwards in a front three are the "tip of the spear" their job is to link up play and it's the two either side of him who score the goals.

Most importantly, the wide-forwards outscore the centre-forward every season but one of Marco Silva's managerial career.

The point is the wide forwards score the goals. This is the modern system. The goals are meant to come from Richarlison, the other wide forward (Iwobi, Bernard or Walcott) and not the centre-forward. understand?

Silva even said this week how he expects goals from Iwobi and more goals from Bernard. Kean was told to aim for 6 for the season. This is the way we play.

Keep banging on about how many goals Firmino does score, it does not matter. He does not score as many as the flanking forwards, Salah and Mane. The central forward does more than stroll around the pitch waiting to tap it in. The game has changed.

Firminho scores goals. Whether the other two outscore him is irrelevant.

The point is, when Calvert-Lewin plays as a wide forward or a central forward, he doesn't score goals.

Silva may well expect his wide forwards to score more than his central player in his system but I don't think he expects his central player to not score at all.

Calvert-Lewin has had a long spell in the team now and his goal return is non-existent. That is not right under any manager or any system.

The training and movement is all designed for the wide forwards to be the ones to finish the chances.

It's a front three, not a lone striker. Silva has often had the central striker score less than 10. That's what he expects.

We need to let go of these outdated concepts of having a striker like Latchford. What did Big Bob win for us anyway?

Does the team score goals and win games? That's all that matters. Not who is scoring them. Silva trains the side for Richarlison to get the chance or for Sigurdsson to be in place to score as he does.

This is not a one-off — it's happened in every one of his seven seasons as a manager.

Last season, the bulk of our goals came from two players. What if one gets injured or goes off in terms of scoring? Sigurdsson is 30, and so far doesn't look quite as sharp to me. In our case, the central striker has to contribute goals or we will struggle.

Then the wide forwards would be even narrower and the central forward would be the one to drop deeper into Sigurdsson's space and pick up the ball. Not quite as a playmaker. He'd get his head on the ball and direct it wide or find a man or even bring it down. He'd be the one to link up play and bring Gomes more into the game. Gomes would also flourish in a Sigurdsson-less Everton.

The problem would be maintaining those 14 goals Sigurdsson scored last season. We'd need Bernard to score a lot more than he does. Iwobi too. And of course Calvert-Lewin must chip in.

As long as the team wins, Calvert-Lewin has done his job. I still believe he'll start against Bournemouth and that he'll score more than 10 this season.

His preferred choice is now Kean, his movement is so much better, and we now look like scoring lots of goals. Hopefully Kean himself will get off the mark soon and his confidence will soar; I can't wait.

The fullbacks and CDs may get 8 combined. Our front three have to deliver the goals, especially if Sigurdsson's return drops. Calvert-Lewin will have to start scoring as a sub to regain his place.

I'm sorry mate but in no system under no manager is the central striker not meant to score goals.

He may not be meant to score as many goals as other players in other positions but he is still expected to score some goals.

If Firminho wasn't contributing 15 or so goals a season and instead was scoring approx 5 goals, Klopp would drop him, irrespective of whether the other two were still scoring.