Zamora and Cissé – Can they keep QPR in the Premier League?

Mark Hughes was very active on transfer deadline day, signing ex-Liverpool front man Djibril Cissé from Lazio and re-uniting himself with Bobby Zamora from Fulham. Castrol EDGE Performance analysis shows that with an impressive shooting accuracy of 57% and the ability to create a chance for his teammates every 40 mins, Zamora looks set to play an important role in QPR’s battle to avoid relegation.  But it was Cissé who made an immediate impact by scoring on debut in QPR’s 2-2 draw with Aston Villa on Wednesday night.

However, Hughes should not automatically dismiss the striking options that were available to him before his January spending spree.  In particular, 34 year old Heidar Helguson has been in form for the Hoops, scoring 8 goals in the league this season at a chance conversion rate of 26%.  This compares favourably to Zamora’s 5 goals at 22% and Cissé’s meagre 2 goals at 5%, as well as the misfiring Jay Bothroyd and Jamie Mackie.  Indeed, with the lowest conversion rate in Serie A for 2011/12, Cissé’s goal on QPR debut came as something of a surprise.

League action 2011/12 Bobby Zamora Djibril Cissé Heidar Helguson Jay Bothroyd Jamie Mackie
Team Fulham Lazio/QPR QPR QPR QPR
Appearances 15 19 15 16 17
Minutes On Pitch 1,188 1,275 1,141 981 1,226
Goal Attempts
Goals 5 2 8 2 2
Mins per goal 238 638 143 491 613
Shots On Target 13 15 15 10 5
Shots Off Target 10 22 16 15 7
Shooting Accuracy 57% 41% 48% 40% 42%
Chance Conversion 22% 5% 26% 8% 17%
Passing
Goal Assists 5 6 2 1 1
Chances created (inc. Assists) 30 14 15 12 14
Mins per chance created 40 91 76 82 88
Total Passes 471 358 378 387 242
Pass Completion % 75% 71% 58% 69% 82%
Dribbling
Dribbles & Runs 11 38 1 13 60
Dribble Completion % 55% 39% 0% 46% 32%

There are also interesting differences in the trio’s styles of play; whereas Cissé has attempted 34 dribbles this season, Zamora and Helguson have attempted 11 and 1 respectively, reflecting the Frenchman’s continuing reliance on speed and the ability to run at defenders. As a result, Cissé achieved 6 assists for Lazio this season, which is more than both Zamora (5) and Helguson (2).

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