Does Leeds United ace have what it takes to replace Sunderland's Ross Stewart?

But could Joe Gelhardt be the man to make light of Stewart’s new absence?

We’ve looked at the stats to try to measure the potential of the loan signing to match up to Sunderland’s attacking main man.

THE AIR APPARENT

It’s an obvious worry and the data seems to confirm it – Stewart’s aerial power will be much missed, and is unlikely to be matched by Gelhardt.

Despite playing with his back to goal, Stewart has won an impressive 49% of his duels in the air this season.

In his 15 Premier League appearances for Leeds in 2022-23 – all but one of them off the bench – Gelhardt won just 31% of balls in the air, having managed a 34% success rate in 20 outings in 2012-22.

And while Stewart is well into double figures for headed goals for Sunderland, Gelhardt never scored with his head for Leeds in a competitive game.

However, the youngster did find the net with a bullet header in a pre-season friendly against A-League team Brisbane Roar.

KEEP IT GROUNDED

Stewart is no mug on the ground, with his ability to hold the ball up and bring team-mates into play a key element of Sunderland’s tactics.

But the fact that Gelhardt has averaged more touches of the ball per minute this season – 0.56 against Stewart’s 0.53 – shows he could also operate as the Black Cats’ main attacking focus.

PRODUCTIVITY?

Where it matters most, Gelhardt is a match for Stewart when it comes to getting into goalscoring positions.

The two are locked together in terms of shooting this season, each averaging an effort on goal every 23 minutes.

But, accuracy-wise, there may seem no comparison, with Stewart hitting the target with almost 46% of those shots, while Gelhardt has troubled the goalkeeper with just 14.3% of his attempts.

However, it is Gelhardt – despite Stewart’s 10 goals in 13 appearances this season – who has the edge in terms of goals-per-minute played, averaging a goal every 74 minutes versus the Scot’s 104 minutes.

VERDICT

Gelhardt clearly has the ability to be as involved in as much of Sunderland’s attacking work as Stewart – and shares his appetite for goal.

But the youngster will have to greatly improve his shooting accuracy, and contribute more in the air, to match the overall contribution of the Loch Ness Drogba.