Sokratis Expects 'Goal Machine' Lacazette to Step Up in Aubameyang's Absence

Sokratis Papastathopoulos has backed out-of-form Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette to fill the void left by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in their upcoming fixtures after the club's leading scorer this season was sent off at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

The Gunners remain unbeaten in their last three following their trip to Selhurst Park, but another failure to win from a leading position this season left Mikel Arteta's men in 10th in the Premier League.

The Greece centre-back said Lacazette can step up despite having not scored since December 12, per Goal's Charles Watts: "He's a machine. A goal machine. Laca's a very good player. In some games, from the outside, you can't see what he can do. Maybe he is struggling a little bit, but we have to see also how the game is and which guy he has behind him."

Lacazette started his fourth consecutive Premier League game in Week 22 and set up Aubameyang to score the opener early on. The captain was sent off in the 67th minute for a foul on Max Meyer following a review by the video assistant referee:

Aubameyang's suspension will have him miss league games at home to Sheffield United and away to Chelsea as well as their FA Cup fourth-round fixture at Bournemouth on January 27. His 14 goals in the league are joint-second behind Jamie Vardy's 17.

An ankle injury restricted Lacazette's involvement at the start of the season, and a tally of six goals in 19 appearances across all competitions (15 starts) doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence.

The 28-year-old joined Arsenal in 2017 after scoring 113 goals in his last 183 appearances for Lyon, but he's so far failed to score more than 19 goals in a single season for the north Londoners.

Sokratis added: "I think Laca is coming better and better. I think he is a very good player, a massively important player for us. We are with him every time, he is with us and we will show altogether in the future a lot of things." 

Arteta can ill-afford to direct much frustration at Aubameyang for his red card considering they now share a rare piece of Arsenal history, per OptaJoe:

Lacazette took to Twitter after Saturday's game and showed sympathy for his dismissed team-mate:

Whereas Aubameyang is accustomed to playing out wide or as a No. 9, Lacazette forces Arteta's hand given he's featured almost exclusively as a central striker this campaign.

The Frenchman has two Premier League assists this season to Aubameyang's one despite having made 10 fewer starts, and only the Gabon international has more direct goal involvements (15) for Arsenal in the competition.

Football writer Jonny Singer didn't appear to place much faith in Lacazette shouldering the greater attacking burden:

Arsenal sit mid-table in the Premier League after 22 games and were braced for tough fixtures against Sheffield and Chelsea that have been made all the more complicated by Aubameyang's absence.