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What Noah Okafor thinks about playing with Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Leeds United
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- What Noah Okafor thinks about playing with Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Leeds United
Noah Okafor and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are spearheading Leeds United's early European form.
Indeed, four of the Whites' seven Premier League goals scored so far this season have come via these two alone (Okafor one, Calvert-Lewin three).
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Both strikers moved to Elland Road together in last year's summer transfer window, but with differing expectations.
Calvert-Lewin arrived on a free transfer, and many were sceptical over the impact he could make given his rough final few years at Everton.
Meanwhile, Okafor signed in a deal widely reported as being worth £18million from AC Milan, and thus pressure was on him straight away to deliver.
Fast-forward to the present, and both players are firm Elland Road favourites, and evidently forging a strong relationship.
What has Noah Okafor said about Dominic Calvert-Lewin relationship off the pitch?
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When deploying a formation that accommodates two strikers as Daniel Farke does at Leeds, having chemistry between those two is vital.
If the two strikers aren't on the same page and out of sync with one another, then the attack collapses.
Thankfully, Okafor and Calvert-Lewin definitely work in tandem together, with the former the artist and the latter the finisher.
Speaking via BBC Sport West Yorkshire on X, Okafor opened up about just how close he and the England international are both on and off the pitch.
"I love him (Calvert-Lewin) so much as a friend. To play with him makes me so happy," the Swiss international confessed.
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"Also off the pitch we are really close with each other. I'm really happy to have a friend like Dom.
"He gives me good advice in life. Also in moments on and off the pitch that is so, so good like some memories together.
"Yeah, really, really happy to have someone in my team like this, and really happy to have him on my side also like in my private life. He's just like a top guy and top human being."
But how do the underlying numbers show why Okafor and Calvert-Lewin complement each other so well?
How Harry Wilson has actually outperformed Noah Okafor at Leeds United this season Where Okafor and Calvert-Lewin differ in production
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Despite both standing just over six-feet tall and not having too dissimilar physical profiles, Okafor and Calvert-Lewin are very different types of strikers.
Per FotMob , no Premier League striker this season has completed more dribbles than Okafor's 12, meanwhile Calvert-Lewin has made just one.
On the flip side, Calvert-Lewin has won 24 aerial duels this term, whereas Okafor has won only three.
Calvert-Lewin plays 1.92 line-breaking passes per game opposed to Okafor's 3.27, showing again their canvas and paint brush-type relationship on the pitch.
One doesn't really work without the other in this system, so it's no wonder then that the two share such a tight relationship on and off the pitch.
The two will have to be at their best on Saturday, however, if Daniel Farke's side are to have any chance of taking something from their away trip to Arsenal.
