A midfielder who can score goals! Merino leads Spain s World Cup qualifying scorer list and is expected to break the record

"World Sports News" reported that Merino has scored 6 goals in Spain's 4 World Cup qualifying games, leading the team, surpassing Oyarzabal, Pedri and Ferran Torres.

Merino's goal data makes him expected to break the Spanish team's single World Cup qualifying record, which is currently held by Villa, Julio Salinas and Isidro Langara, who all scored 7 goals. Merino still has two games left to surpass this record.

This transformation not only occurs in the national team, but also in Arsenal when Jocles is absent, he also plays a similar forward role. The statistics show a change in his style: he is positioned more advanced, running more into the penalty area as an "attacker" rather than organizing play as a traditional midfielder.

This resulted in a reduction in the number of touches and passes he made. He averaged 41.47 passes per game at Real Sociedad and dropped to 27.8 at Arsenal. However, this resulted in a significant increase in goal efficiency, with the number of goals per 90 minutes rising from 0.16 to 0.29, and the shooting efficiency increasing from 35% to 50%.