Bayern vs Arsenal: How Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka compare before Champions League clash

Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka: Photo by MAGO / DeFodi Images, Pro Sports Images Saka Bayern Munich host Arsenal at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday in the Champions League league phase, with both sides looking to their star attackers, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka, for inspiration. The Gunners have made a perfect start to the competition, beating Napoli 1-0 on matchday one before securing a 3-0 victory over Lille last week.

Mikel Arteta's side have now won 10 of their last 11 competitive matches, including a narrow 1-0 success over Nottingham Forest at the weekend, which took them to 18 points from seven games and second place in the Premier League table. Bayern, by contrast, have four points from their two European matches, having followed a 5-0 win over Bodo/Glimt with a 3-3 draw at Viking, although they sit top of the Bundesliga after thrashing RB Leipzig 6-1 on Saturday.

Kane marked his 100th Bundesliga appearance in that victory with a goal and two assists, taking his tally to 102 league goals, more than any other player has managed in their first 100 games in the competition. Saka, meanwhile, scored and provided an assist off the bench in Arsenal's win over Lille last Tuesday.

Here, Football Whispers takes a look at how Kane and Saka compare statistically, using Bundesliga and Premier League data from the 2026-27 season. The 33-year-old leads the goalscoring comparison with four goals to Saka's three, although both players have scored a penalty, leaving them with three and two non-penalty goals respectively.

Neither has quite matched his expected goals tally, with Kane's four goals falling 0.99 short of his 4.99 xG and Saka's three falling 0.75 short of his 3.75. The biggest gap comes in creativity, with Kane providing five assists to Saka's none, giving him nine direct goal involvements compared with the Gunners' number seven's three, and 12 between them.

Saka's lack of assists does not tell the full story, though, as FotMob data credits him with 1.20 expected assists from 10 chances created, compared with Kane's 2.06 and 14 chances. Kane has had 29 shots compared with the 25-year-old's 17, working out at around 5.9 per 90 minutes compared with 2.6, but Saka has been more accurate.

He has put 10 efforts on target, one more than Kane's nine, giving him a shots-on-target rate of 58.8% compared with 31%, and he has needed fewer attempts per goal, scoring once every 5.7 shots compared with Kane's 7.3. Both arrive in strong recent form, with Kane scoring twice, including a penalty, in the draw at Viking, extending his run of scoring in Champions League appearances to nine consecutive matches, before his impressive display against Leipzig.

Saka played the full 90 minutes against Forest without scoring but had a goal and an assist against Lille. With Kane's goals and creativity set against Saka's sharper finishing, it will be interesting to see which of the two has the greater influence at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night.