Midas Man: Examining Lacazette's crucial influence on NEOM SC | OneFootball

While the focus across the past few weeks has understandably been on action at the top of the table, including the high-profile match-ups between Cristiano Ronaldo, Ivan Toney and Karim Benzema, away from that spotlight another of the Roshn Saudi League's headline acts has rediscovered his goalscoring form.

Before the season began, NEOM Sports Club were expected to play a significant role in the league's overall  narrative, but their struggles left them far from the fray playing out towards the summit.

Not since September have they managed back-to-back wins, while they entered Matchweek 24 occupying eighth spot in standings. With 11 rounds remaining, the hugely ambitious promoted club trailed the top four by 21 points.

With impressive off-season recruitment and investment, NEOM SC would’ve anticipated more - even with the caveat of this being their debut campaign in the Saudi Arabian top flight.

But the past month has offered some hope with an uptick in form, as their headline summer signing, Alexandre Lacazette, has once more relocated his mojo.

The Tabuk-based side have won three and drawn two of their past six fixtures, with Lacazette finding the net in five of those encounters. Indeed, the only match in which he didn’t score in was NEOM SC's defeat to title-chasing Al Qadsiah.

It’ll come as a welcome relief to both manager Christophe Galtier and the player, after Lacazette went through an uncharacteristically barren spell in the middle of the campaign.

Having notched four goals in his first five games in the RSL, lifting NEOM SC as high as fourth, the former Olympique Lyon and Arsenal striker struggled to maintain his Midas touch. In his next 12 league appearances, he netted only once.

It’s no coincidence, then, that NEOM SC’s turnaround in fortunes has coincided with Lacazette’s return to goalscoring form.

As he displayed at the beginning of the season, when Lacazette lands those decisive blows, his team's results flow. And, during the past month, that’s exactly what’s transpired.

Amid that 12-match dry spell, NEOM SC triumphed three times, one of those wins a 2-1 success against Al Hazem. It represented the solitary game in which Lacazette scored.

It underlines just how important the Frenchman is to Galtier’s side, and set-up, this season.

As does this standout stat: this term, Lacazette’s goals have earned NEOM SC 13 points. It's the third-highest behind the 2025-26 RSL top two scorers, Toney and Julian Quinones. Both star forwards have earned Al Ahli and Al Qadsiah, respectively, 18 points. Each club are championship contenders.

Also, after Lacazette's strike against Al Fayha last time out took him to 10 goals this term, he stands now as the fourth France native to register double figures in a single RSL season. Even better, he’s only the third to do so in his debut campaign.

“It's my role to help the team; it's my role to score goals,” Lacazette said after a Man of the Match performance against Al Riyadh earlier this month. “I don't always get the best chances, but it's up to me to make the most of every opportunity and put the ball in the back of the net.”

He's doing just that. Digging deeper into the numbers, while Lacazette ranks third at NEOM SC for total shots (40), he places No.1 for shots on target, with his 10 goals coming from 22 attempts.

That equates to a conversion rate of 45 percent, which although short of league leaders such as Toney (62%), Roger Martinez (60%) and Quinones (53%), is the same as superstar Ronaldo. Impressively, it’s more than a couple of fellow shining RSL debutants in Joao Felix (40%) and Mateo Retegui (42%).

When allied to four assists, Lacazette sits on 14 goal contributions, positioning him 12th in the RSL and equal to the likes of Al Hilal lead pair Ruben Neves and Salem Al Dawsari. Meanwhile, at NEOM SC, Lacazette ranks behind only Said Benrahma for chances created, with 32 to Benrahma’s 37.

It emphasises his influence on the team. While, undoubtedly, he would’ve had higher expectations on the goal front coming into the RSL, it’s nonetheless been an impressive first season for Lacazette.

Arguably, it’s the club’s win-loss record that proves the greatest disappointment - something Lacazette attributes to the relative inexperience of his fledgling side.

But, as he insists, Rome - or, as this case may be, NEOM SC - wasn’t built in a day.

“We have a fairly young team, [so] we also lack confidence at times,” Lacazette said. “We struggle to manage our weak moments, and that's one of the reasons why we're inconsistent.

“It's just the beginning, but the project is taking shape. It can't all be done in one season.”

Having lost only one game in which Lacazette has scored this campaign, there’s one thing that NEOM SC do already know: when their lead frontman finds the net, good things tend to come their way.