There's more than one way to skin a cat, and Auba being a constant threat on the shoulder opens up space for those behind him, especially if you play with a 10 like Odegaard. It also gives these guys an option to play a simple killer ball vs having to work it into the box, case in point the Saka pass for Auba's first, or the Odegaard pass for the offside goal. I said this in the match thread too, but in the last few weeks Auba has gone clean through on goal more times than I can remember Laca doing over the last two years. Watch Leicester, all Vardy does is play on the shoulder.
The only point to having a link player at centre forward is if your wide men have real goal scoring pedigree (like Salah or Mane). But when you have guys like Saka, Pepe, ESR and Odegaard, who are more known for their creative prowess, you may as well have a striker up top who can grab you 20+ goals a season and make the runs that need to be made.
