We are talking the top five leagues and all competitions and this serves as a handy little guide to the in-form goalscorers as we welcome back European football this week…
12) Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona, seven goals)
Critics might point out that all those seven goals have come against out-of-form mid-tablers Granada and Athletic Bilbao but the easy rejoinder is to point to the eight assists the Frenchman has notched in the same period. Seven straight La Liga victories in 2021 are at least in part because Ronald Koeman has found a way for Griezmann and Lionel Messi to work gloriously together. As they bloody well should.
11) Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus, seven goals)
Juventus are fourth and eight points behind in Serie A so Ronaldo will surely take little comfort from scoring twice against leaders Inter in the Coppa Italia semi-finals. On the flip side, we are all on board to see him in the Europa League.
10) Romelu Lukaku (Inter Milan, seven goals)
There was a run of four Serie A games without a goal but then came two strikes against Benevento and two against Lazio to take the Belgian level with Ronaldo at the top of the scoring charts once again. It’s little wonder that he is a target for Manchester City. And to those who think he misses chances; his goal conversion rate of 36% is ahead of all his rivals.
9) Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, seven goals)
Even while Liverpool have been disastrously bad, Salah has largely still been scoring goals. That his latest strikes have come in 4-1 and 3-1 defeats to title and Champions League contenders will only enhance those rumors that he sees his future elsewhere. He remains a goalscorer without equal in the Premier League.
Mohamed Salah – 36
Jamie Vardy – 35
Harry Kane – 31
Danny Ings – 30 @IngsDanny is one of only four players to score 30 #PL goals since the start of last season#SOUWOL pic.twitter.com/JorpeBnEeo— Premier League (@premierleague) February 15, 2021
8) Luis Muriel (Atalanta, seven goals)
The Colombian has been in mighty fine form as Atalanta have pulled themselves to within two points of Juventus and progressed to the Coppa Italia final. And all this with Muriel starting only six of their nine Serie A games in 2021.
7) Terem Moffi (Lorient, seven goals)
The Nigerian arrived from Belgium for £7.2m at the end of the summer transfer window and scored only once before December 23. But since then he has notched seven Ligue Un goals in eight games (as well as the winner against PSG in the cup just three minutes after he came off the bench). Links to Premier League clubs will surely be soon incoming.
6) Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, eight goals)
That’s eight in eight Bundesliga games for the Pole as he helps Bayern towards yet another title. He also notched twice in the Club World Cup as El Ahly were despatched in the semi-finals but we don’t count those because it’s the Club World Cup and who really cares? What actually matters is that he failed to score in 45 cup minutes against Holstein Kiel. Poor.
5) Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla, eight goals)
Only Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez have scored more La Liga goals this season than the Moroccan, who has notched two hat-tricks in 2021 to help his club back into the top four. It’s already his best ever goalscoring season and Dortmund should be very worried indeed ahead of Wednesday.
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4) Luis Suarez (Atletico Madrid, eight goals)
Eight goals in seven La Liga games in 2021 for Suarez, who is back in ridiculously good goalscoring form at the grand old age of 34. He has already matched his 16-goal La Liga haul of last season for Barcelona and is on course for his fifth La Liga title in seven years in Spain.
https://twitter.com/Route1futbol/status/1361216193810563073
3) Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City, nine goals)
Before this season, Ilkay Gundogan had never scored more than six goals in a league season in his career. He’s matched that total in his last five league starts, wrote Daniel Storey in Premier League winners and losers. He’s not a striker so none of this would make sense under any other manager but Pep Guardiola.
2) Lionel Messi (Barcelona, nine goals)
Eight goals in his last five La Liga games. We think he might still be quite good.
https://twitter.com/FCBarcelona/status/1361180949799665671
1) Andre Silva (Eintracht Frankfurt, nine goals)
The £34m Milan flop has become the £2.7m Frankfurt sensation with 18 Bundesliga goals leaving him second to only Lewandowski in the German scoring charts. Unbeaten in 2021, a giant slice of credit is due to the Portuguese. Right now he is scoring a very neat goal every 90 minutes.
