The top 10 goalscorers in Europe’s big five leagues: Lewa, Son, Salah… | OneFootball

We’re well on our way to the end of the season in all of Europe’s big five leagues, and two names remain curiously absent from the top 10 scorers list: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The two have consistently dominated the goalscoring charts in Europe for well over a decade, but they appear to be slowing down, while there are some exceptional young players stepping up to fill the void among some of the usual suspects.

Here are the top 10 (or really, 11) goalscorers in Europe’s big five leagues – Ligue 1, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and the Premier League – so far in 2021-22.

=10 Son Heung-Min

Son’s tendency to go on incredible goalscoring runs has seen him become Spurs’ top goal-scorer ahead of Harry Kane this campaign.

He’s on 17 goals now, already matching his highest ever goalscoring return in the Premier League, and recently became one half of the Premier League’s highest ever goalscoring duo with his effervescent attack partner Kane, the two assisting each other an incredible number of times.

In his last three games he’s scored six goals and is one of the reasons why Spurs are on the edge of returning to the Champions League. Whether they can get across the finish line may come down to whether he can continue his form.

=10 Christopher Nkunku

No one would have been expecting to write about Nkunku at the start of the season when it comes to the leading goalscorers in Europe’s best leagues.

A versatile number 10, the young Frenchman has always had good goalscoring returns but nothing extraordinary, until this year where he has gone on an incredible run.

In 2022 he’s only failed to score in three league games, and is perhaps the most important reason as to why RB Leipzig look set to return to the Champions League this season after a poor beginning of the campaign.

So impressive is the Frenchman, that the often composed Ralf Ragnick was apparently furious when United scouts told him they hadn’t even been keeping an eye on him.

=8. Wissam Ben Yedder

The 31-year-old France international was excellent in 2020-21, getting 20 Ligue 1 goals as Monaco finished third – and he’s carried that form into this campaign.

18 goals have come in 30 appearances so far, including two goals and an assist in the space of 28 minutes after he was introduced from the bench at half-time against Clermont on January 16.

He will be off to the World Cup if he maintains such rich form, and it is a sign of the strength of the French side that he would be playing second fiddle to Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema if he did so.

= 8. Martin Terrier

If you just said “Who?” after reading Terrier’s dogged name, then you better get to know quickly because he’s surely going to be making a big summer move.

Just the 18 goals from left wing for the Frenchman, who has fired Rennes into third place in Ligue 1 and with a serious shot at the Champions League next season.

He was cast aside by Lyon in 2020 after being seen as underperforming for two campaigns, but in two seasons with Rennes he’s impressed. His first was solid, returning nine goals, but to double that before the end of the campaign in his second year at the club is extraordinary.

Time will tell if this is an outlier in his career, but someone will almost certainly take a gamble on the 25-year-old soon.

=5. Patrik Schick

Schick shot to prominence with five goals for the Czech Republic at Euro 2020, including a stunning long-range strike against Scotland that was voted goal of the tournament.

The striker has maintained that form into 2021-22, and he’s managed to get even better. He has scored an incredible 20 goals in 22 Bundesliga appearances for Bayer Leverkusen, and that’s despite battling injuries that have seen him miss 12 games this season.

He didn’t get a transfer off the back of his performances in the summer but Europe’s biggest clubs will surely be monitoring his form throughout the season. If he doesn’t get a big move, it will come down to the 26-year-olds injuries rather than his ability.

=5. Mohamed Salah

Having lost out to Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane in the last two seasons, Salah has a third Premier League Golden Boot firmly in his sights.

The way in which he started the campaign made it seem certain that it was his, with no one even close to the Egyptian. But his position as top goalscorer is now under threat from Son, who has picked up incredible goalscoring form just as Salah’s has slightly slowed down.

His return is still incredible, scoring 20 in his 29 league games, but only five of those have come in 2022, and he hasn’t scored in open play since mid-February.

But let’s not forget his brilliant hat-trick in Liverpool’s 5-0 win against Manchester United, or the fact he’s also second on the Premier League assists chart with 11, one behind his mate Trent Alexander-Arnold.

You would be a fool to bet against the Egyptian King.

=5. Kylian Mbappe

At about the halfway point in the season, Mbappe wasn’t to be found on this list. Such is his incredible 2022, he’s burst up the ranks to sit joint fifth with Salah and Schick.

He’s only failed to score in four Ligue 1 games out of the 10 he’s played since the turn of the year, scoring 11 in the others to bring him to a total of 20 for the season.

But it’s not just his goalscoring; he’s assisted an incredible 15 times, and may well have his sights on the rare achievement of 20 goals and 20 assists in a single league season.

Say what you want about Ligue 1’s quality, but Mbappe’s talent is undeniable. Will he make his dream move to Madrid in the summer?

4. Dusan Vlahovic

In January, Fiorentina bit the bullet and let their star striker Vlahovic leave.

The Serbian international joined Juventus, as is seemingly the pre-determined route for wonderkids in Italy, and whilst at Fiorentina he was scoring virtually every game, that’s slowed down after his move to Turin.

That’s not to say he’s playing poorly; he’s continued to impress and has scored five in nine for the Old Lady in Serie A, including on his debut. He also scored seconds into his first Champions League match as well.

Whether he’ll be on this list next year, however, may well determine whether Juve will get back to the summit of Italian football sooner rather than later.

=2. Karim Benzema

After scoring 23 goals in 34 La Liga appearances for Real Madrid in 2020-21, Benzema has taken his game up to another level this season.

Or maybe we’re all just realising just how good he is, Benzema shining in the spotlight vacated by Ronaldo and shunned by Eden Hazard.

He’s scored 24 league goals, 10 more than his closest rival for the Spanish golden boot, and is also joint at the top of the assists chart too. All that whilst leading a surprise Real remontada in the Champions League, too.

It’s lonely at the top.

=2. Ciro Immobile

A European Golden Shoe winner in 2019-20, Immobile was probably hoping to reclaim the crown he lost to the show-stopping, Ballon d’Or-robbed Robert Lewandowski in 2020-21.

However, Lazio have endured an up-and-down season under new manager Maurizio Sarri which has probably hurt Immobile’s chances. Yet the fac that he has scored 24 goals in a side sixth in Serie A is testament to the pure goalscoring ability of the Lazio club captain and all-time top goalscorer.

His contract will run until 2025 and it’s unlikely he’ll leave the Roman club before he retires.

1. Robert Lewandowski

The 2021 winner has carried his form over into this campaign – as we all knew he would.

After recording 41 Bundesliga goals for Bayern Munich last year, beating Gerd Muller’s long-standing club record, Lewandowski has scored 32 goals in 29 league appearances to date in 2021-22 and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.

What more can you say about the Polish captain that hasn’t already been said? He should have two Ballon d’Or’s now and be widely considered the current best player in the World.

If he can help Bayern to yet another European Cup, he surely will be.