Player Focus: The Race to Finish Top Goalscorer in Europe's Top 5 Leagues

As we near the business end of the season across Europe’s top five leagues, it’s worth noting that there is an average of 2.60 goals scored per game at present. The title contenders are firing their teams to glory while those towards the bottom continue to fluff their lines when the opportunity presents itself. Indeed, the difference between one point and three is more often than not the quality of the striker a team boasts. 

With the campaign slowly drawing towards its inevitable conclusion, a number of frontmen are vying to end the season as the top goalscorer in Europe’s top five leagues. The man heading this particular race at present is Gonzalo Higuain, who continues to excel as Napoli’s leading light. The Argentine has scored more goals (24) than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues this term, with the 28-year-old averaging a goal per game in Serie A at present. 

With Napoli vying to secure their first Scudetto since 1990, new manager Maurizio Sarri required his star striker to fire on all cylinders following his appointment last summer and Higuain is doing just that. His exploits in front of goal have helped him gain a WhoScored rating of 7.86, the best in Serie A this season. 

Meanwhile, his average of 5.5 shots per game is also the most in Italy’s top tier this term, so while Higuain is presented with ample chances to hit the back of the net, he’s still making the most of these opportunities to improve Napoli’s title hopes. With a respectable conversion rate of 18.2%, the experienced frontman boasts the goalscoring quality to continue Napoli’s title pursuit, though he will need to maximise his ability in front of goal this coming weekend when the Naples side face Juventus at the J-Stadium in Serie A’s top of the table clash. 

If Higuain fails to add to his 24 goals, it presents Zlatan Ibrahimovic (21 goals) with the chance to make up the ground between himself and the Napoli star. Ibrahimovic has excelled as the focal point in this rampant PSG outfit. It’s a matter of when, not if, the Parisians are crowned Ligue 1 champions given their unassailable 24-point lead at the summit of France’s top tier. 

PSG have netted 10.5% of the 601 goals scored in Ligue 1 this term, with Ibrahimovic scoring 33.3% of the 63 league goals Laurent Blanc’s side have bagged so far. Given the club’s dominance in the division, one would expect that number to rise between now and the end of the campaign, while Ibrahimovic’s own goal return can also be expected to shoot up, with the Swede netting one league goal every 78.2 minutes at present. 

Higuain and Ibrahimovic are the only representatives from their respective divisions, with La Liga boasting three players in the top eight goalscorers in Europe’s top five leagues this season. Leading the race for the Pichichi in Spain is Barcelona’s Luis Suarez (20 goals). The Uruguay international has formed a destructive, scalpel-sharp striking trident with Lionel Messi and Neymar at Camp Nou. 

Only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (20) and Ibrahimovic (18) have netted more clear-cut goalscoring opportunities in Europe’s top 5 leagues than Suarez (16) this season, with the 29-year-old Barcelona ace maximising his efficiency off the ball in order to improve his goal return. Given the creative talent at Luis Enrique’s disposal, these chances will be presented to Suarez on a silver plate, which the Uruguayan is happy to - no pun intended - gobble up. 

Hot on his heels, however, are Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema (both 19 goals). The former is averaging more shots per game (6.2) than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues this season, with the Portuguese attacker more than willing to go for goal at any possible opportunity. While Ronaldo is clearly confident in his goalscoring ability, his conversion rate (13.3%) is the second worst in Europe’s top five leagues of those to score 10 or more goals this term. 

Moreover, with the 31-year-old struggling to match his goalscoring exploits in the bigger games in La Liga - eight of his 19 goals, for example, have come against lowly Espanyol, who have conceded the second most goals (46) in Spain’s top tier this term - he may struggle to end the campaign as Europe’s top goalscorer. The same, though, can’t be said of Benzema, who boasts a hugely impressive conversion rate of 27.9%. 

Considering the Frenchman has missed six games this season with a thigh problem, his goal return is all the more commendable. There is reason to believe Benzema is the most important player in Madrid’s attack and his 19 goals in 18 league appearances and a return of one goal every 70.8 minutes suggests that, if he can maintain his exploits in front of goal, he is a serious contender for the top goalscorer spot. 

With the Bundesliga averaging more goals per game (2.78) than any of the other top leagues in Europe, it’s little shock to see two strikers from the German top division feature in the top eight goalscorers. Aubameyang (20 goals) and Lewandowski (19 goals) are in direct competition with one another to see who can secure top spot in the Bundesliga scoring charts. Aubameyang has the upper hand given Borussia Dortmund’s rampant goalscoring performances, with all 20 of his league goals deemed clear-cut. 

Lewandowski, meanwhile, has missed more clear-cut goalscoring chances (24) than any other player in Europe’s top 5 leagues this season. The Pole, though, has the ability to fire in the necessary goals to lead Bayern Munich to the title, which they certainly should do. He and Aubameyang are at loggerheads to see who can be the first player to score 30 or more league goals in a Bundesliga season since Dieter Muller managed the feat in the 1976/77 season, but even that may not be enough to oust Higuain from the current top spot, particularly with there being four fewer games per season in Germany. 

The Premier League’s only representative comes in the form of Jamie Vardy (18 goals), who has gone above and beyond to prolong Leicester City’s surprise title pursuit. While Riyad Mahrez has arguably been the best player in England this season, Vardy has spearheaded the Foxes’ attack with aplomb, with his work off the ball perhaps one of his greatest strengths. The England international has won possession in the final third more times (26) than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues this term, with his defensive contribution not only helping Leicester defend from the front, but the excess pressure helping force the opposition into mistakes and creating more goalscoring chances. 

Either way, it’s an exciting race to see which striker will top the goalscoring charts in Europe come May. Realistically, the top eight frontmen have the chance to top this list at the end of the season and it may go down to the wire to determine who Europe’s most prolific frontman is this term.

Who do you think will finish top goalscorer in Europe's top 5 leagues this season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below