Goals are football’s lifeblood.
An electric effort can explode, in seconds, on social media, while celebrated leading scorers live in the collective memories of fans for generations. This has made the hallowed centre forward the sport’s most-revered position.
It’s been 12 months since we last released our Tiered Rankings and here from Tier 4 to Tier 1, we examine eight of the best strikers in the world right now.
The players have been measured by their form over the last year with talent, reputation and statistics – thanks to Wyscout, WhoScored.com plus Opta – used as a guide.
TIER 4
Timo Werner (RB Leipzig)
Werner is a man on the move.
The RB Leipzig and Germany attacker is consumed by kinetic energy. Tactical freedom, a searching turn of pace and rare intelligence contrive to see him wreak havoc from across the front line.
A relentless tally of 21 goals was recorded in 25 Bundesliga run-outs in 2019/20, sparking the interest of Europe’s enamored elite clubs. This number is already the same as 2016/17’s previous career best.
Stand-out performances include August’s hat-trick at Borussia Monchengladbach, three goals plus two assists in November’s 8-0 dismantling of Mainz and running Tottenham Hotspur ragged across both legs of the Champions League’s round of 16. This extended the statistical quirk of scoring all his goals in the competition (seven) away from home.
The 24-year-old has transformed into a regular scorer at Red Bull Arena after an unremarkable stint in Stuttgart’s first team. But a handsome return of seven assists adds to his allure.
Expect an inviting €60 million release clause to be activated when the transfer window next opens.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
A constant force has remained within Arsenal’s undulating form and fortunes.
Whether, largely, through the centre under the increasingly loathed Unai Emery or causing devastation from the left under warmly welcomed successor Mikel Arteta, Aubameyang is the bane of defenders’ existences. The Gabon international’s return of 17 goals in 26 Premier League matches in 2019/20 is the second most in a division packed full of elite strikers.
Further allure comes from the fact his 16 non-penalty goals from 64 attempts have been produced from a world-class conversion rate of 25 per cent. The ruthless AC Milan youth product is also outperforming his xG (expected goals) by a substantial +6.94 (10.06/17) this term in the Premier League.
No wonder a line of suitors await developments in talks designed to extend the three-and-a-half-year deal signed upon arrival from Borussia Dortmund in January 2018 for £56m.
There have been setbacks along the way, namely a report from The Athletic about his role in the discontent at Emirates Stadium and staggering late miss when Arsenal exited the Europa League’s round of 16 to Olympiakos. The 30-year-old’s devastating mixture of pace and precision, however, is undeniable.
TIER 3
Ciro Immobile (Lazio)
Immobile’s club form in 2019/20 has been breathtaking.
The Italy centre forward’s blazing return of 27 strikes in 26 matches – which equals a goals-per-minute ratio of 81 – propelled Lazio to second in Serie A, prior to last month’s postponement because of coronavirus. It, further, represents 45 per cent of the capital outfit’s 60-goal tally; this is the biggest share among leading scorers in Europe’s ‘big-five’ leagues.
The rejuvenated Borussia Dortmund flop, meanwhile, is no mere goal scorer. Laudable hold-up play has generated seven assists from 33 matches across all competitions, facilitating a concurrent return to 2017/18’s stratospheric form from Spain attacking midfielder Luis Alberto.
This combined tally of 33 goals and assists, for context, puts him three ahead of the inestimable Lionel Messi with the most in Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues.
A ceaseless desire to run in behind also opens up the play for either Ecuador’s Felipe Caicedo or Argentina’s Joaquin Correa in Simone Inzaghi’s attuned 3-5-2 formation.
Immobile has recorded nine two-goals+ hauls, for club and country, this season. At 30-years old, he just keeps getting better.
Erling Braut Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)
What a way to introduce yourself.
Haaland went from the promising son of ex-Leeds United and Manchester City midfielder Alf-Inge to the game’s hottest talent within 12, unforgettable, months.
A man mountain at only 19-years old, the Norway striker’s potent mixture of raw speed, brute force and punishing finishing has witnessed him record 40 goals across 33 appearances during 2019/20 for Red Bull Salzburg and grateful new employers Borussia Dortmund after January’s enviable €20m transfer.
A slew of outstanding statistics have been notched. These include; 10 goals in his first seven Champions League matches that made him the quickest players to double figures in the tournament’s illustrious 65-year history; earning January’s Bundesliga Player of the Month-gong upon arrival, despite playing 59 minutes; an astounding time of 6.64 seconds being recorded covering 60 metres to score against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League’s knockouts; his first 11 goals for Dortmund came from only 13 shots.
Ominously for the rest of Europe, Haaland’s only getting started.
TIER 2
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Benzema’s innate majesty remains undimmed in 2019/20.
Real Madrid’s elegant – and evergreen – ‘No9’ continued to lead the line with aplomb for the planet’s most-glamorous side.
A tally of 14 goals and six assists in 26 La Liga run-outs hallmarked a continuing importance at 32-years old. This is some return for a player who joined for €35m all the way back in July 2009 from Lyon, plus who has been – incorrectly – written off so many times in the past.
Benzema (19) has notched 12 more goals than any other player in royal white (Sergio Ramos and Rodrygo – seven). For further context, this is 14 more than Wales forward Gareth Bale and 17 more than Luka Jovic – the €60m summer arrival expected to, eventually, edge him out the XI.
Further milestones included a first-half brace in November’s 4–0 win at Eibar to overtake Ferenc Puskas as the club’s sixth all-time top scorer in La Liga, his double versus Galatasaray to make it 15-successive seasons with a goal in the Champions League during the same month and March’s 500th Madrid appearance recorded in the 2-0 El Clasico victory versus Barcelona.
Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Mbappe showed no sign of slowing down in the last 12 months.
The prodigious 21-year-old finished 2018/19 with a, preposterous, 33 goals from 29 Ligue 1 outings and notched 18 more in 20 matches before 2019/20 was called to a temporary halt.
Further highlights included a goal in August’s season-opening 2-1 triumph against Rennes in the Trophee des Champions and October’s ‘perfect hat-trick’ off the substitutes’ bench against Club Brugge to become, at 20 years and 306 days, the youngest player ever to score at least 15 goals in the Champions League.
Last month’s triple in the 5-1 Coupe de France mauling of Lyon contained a goal-of-the-season contender, dashing forwards from within his own half and slotting in an unorthodox poked finish.
Added lustre came from a definitive move inside in the 4-2-2-2 formation favoured this term by Thomas Tuchel. A tally of 177 touches inside the penalty box for the postponed 2019/20 season is only seven behind his number recorded for the completed 2018/19.
Injuries to fellow attacking superstars Neymar and Edinson Cavani also ceded further responsibility. Long-term Real Madrid target Mbappe, for now, stands at the heart of PSG’s project.
TIER 1
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
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Ronaldo, now in his mid-30s, was meant to exhibit discernible signs of slowing down.
The Juventus superstar’s emphatic response to any naysayers came in an 11-match scoring run to equal the all-time Serie A record, while his status as an eternal great was further underlined, as if necessary, by October’s ascension past 700 goals for club and country. These strikes came from 128 attempts – a tally which is 33 higher than anyone else in Europe’s ‘big five’.
Last June’s semi-final hat-trick against Switzerland on the way to victory in the inaugural Nations League was inspired, while November’s 2-0 win against Luxembourg contained a 99th goal in 164 internationals.
The role of Maurizio Sarri is intriguing within this response. Juve’s new head coach garnered multitudes of headlines, and shade from his star forward, with a series of winter substitutions.
Did these snubs relight Ronaldo’s fire? A relegation to third place in December’s Ballon d’Or – a lowest finish since 2010 – also might have helped.
The 35-year-old forward is, not quite, the force he once was. Lyon’s shackling job in the Champions League’s round of 16, first leg attests to this.
But plenty remains in the tank.
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Forget what you thought about Lewandowski.
His expansive performances this season have dismissed all aspersions about the, supposedly, one-dimensional and self-involved Poland centre forward. A sole focus has retreated and the collective at Bayern Munich has come to the fore.
This has, of course, coincided with some of the best scoring form from a celebrated career. A return of 25 strikes in 23 Bundesliga matches put him on course for a 37-goal season prior to last month’s postponement, well in advance of 2015/16 and 2016/17’s high-water marks of 30.
Only three of these, a joint-division high, have come from the penalty spot.
Historical exploits have included a 14 minute and 32 second-quartet away at Red Star Belgrade, the swiftest ‘super hat-trick’ on record in the Champions League. Bayern icon Gerd Muller’s standout 15-goal haul from the opening 11 Bundesliga matches of the 1968/69 was also bettered by one.
This run is given further gravitas by the fact it occurred during institutional tumult linked to Niko Kovac’s reign unravelling.
Lewandowski has, unquestionably, profited from a change of direction on Bayern’s wings. Rather than the fondly remembered Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery cutting inside to shoot, two from Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman or Ivan Perisic are more inclined to bomb down their flanks to cross.
The 31-year-old has further benefited from Germany forward Thomas Muller’s superb form.
Contentment is key. Agitation linked to a rumoured desire to play for Real Madrid was ended by August’s extension up to June 2023.
The Athletic also detailed in October how Lewandowski had started putting on extended training session with the club’s young strikers, rather than retreating into himself.
There is, simply, no finer striker on the planet right now than him.
