Goals win games, but do they win titles? Some familiar faces are sitting at the top of Europe’s big leagues, while some of the continent’s top scoring sides are struggling at the other end of the pitch.
Regardless of their respective defensive troubles, let’s take a look at which teams lead the way in the goalscoring charts across Europe’s top five leagues.
• Premier League – Manchester City (62)
Liverpool may be running away with the title this season, but Pep Guardiola’s side continue to score goals at a frightening rate. Man City have scored 62 goals in 22 top-flight matches – an average of just under three goals per game – and have scored two goals or more in each of their previous six league outings.
Sergio Aguero has netted 13, while Gabriel Jesus has nine. Man City have finished at the top of the Premier League goalscoring charts for the last two seasons, and they’re well on their way to outscoring their rivals again this time around.
• La Liga – Barcelona (49)
Despite recently sacking manager Ernesto Valverde, Barcelona currently sit at the top of La Liga having scored the most goals in the Spanish top-flight this season. The Catalan giants are level with Real Madrid on 40 points, but they’ve scored 13 more goals than Los Blancos.
It’s no surprise that Lionel Messi is the division’s leading scorer in 2019/20. The Argentine has 13 league goals this season, while Luis Suarez isn’t too far behind with 11. The title race is still wide open in Spain, but Barcelona look set to finish as the top scoring side once again in La Liga.
• Serie A – Atalanta (49)
Juventus have Ronaldo, Inter have Lukaku and Lazio have Immobile. However, no Serie A team has scored more goals than Atalanta this season. The Bergamo outfit are fourth in the table and don’t look like having an impact on the title race this season.
But with a number of different players chipping in with goals, Atalanta have been scoring for fun. Luis Muriel leads the way with ten, while Josip Ilcic has nine. Alejandro Gomez, Robin Gosens and Duvan Zapata have each score six league goals this term, so it’s been a real team effort.
• Bundesliga – RB Leipzig (48)
At the halfway point in the Bundesliga season, RB Leipzig are sitting pretty at the top of the table. Julian Nagelsmann’s side are two points clear of second-place Borussia Monchengladbach. But perhaps more significantly, four points ahead of reigning champions Bayern Munich.
Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski currently sits at the top of the goalscoring charts having netted 19 goals, but Leipzig’s Timo Werner is hot on his heels with 18. RB scored three goals or more in each of their eight games leading up to the winter break, establishing themselves as one of Europe’s deadliest sides.
• Ligue 1 – PSG (50)
It’s fair to say that PSG haven’t been at their fluid best this season. Still, Thomas Tuchel’s men are eight points clear at the top of Ligue 1 and have scored 20 more goals than their nearest challengers Marseille.
Monaco's Wissam Ben Yedder has 14 goals to his name this season. However, with Kylian Mbappe on 13 and Neymar on 11, it’s going to be difficult for Ben Yedder to stay at the top. Mauro Icardi has also been finding the back of the net regularly, so PSG are on course to break the 100-goal mark for a third consecutive season.