Ben Stewart
The top 10 most clinical forwards across Europe's top 5 leagues
We’re always told that the hardest job in football is putting the ball in the back of the net. That’s the reason why they’re paid so much and cost a fair bit too. But which strikers have been the most deadly in front of goal in Europe this season?
Here are the forwards with the best shot conversion rate in the top 5 leagues (minimum 40 shots)
10) Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig) - 23%
Nkunku’s attracting a lot of interest from around Europe and it’s easy to see why after the season he’s had.
The Frenchman is Leipzig’s top scorer with 30 goals in all competitions and his ex-manager Jesse Marsch said of him in September that he “has no weaknesses, he’s young and still wants a lot more”.
But his standout quality is putting away chances - Robert Lewandowski, Erling Haaland and Patrick Schick are the only Bundesliga strikers to have scored more league goals than him this season.
They each average more than 0.75 expected goals per 90 minutes - Nkunku has 0.42 - showing he doesn’t need much of a sight at goal to score.
9) Moussa Diaby (Bayer Leverkusen) - 24%
Amazingly, not the only Leverkusen player on this list, but more on a certain Czech striker later.
Former PSG winger Diaby is having a breakout season, scoring 16 goals and even assisting 12.
He’s not even in the top 20 for expected goals in the Bundesliga this season but only 6 players have scored more - which, similar to Nkunku, shows he doesn’t need to be asked twice to put away a chance.
8) Son Heung-Min (Tottenham Hotspur) - 24%
It’s been a season to remember for the Korean.
Only Mohamed Salah has bettered Son’s Premier League tally of 17 goals and he’s been a gem over a rollercoaster season for Tottenham.
The remarkable thing is he’s one of only three players on this list who have had 70 shots or more, indicating how frighteningly deadly he’s been.
7) Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund) - 24%
We all know how good the Terminator is, but this is a true indicator of his quality.
25 goals in all competitions for Dortmund, plus the 2nd highest expected goals per 90 minutes in the Bundesliga.
Imagine if Man City had a striker as clinical as him…
6) Martin Terrier (Rennes) - 25%
There’s a strong argument that the Frenchman is having the most remarkable individual season in European football.
His previous best goalscoring tally in a campaign was 9, but he’s got 20 so far and is rivaling Kylian Mbappe to be the top scorer in Ligue 1.
He’s also had the 2nd most shots out of all the players on this list, which is incredible when a quarter of them have found the back of the net.
5) Angel Correa (Atletico Madrid) - 25%
The Argentine has arguably been Atleti’s player of the season.
Diego Simeone’s side have struggled for consistency but Correa has been exceptional.
He’s been considered underrated by many for quite a long time but he’s finally began grabbing the headlines with crucial goals.
4) Giovanni Simeone (Hellas Verona) - 25%
After promising plenty as a youngster, Simeone has finally began to fulfill his potential as a brilliant striker.
For years he’s been better known as the son of Atletico boss Diego but is now making a name for himself.
He’s got 16 goals this season, incredibly none of which are penalties and only 8 strikers in Europe have a better tally than him when spot kicks are excluded.
3) Randal Kolo Muani (Nantes) - 26%
The 23-year-old’s had such an impressive season that he’s already been snapped up by Eintracht Frankfurt who are set to sign him in the summer.
The German side have been long admirers of the Frenchman, as have plenty of other European sides.
He’s managed 12 goals for a fairly unremarkable Nantes side and Frankfurt will be hoping he follows in the footsteps of the likes of Andre Silva, Luka Jovic and Sebastien Haller.
2) Patrick Schick (Bayer Leverkusen) - 26%
The Czech striker is just a goal machine.
After impressing at Euros, he’s now having his best individual season with 20 goals - only Robert Lewandowski has managed more in the Bundesliga.
But the most incredible statistic of all is that he’s had more shots than any other player on this list.
Imagine if he was in a top side…
1. Juanmi (Real Betis) - 30%
Southampton fans will remember this Spanish hitman.
He moved to the South Coast for £5 million in 2015 but failed to score a single goal before going back to Spain after just one season.
It took a while for his career to get back on track but it certainly has at Betis.
He’s scored 14 La Liga goals and is averaging one every 132 minutes - the only striker in the division who’s scoring more frequently than that is Karim Benzema.
Is worth saying he’s only managed 46 shots, which is much lower than most on this list, so one has to wonder how many he’d score with better service…