An update on the top-scorer race in Ligue 1 McDonald's
Who will finish as the top scorer? We look at the stats and the strengths of those who are in the race after 12 matchdays in Ligue 1 McDonald's.
You have to be a wise man to guess who will finish as the top scorer in Ligue 1 McDonald's this season. Will Joaquín Panichelli keep at his incredible pace? The same could be asked of Ésteban Lepaul, who is playing his first season at a higher-level club. Could Mason Greenwood finish top, having been beaten by Ousmane Dembélé? Could the reigning top-scorer, Ousmane Dembélé, string together a run of matches and attempt the back-to-back? Or could another player, like Odsonne Édouard or Emanuel Emegha, join the race?
One thing is for sure: there is suspense this season. The man who currently wears the top scorer badge, thanks to his nine goals, is Strasbourg's Panichelli, whilst Rennes' Lepaul and Marseille's Greenwood are just behind him on eight. Such suspense isn't rare, as in the last 10 seasons, this is the fifth in which there are at least two players just one goal behind the leader. There were, in fact, four back in the 2015/15 season.
But will the current season be a vintage one? With his nine goals, Panichelli has hit the average. In the past 10 years, the top scorer had scored more in five of them, by this point of the Ligue 1 McDonald's season. His total is the same as that of former Monaco forward Wissam Ben Yedder in 2019/20 and of Kylian Mbappé in 2020/21. It is one goal better than that of Jonathan David from the 2021/22 season, or that of Michy Batshuayi back in 2015/16.
In this 10-year period, we have only twice seen two players joint at the top of the standings after 12 games. It was in 2017/18 that there was a South American duel at the top, between Radamel Falcao and PSG's Edinson Cavani, who were both tied on 13 goals.
Joaquin Panichelli well placed?
The revelation at the start of this season is Panichelli, who will spend this international break at the top of the goal standings, thanks to his nine goals in 12 games. But in recent years, have those who have been top after 12 games managed to keep their rhythm and finish as the top scorer? In the last 10 years, that has happened 40% of the time. As for Ben Yedder, he finished level with Mbappé for the number of goals in 2019/20, but lost out due to the separating criteria.
It is clear that Panichelli is shining with RCSA after his excellent season in the Spanish second division, but we will have to see how he performs alongside Emegha, who was named Strasbourg captain and was the club's top scorer last season with 14 goals in 27 matches. But he has missed a lot of games at the start of this season. With Liam Rosenior's system of three at the back, is there space for two central strikers? Or equally, could two central strikers have such a big output?
After a month and a half without playing in Ligue 1 McDonald's, Emegha started against Lille on Sunday and scored a brace (2-0). Panichelli also started and won the ball back for the Dutchman's first goal, but he seemed to play a bit wider. At the start of the season, the Argentine has scored eight of his nine goals when Emegha wasn't on the pitch and just one goal in the five games that they have played together.
Is Mason Greenwood better than last year?
Looking at the other players in the race, Greenwood is picking up from a strong campaign last time around, when he scored 21 goals in Ligue 1 McDonald's. It was the same total as Dembélé, who beat the Englishman because he scored fewer penalties. With eight goals in his first 12 games, Greenwood has the exact same total as at this stage last season.
The Marseille forward continues to benefit from penalties (four of his eight have come from the spot, whilst seven of his 21 were penalties last season). Marseille have had a better start to this season, compared to the last, with two points more at this stage, even with the hectic calendar, with the Champions League games. In addition, Amine Gouiri is out with injury, preventing Roberto De Zerbi from rotating his side.
Like Greenwood, Lepaul also has eight goals. Another one, and he will equal last season's total with Angers. Helped by his hat-trick against Strasbourg at the start of November, the 25-year-old centre-forward has not needed time to adapt at Rennes.
In terms of other out-and-out strikers, we have to talk about Édouard's strong form, with five goals in his last six matches. The sensation in the second half of last season, with 13 goals in 16 matches, Mika Biereth has just one in Ligue 1 McDonald's this time around. In contrast, his teammate, Folarin Balogun, has excelled since the arrival of Sébastien Pocognoli as manager, scoring four of his five goals this season since the Belgian's arrival at the Principality club.
But where is Ousmane Dembélé?
Top-scorer last season, Dembélé is having a difficult start to the season due to muscular injuries. The player, who has never been so prolific, has two goals in six Ligue 1 McDonald's games this season. More specifically, he is scoring an average of one goal every 141 minutes in the league. At the same stage last season, he had scored five of his 21 goals.
We can also point out Olivier Giroud's struggles in scoring goals after his excellent start to the season (two goals in his first two matches). Since the end of August, the 2018 World Champion has scored just once in 12 matches in all competitions (against Brann in the Europa League at the end of September). Alongside Dembélé, Giroud is currently the only player in the league to have finished as the top-scorer (in 2012 with Montpellier).
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