Marseille vs Strasbourg: Battle of the Ligue 1 Top Scoreurs

With 13 goals in 20 games, Mason Greenwood is currently the top scorer of Ligue 1 MCDonald's after Matchday 22. Finding him in this position comes as no great surprise after his excellent season last year, which saw him finish with 21 points and second place in the scoring charts.

The second spot in the table of top scorers goes to Joaquin Panichelli (11 goals) - and it is surprising. The Argentine arrived last summer with no real assurance of being a starter. With 11 goals to his name, Panichelli has done more than assure himself as a starting striker alongside Emannuel Emegha, instead of replacing him. This is in a style that is very different to that of the Marseille striker in top spot.

At the end of September in the match between Les Alsaciens and Les Marseillais, none of the pair had hit the back of the net, nor had even started the game. They should both be playing on Saturday evening. Before the duel this weekend, who is the best striker out of the two according to the numbers?

One first stat puts one of the two players in a better disposition to add a goal to their total. If Greenwood has scored 61.5% of his goals at the Vélodrome, Joaquin Panichelli is more inspiring away from Stade de la Meinau (63% of his total goals).

The most effective: Mason Greenwood

Mason Greenwood scores more, but Panichelli has less attempts. Even if he has scored two goals more than the Argentine, the Englishman has scored two more goals via the penalty spot this season in Ligue 1 McDonald's. Greenwood manages however to score even when having less game time by 12%. When the latter scores a goal every 120 minutes, Panichelli can only hit the back of the net every 160 minutes.

Mason Greenwood therefore scores more goals, all having a number of attempts superior to that of the shots attempted by Panichelli (68 vs 46).

This big difference reveals that the Argentine on average has less need of good srvice to score goals (1 goal every 4.2 shots vs 5,2) and hits the target more often than Greenwoood (50% vs 41%).

At the level of expected goals, on the other hand, Greenwood is overperforming his average, scoring 3,08 more real goals than his XG.

The most decisive: Joaquin Panichelli

Mason Greenwood has weighed in with 28% of Marseille's goals this season. Panichelli however, has scored 32% of Strasbourg's goals.

On the one hand, Mason Greenwood's goals have earned OM three points, with the team winning seven of the nine games in which their top scorer has scored, with an average margin of victory of 3.14 goals!

On the other hand, Panichelli's goals carry more weight, earning RCSA six points. He scored two decisive goals in Strasbourg's 1-0 wins on matchdays 1 and 3. With Strasbourg winning by smaller margins than OM, Panichelli's goals carry more weight.

According to the statistics, OM seems to fare better without Greenwood than Racing does without its Argentine.

However, in the 11 games in which the Englishman failed to score, Marseille recorded only four wins, two draws, and five losses. The dependence is clear, as in those games the Marseille club failed to score five times, conceding as many defeats.

When Greenwood scores, Marseille has a 78% win rate, but when he doesn't, the percentage drops to 36%. The gap is less pronounced for Strasbourg and Panichelli (56% vs. 33%). And in the 12 games in which their striker failed to score, RCSA only managed to find the net three times.

While Panichelli is more decisive with goals that earn more points, OM is more dependent on Greenwood's success.

Most inspired in big games: Panichelli has the edge

Joaquin Panichelli has the Argentine grit that makes him a fierce competitor at all times. This season, the center forward has scored four times against teams in the top five (twice against PSG, OL, and LOSC). He has contributed to Racing's good results: a draw at the Parc (3-3) and a win in Lille (1-4).

For the Marseille player, the trend is not the same. Against the top teams, Mason Greenwood has only found the net once against RC Lens. That is his only goal against the current Top 8 in over 700 minutes played.

The most in-form: Advantage Greenwood

In 2026, OM and Strasbourg are counting on other strikers in form besides the two leaders: Gouiri and Godo, each with six goals since the start of the year.

After a long dry spell and six games without a goal between matchdays 11 and 16, Panichelli has had a better start to 2026, scoring two goals, including a penalty, in five games. He has also scored once in the Coupe de France (two games).

Opposite him, Mason Greenwood has been more consistent, never going more than three consecutive games without scoring this season. Since matchday 16, the Englishman has scored every other game in the top flight.

On top of that, he has scored four goals in the last two rounds of the Coupe de France with OM (vs. Bayeux and Rennes). This means that in 2026, the Marseille player has scored six goals in seven games.