With a little over one-and-a-half months left in the 2023-24 season, every team is pushing as hard as they possibly can to end on a high. Premier League leaders Arsenal and Bundesliga frontrunners Bayer Leverkusen are aiming to make history by lifting the title at the end of the season. Meanwhile, the likes of Manchester City and Bayern Munich are doing everything in their power to recover and spoil the leaders’ parade. There are also notable top-four battles, midtable tussles, and relegation death matches, making it an exciting phase for soccer aficionados.
In this crucial phase, teams need their big guns to fire, lead them to invaluable wins. Today, we will take a look at a handful of players who have answered the call and are popping up with clutch goals since February 2024. Here are the most in-form forwards across the top five European leagues right now:
#5 Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) – 6 Goals
Arsenal’s poster boy Bukayo Saka has been in brilliant form of late. The right-winger has played six Premier League matches since February, scoring an impressive seven times and providing an assist. Saka scored all six of his goals in a blistering four-game blitz in February. The 22-year-old England international scored a couple of braces in that stretch, one in a 6-0 win over West Ham United and the other in the 5-0 routing of Burnley.
Saka has played 27 matches in the Premier League in 2023-24, scoring 13 times and providing eight assists. He has also proven his worth in the UEFA Champions League, recording three goals and four assists in seven outings.
#4 Paulo Dybala (AS Roma) – 6 Goals
Scoring six goals in his last five league matches for AS Roma, Paulo Dybala has claimed the fourth spot in the rankings. The Argentine second-striker, who missed Roma’s last Serie A game due to an Adductor injury, scored his only hat-trick of the 2023-24 season in a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Torino on February 26th.
Like most seasons, the 30-year-old has struggled to keep himself fit. Suffering multiple injuries throughout the campaign, Dybala has played only 28 games for Roma in all competitions, scoring 14 times and providing seven assists.
#3 Rodrigo Muniz (Fulham) – 7 Goals
Premier League side Fulham are aiming to finish in the top half of the table this season, and center-forward Rodrigo Muniz has taken it upon himself to lead from the front. After firing blanks in his first 10 Premier League outings, the 22-year-old has sprung to life, scoring seven times in his last seven Premier League outings.
Muniz has scored two braces since kicking off his scoring spree in February. He first bagged a brace in a 3-1 win over Bournemouth on February 10. His second double came in a 3-o victory over Tottenham Hotspur just before the international break, on March 16.
#2 Harry Kane (Bayern Munich) – 8 Goals
Bayern Munich attacker Harry Kane has been in blistering form in his debut season in the Bundesliga. The former Tottenham Hotspur striker has scored 31 goals in 26 Bundesliga matches so far, eight of which have come in the seven games since February. Kane’s finest display in this period came against 1. FSV Mainz 05 on March 9. The 30-year-old scored a hat-trick to help Bayern to an emphatic 8-1 victory over the minnows.
The England ace has been equally brilliant in the UEFA Champions League, scoring six times and providing three assists in eight outings.
#1 Jonathan David (LOSC Lille) – 9 Goals
Scoring nine goals in seven Ligue 1 matches since February, LOSC Lille center-forward Jonathan David has emerged as the most in-form attacker across the top five European leagues. David’s best performance in this spell came against Le Havre AC on February 17. The 24-year-old scored a brilliant hat-trick to propel his team to a 3-0 victory. David is currently on a three-game scoring run in the French top flight.
Since the start of the 2023-24 season, David has played 37 games for Lille in all competitions, scoring 22 times and providing seven assists.
