When Marcus Rashford curled in Manchester United’s winner against Brighton at the weekend, he stretched his scoring streak to four league games in a row. Prior to this run of goals, Rashford had only ever scored in two straight league games but now he has a chance to do something Harry Kane has never managed: score in five consecutive league games. Eleven players have done just that in Europe’s big leagues this season – with one even scoring in 10 straight games.
Andy Delort, Montpellier: five games, five goals
Andy Delort’s career has been cursed by inconsistency. The Frenchman spent six months on the books at Wigan Athletic in 2015 and failed to score a single goal in the Championship. He endured a similarly tough start to his career at Montpellier after moving there last summer, going six league games without a goal. But, once he found his feet, he went on a great run, scoring in each of his next five games. True to form, he is now six games without a goal.
Borja Iglesias, Espanyol: five games, six goals
Borja Iglesias, who turned 26 last week, hadn’t started a single top-flight game before this season, but his return of 22 goals for Real Zaragoza in the Segunda División last season was enough to convince Espanyol to take a chance on the striker. Their faith has been repaid with nine league goals this season and the Spaniard has been linked with a move to Everton this month as a result – not least due to a streak of six goals in five games between October and November.
Sébastien Haller, Eintracht Frankfurt: five games, six goals
Sébastien Haller scored his tenth league goal of the season at the weekend and will be hoping to kickstart another run of form like the one he enjoyed at the end of the year, when he scored six goals – and set up three more – in a five-game stretch for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga.
Anthony Martial: Manchester United: five games, six goals
Anthony Martial is the only player to have scored in five consecutive Premier League games this season – although Marcus Rashford has the opportunity to join him when Manchester United host Burnley next Tuesday night. Martial’s run included a brace against Chelsea and goal at Manchester City, though he has failed to find the net in United’s last four league games – thankfully for the club, Rashford has taken up the baton.
Wahbi Khazri, Saint-Etienne: five games, six goals
His time at Sunderland was bitterly disappointing but since returning to France – first on loan with Rennes and now at Saint-Etienne – Wahbi Khazri has been revitalised. His run of scoring in five consecutive matches – including a matchwinning brace against Marseille – came to an end at the weekend, but the 27-year-old has been fantastic all season. Only four players – Neymar, Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappé and Nicolas Pépé – have scored more than his total of 12 goals in Ligue 1 this season.
Antoine Griezmann, Atlético Madrid: five games, six goals
Antoine Griezmann looked as if he was suffering from a post-World Cup hangover at the start of the season. He only scored three league goals in 14 appearances before December. However, fast forward six weeks and six matches and he has scored six more. Although, like Khazri, his streak came to an end at the weekend.
Mauro Icardi, Inter: five games, seven goals
Mauro Icardi is another player whose form has been up and down this season. He did not score in his first four league games and has not scored in his last four but, between those mini droughts, Icardi hit nine goals in as many matches. The highlight of his season so far has to be his 91st-minute winner against Milan in the derby.
Lionel Messi, Barcelona: six games, nine goals
Lionel Messi has been in phenomenal form this season so it is no surprise that he makes the cut. The one shock is that he isn’t top of the list. The 31-year-old came off the bench at the weekend to score against Leganés, his 25th goal of the season and his 18th in the league. Messi has scored nine goals in his last six league games for Barcelona and you have to go all the way back to mid-September to find the last time he started a game without either providing a goal or an assist.
Summer signing Krzysztof Piatek had a remarkable start to life in Italy. He scored all four goals on his debut as Genoa beat Lecce 4-0 in the Coppa Italia and then found the net in his first seven league appearances of the season. The striker scored nine times in that run before opening his international account for Poland against Portugal. After just five months at Genoa, he has already earned a €35m move to Milan.
Duván Zapata, Atalanta: seven games, 13 goals
Rewind to the start of November and the notion that Duván Zapata would be among Europe’s most sought-after strikers would be farcical. The Colombian failed to score in his first 10 league appearances on loan at Atalanta, so the fact he has 14 goals at this stage of the season is unbelievable. Thirteen of those goals have come in his last seven appearances in Serie A, including a hat-trick against former club Udinese, a brace against Juventus and a four-goal haul at Frosinone at the weekend.
Fabio Quagliarella enjoyed the most prolific campaign of his career last season, scoring 19 goals in Serie A. His form is even hotter this season. Quagliarella has aged like a fine wine since moving to Sampdoria in 2016. The veteran striker turns 36 at the end of the month but his brace against Fiorentina last weekend took his goalscoring streak in the league to a sensational 10 matches. His run began at San Siro against AC Milan way back in October and Samp’s upcoming clash with Udinese gives him a chance to make history. The longest scoring streak in Serie A was set by Gabriel Batistuta back in the 1994-95 season; Quagliarella will match that record of scoring in 11 straight games if he finds the net on Saturday.
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