20 Hottest Strikers in Europe Right Now
Good form is massive when you are a striker, as players like Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll can testify.
This list takes a look at the most in-form strikers in the game right now. Bleacher Report presented a similar list exactly one month ago, and Lionel Messi topped that list with a scintillating 15 goals in 10 games. We'll see if he can retain his title this time around.
While that list judged strikes on the amount of goals scored in 10 games, the criteria has changed this time around. Since a month has passed since that list, strikers will be judged on their form since that time, the 19th of March, and the main factor we will look at is their Goals per Game ratio.
Here are the 20 hottest strikers in Europe right now.
20. Konstantinos Mitroglou
1 of 20Form: 3 Goals in 6 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 0.5
Konstantinos Mitroglou was at this position in the last rankings, and returns here with a pretty good goals-per-game ratio for Greek club Atrimitos
19. Moussa Sow
2 of 20Form: 3 Goals in 6 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 0.5
Moussa Sow moved to Fenerbache in January and seems to be returning to his old Lille form.
He is one of a few newcomers on this list.
18. Mario Gomez
3 of 20Form: 5 Goals in 9 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 0.56
Mario Gomez has dropped a long way since the last striker rankings, but he is still in very good form.
He scored a very important goal against Real Madrid on Tuesday, which has the German side in a strong position going into the Champions League semifinal second leg.
17. Hulk
4 of 20Form: 3 Goals in 5 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 0.6
It may be strange having a player who has scored three goals above one who has scored five, but it isn't Hulk's fault that his team has played less games.
As we can see though, he has been pretty effective through the five contests.
16. Lisandro Lopez
5 of 20Form: 5 Goals in 7 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 0.71
Lisandro Lopez is another newcomer to this list.
His goals have kept Lyon in a Champions League spot all season, and his recent form has coincided with a run of four wins, one draw and two losses for his club.
15. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
6 of 20Form: 5 Goals in 7 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 0.71
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has been pretty consistent throughout this season, so their is no surprise that he is here.
The Dutch footballer returns to the list, albeit with a significant drop in position.
14. Fernando Llorente
7 of 20Form: 5 Goals in 7 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 0.71
Fernando Llorente has similar ratios to both Klaas-Jan Huntelaar behind him, and Raul in front of him.
But El Rey Leon gets "second place" in this little battle due to his performance, two goals, when his team met Schalke in the Europa League quarterfinal.
13. Raul
8 of 20Form: 5 Goals in 7 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 0.71
Raul wins the battle of the trio with five goals in seven games, as he provided the most impact for his team in Europe when Schalke met Athletic Bilbao.
He scored three goals over both legs, but was still on the losing end.
12. Gustavo Manduca
9 of 20Form: 3 Goals in 4 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 0.75
Gustavo Manduca scored one of APOEL's two goals against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
He was the team's leading scorer in the Champions League.
11. Rodrigo Palacio
10 of 20Form: 3 Goals in 4 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 0.75
Rodrigo Palacio was on this list last time around and has continued his good form since then.
He only missed out on scoring in one of his four games, so he is showing some good consistency as well.
10. Karim Benzema
11 of 20Form: 6 Goals in 8 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 0.75
Karim Benzema wasn't very consistent during his eight-game run, scoring in only four of those eight.
Still, he has been pretty prolific during this time and comes into these rankings with a bang.
9. Wayne Rooney
12 of 20Form: 4 Goals in 5 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 0.8
Wayne Rooney has continued to put in the goals for Manchester United, and at a very good clip as well.
8. Luuk De Jong
13 of 20Form: 3 Goals in 3 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 1
This selection may irk some readers a little but again, what we are looking at here is the player's goals-per-game ratio.
Luuk De Jong shows consistency, scoring exactly one goal per game.
7. Falcao
14 of 20Form: 9 Goals in 9 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 1
Radamel Falcao just missed the cut in the last rankings, but he was certainly going to make it this time around.
He has lived up to his price tag for Atletico Madrid, with 30 goals in 42 games this season.
6. Bas Dost
15 of 20Form: 6 Goals in 5 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 1.2
Bas Dost was high up on the list last time and returns to the top 10 in this rankings.
He currently leads the Dutch Eredivisie in scoring with 28 goals.
5. Alexander Frei
16 of 20Form: 7 Goals in 6 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 1.2
Alexander Frei only managed to miss scoring in one of his last six games.
A hat trick in one of these games boosted the Swiss' ratio considerably.
4. Sergio Aguero
17 of 20Form: 5 Goals in 4 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 1.25
Sergio Aguero has been a force for Manchester City this season, and he is coming into form at exactly the right time.
3. Lionel Messi
18 of 20Form: 12 Goals in 9 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 1.3
Lionel Messi didn't retain the top spot, but he didn't let off on the goals that much either.
The Barcelona forward will look to continue his scoring run against Real Madrid in the Clasico this weekend.
2. Diego Milito
19 of 20Form: 6 Goals in 4 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 1.5
Diego Milito has quietly gone about his business and has 22 goals in 28 games for Inter this season.
1. Papiss Demba Cisse
20 of 20Form: 7 Goals in 4 Games
Goals Per Game Ratio: 1.75
Papiss Cisse has been a revelation for Newcastle since his January deal, and especially so in the last few games.
He deserves his top spot here.
