World Football's 10 Most In-Form Strikers Right Now

In baseball, while it is a sexist and antiquated saying, the fact remains that chicks dig the long ball.

In footie, the corresponding idea has to be that no matter what league, team or player you prefer, there is one constant.

Everybody loves goals.

They don't call the weekend highlight show "Dives on Sunday" or "Defensive Formations on Sunday."

The goal's the thing.

Strikers bear the burden of producing goals. The following players are doing it better than most.

10. Luis Suarez

Suarez is leading the Barclays Premier League in goals. His most recent goal (in stoppage time, no less) saved his Liverpool side from a bitter defeat to Chelsea at Anfield.

It was a great goal, and Suarez has had an extremely productive season. Soon enough, we should hear whether his season will end prematurely, per ESPNFC.com.

No matter how you feel about Suarez as a person, it is a sadness to see a gifted player lose time on the pitch and/or respect from the football community the way Suarez seems destined to do here.

9. Mario Mandzukic

Bayern Munich striker Mario Mandzukic is third in goals in the Bundesliga with 15 scored in 21 games.

In his last six appearances in all competitions, Mandzukic has registered either a goal or an assist in each match, including a Champions League goal at Juventus to help Bayern Munich advance.

8. Radamel Falcao

Radamel Falcao is averaging nearly a goal per game in La Liga while leading Atletico Madrid to what looks like a third-place finish in the league table. His 25 goals in 29 games have put him in that class of strikers about whom transfer rumors seem ceaseless, per The Sun.

But why not? Falcao has scored four goals in his last four games. Haven't you ever heard of a contract year? Falcao is having one of those right now. 

7. Germán Denis

Germán Denis is presently fourth in goals scored in Serie A for Atalanta. His recent form, though, has been special.

Denis has six goals in his last five games played, including a natural hat trick against Inter Milan which fueled Atalanta's stunning road victory against Inter, per ESPNFC.com.

Denis had a great month in one game at Inter's expense. 

6. Gareth Bale

Save all your "Gareth Bale is not a striker" venom. You are correct. Bale is not technically a striker. 

Emmanuel Adebayor is technically a striker. How "in form" is he? How much "striking" is he doing?

Exactly.

So call Bale a midfielder or call him a center back if you like. In the only analysis that matters, i.e., who is the straw that stirs Tottenham Hotspur's drink, it's Bale.

Ask Manchester City for details, per ESPNFC.com. Bale's dagger goal against the Citizens gave him three in his last four games in all competitions. His 18 Premier League goals place him third in the league in scoring.

But he's not a striker. Let's be clear on that.

5. Edinson Cavani

There is not enough room here to detail every transfer rumor surrounding Serie A scoring leader Edinson Cavani. Here is a taste, though, per the Daily Mail.

Scoring 23 goals in 30 league games, including five in his last five, has only underscored Cavani's burgeoning status as a transfer target for bigger and wealthier clubs.

It will be fascinating to see where Cavani ends up this summer and how he gets wherever he is going.

4. Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo is second in goals scored in La Liga, right on a goal per game played with 31 of each.

Incredibly, that statistic barely suggests the degree to which Ronaldo is scorching opponents lately.

Ronaldo's appearances log is pretty staggering these days. In his last 12 games in all competitions, Ronaldo has more two-goal games (four) than games where he did not score (three.)

And the beat goes on for Real Madrid, as Champions League glory is still within the side's reach.

3. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Ligue 1 does not get nearly the press hype that the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga do. As a result, Paris Saint-Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimovic toils in relative anonymity.

But you cannot deny his impact in that league. He is just shy of a goal a game with 27 tallies in 29 appearances in the league and has a goal or an assist in his last five league matches.

And there was certainly no shame in Ibrahimovic's effort to get PSG through to the semifinals of the Champions League. Not when the guy who helped beat them is Lionel Messi.

2. Robert Lewandowski

What do you do when you are 24 years old and leading the Bundesliga in goals?

You start angling to move to Manchester United, of course (per The Telegraph).

As with Cavani and Falcao, rumors about Lewandowski's next club swirl with the insistence of the spring winds in Manchester, per SkySports.com.

As they should. Lewandowski has scored 10 goals in his last 10 games in all competitions.

That'll do.

1. Lionel Messi

Right, so maybe Lionel Messi is not a pure striker either. When you make your list, you can put him wherever you want or you can leave him off entirely.

But on this day and in this space, Messi leads them all. He has 43 goals in 29 games in La Liga. That not only leads the league, it does so by a dozen.

His statistics in very recent days are spotty because he is recovering from a hamstring injury, per FoxSports.com.

That really does not matter too much.

Even a fraction of Messi is normally better than 100 percent of every other player on Earth.