Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah tipped to clinch UEFA Champions League top goalscorer award
Netting eight separate times during last year’s UEFA Champions League campaign – which saw Liverpool finish runners up behind Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid, Egyptian forward, Mohamed Salah has been touted as a potential winner of this season’s top goalscorer award.
Salah, who currently leads this season’s top goalscorer charts with seven goals in the group stage alongside Paris Saint Germain frontman, Kylian Mbappe, guided his team to second place in Group A – behind Italian side, Napoli who managed to trounce the Jurgen Klopp-led side in Naples in their reverse clash.
A bright spark in an interchanging front three of Luis Diaz, Roberto Firmino, and Diogo Jota, Salah has been a relative source of joy for the Kop this season – as part of a tumultuous and topsy-turvy campaign for Klopp’s side, both domestically and in European competition.
Available as still quite an outside bet behind the aforenoted, Mbappe, and Manchester City striker, Erling Haaland – who has found the net five times in the Champions League as part of his stunning goalscoring exploits this season, online free spins casino place Salah at worthy odds to end this year’s campaign as top goalscorer.
Last campaign’s top goalscorer award went to recent FIFA Ballon D’or winner, Karim Benzema, with the Real Madrid talisman guiding Ancelotti’s side to tournament success against Liverpool – netting a whopping 15 times throughout the group stage and as part of stunning knockout ties for Los Blancos.
Following a surprisingly quiet season last year – at least by his standards, Argentine forward and six time top goalscorer victor, Lionel Messi has kicked on this season in Paris alongside Mbappe and Brazilian playmaker, Neymar – finding the net himself 4 times throughout the group stage.
Polish frontman, Robert Lewandowski is also out of the running to win this season’s UEFA Champions League, with his Barcelona side dumped out at the group stage, despite the former Bayern Munich man scoring 5 times in 5 group stage appearances. Barcelona are set to feature in the UEFA Europa League in the new year, with the Catalan side slated to compete in a two legged affair with a chance to reach the last 16.
Topping a solid Group B which included both Bayer Leverkusen, and Diego Simeone’s Athletico Madrid, FC Porto see their attack spearheaded by Iranian striker, Mehdi Taremi – who has continued his goalscoring exploits since arriving from Rio Ave two season’s ago – scoring 5 times in the group stage, landing him beside both Lewandowski, and Haaland.
For Serie A victors, AC Milan, the Rossoneri finished behind Chelsea in second place in Group B – progressing to the knockout phase courtesy of French maestro, Olivier Giroud. Led by Stefano Pioli, Milan have developed an energetic and technical group of players following a gold drought in the Italian capital in the last decade, spearheaded by Giroud, Portuguese sensation, Rafael Leao, as well as serial winner, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is touted to soon return from a knee injury suffered at the tail end of last season.
