Vardy, Immobile, Ben Yedder – unlikely scoring leaders in Europe

It comes as no surprise that Barcelona’s Leo Messi is leading the La Liga scoring race at the moment, with his 13 goals in 14 games. He is closely followed by rival Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema, with 12 and teammate Luis Suarez with 11. Messi was the biggest favorite to win the scoring race for the fourth time in a row and seventh in total, despite many claiming that his production is down due to injuries and aging. But at 32, Messi isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.

Another surefire top scorer comes from Poland and plays in German Bundesliga. Bayern München’s Robert Lewandowski was once again touted the favorite to win the scoring race, with odds around 1.67 at the beginning of the season and the 31-year-old has duly delivered. Last season he scored 22 goals in 32 games – not a bad number at all – winning the scoring title ahead of Dortmund’s duo of Paco Alcacer (18 goals) and Marco Reus (17). This season Lewandowski has been even more lethal. His tally is already at 19 after 18 games played, not to mention his 10 goals in five Champions League games. Although putting up huge numbers, his lead in the scoring race is in jeopardy, with Timo Werner only one goal behind. Werner’s odds to win the scoring title were at 9.00 to start the season.

If Messi and Lewandowski were indeed the biggest favorites to capture the scoring title in their respective leagues, the three remaining European big leagues all have an interesting dark horse leading the race at the moment. In England, it’s Jamie Vardy party, as the prolific Englishman has taken another step at the age of 33. While he has produced well in the past – last season saw Vardy score 18 goals in Premier League – this season seems to be yet another breakthrough. Vardy’s total is already at 17, after 19 games played and there’s half of the season to go. Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the closest challenger with 14 goals. Vardy had hefty odds of 25.00 to start the season, so good luck for those picking up the long shot!

In Serie A, Lazio has been one of the surprise teams of the season, led by superb marksman Ciro Immobile. Immobile has already scored 19 goals this season, to top his last season tally of 15. And we are only halfway through the season. Immobile was touted as an outsider chance to win the scoring race with odds of 14.00, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku and Edin Dzeko marking lower odds. Lukaku is indeed challenging with 14 goals and Ronaldo is right up there as well with 12.

The true dark horse of the scoring races can be found from French Ligue 1. Monaco’s Wissam Ben Yedder was hardly listed in any of the scoring race betting coupons as Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Edinson Cavani, Moussa Dembele and even Radamel Falcao, Memphis Depay and Dimitri Payet more likely candidates. Ben Yedder arrived from Sevilla after scoring 18 goals – and adding nine assists – in La Liga and has been a true revelation to struggling Monaco. The forward has scored 13 goals in 16 games. Mbappe is chasing with 11 goals so far.