The team outscoring Real Madrid and Barcelona this season
Saturday, November 26, 2016
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Real Madrid and Barcelona are scoring at better than two-and-a-half goals per game in the league this season but there is a side leaving them both in their wake.
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Real Madrid and Barcelona are well used to ticking over at over two-and-a-half goals per game, but this season there is a new kid on the block putting them both in the shade.
Monaco thumped Marseille 4-0 on Saturday to take their season tally to 43 in 14 outings in Ligue 1. That is better than three goals a game and superior to what any other side have managed in any of Europe's top six leagues in 2016/17 – by some margin.
Top scorers in Europe's top six leagues
43 – Monaco (3.07 goals per game)
36 – Real Madrid (2.77)
32 – Barcelona* (2.67)
32 – Liverpool (2.46)
31 – Torino (2.21)
*play on Sunday
Even spread
Leonardo Jardim's charges have struck three or more eight times already in the French top flight, including a 7-0 win at Metz last month – their record away win in Ligue 1.
There is no overreliance on any one star, either, with the 43 goals shared between 13 different players. With five goals apiece, Fabinho, Falcao, Thomas Lemar, Guido Carrillo and Valère Germain are joint-top scorers.
It all looks pretty rosy in Monaco at the moment. Jardim's side booked their place in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 as group winners in midweek and Saturday's win sent them top of Ligue 1 on goal difference – a whopping +28. Nice could retake the lead on Sunday, though.