Serie A 2022/23: Fierce Race for 'King of Goal'

Jenny Barry August 09, 2022 | 14:53

Ciro Immobile has dominated the Serie A goad record in recent years. Even so, Romelu Lukaku is back and up for the challenge. Dusan Vlahovic, Tammy Abraham, Giovanni Simeone or Lautaro Martinez can all create surprises.

Fierce Race for 'King of Goal'

The Dominion of Ciro Immobile

In modern Serie A history, no striker has been as dangerous as Immobile. The 32-year-old star has won 4 times Serie A top scorer, only the late legend Gunnar Nordahl of AC Milan is better than that (5 times).

For now, the Serie A sky belongs to Ciro Immobile. In the last 5 seasons, the Lazio striker has won the top scorer three times. Since 2016, this striker has only had one season scoring less than 20 years. At the peak, in the 2019/20 season, he scored 36 goals and won the European Golden Shoe.

In fact, Immobile greatly benefited from Lazio's play. The whole team is almost focused on serving this striker to shine, including putting all the penalties. As in last season, Immobile successfully completed 7 shots from 11 meters (26% of total goals). Or like the 2019/20 season, up to 38% of this player's goals come from penalties (14/36 goals).

Immobile has never denied the "privilege" of the whole team: "My achievements need to be divided equally among the team. They gave me the best conditions to score goals and give my best.”

In this season, Immobile has turned 32 years old but nothing will change because the style of Lazio is still the same. Maurizio Sarri is the type of coach with a tendency to attack. His appearance last season brought Immobile back to the "throne".

Lukaku is the No. 1 Candidate

According to the bookie's odds, Lukaku is the No. 1 candidate for the Serie A top scorer title with odds of 4.00 (1 to 4). Followed by Vlahovic (4.33), Immobile (5.50), Lautaro Martinez (10.00), Tammy Abraham (13.00).

Immobile vs Lukaku for King of Goal

Lukaku is ready to challenge, Vlahovic finds a "bounce"

Inter is like a lifeline to save Lukaku after going through a "dark" time at Chelsea. In the opposite direction, the Nerazzurri also need such a quality striker to return to the top. Last season, although Dzeko played not bad, there was no stability. This made Inter lacked sharpness in a few decisive moments and lost the championship to AC Milan.

In two seasons with Inter, Lukaku scored 23 and 24 goals respectively, the highest in his career. Of course, even when led by coach Conte or Inzaghi, the Nerazzurri will deploy a play around Lukaku. This makes him the biggest counterweight to Immobile.

Vlahovic is also a potential challenger. Last season, the Serbian striker scored 24 goals. No one has underestimated Vlahovic's talent, but the problem is, Juventus' play is unique, unlike Inter or Lazio.

Juventus often prioritizes the collective and has never revolved around any individual. Since Del Piero won the top scorer in the 2007/08 season, the old lady has only one more player to receive this title, Ronaldo in the 2020/21 season (29 goals). Strangely, during the period of dominating Serie A from 2011-2020, the Turin club did not have a player to win the top scorer.

Vlahovic's achievement last season is also an example. In the first half at Fiorentina, the striker scored 17 goals. By the second half of the Juventus shirt, he only had 7 more times to make the net.

Potential Challengers

Tammy Abraham is a name not to be missed. In his first season with AS Roma, the English striker had 17 goals (3 penalties). To the second season, Abraham promises to explode after better adapting. Besides, coach Mourinho has added "triggers" like Dybala or Wijnaldum to help Abraham become more terrifying.

Likewise Giovanni Simeone. After years of playing at mid-tier clubs, he moved to Napoli this summer to work with Luciano Spalletti, who has always been cool with strikers. Spalletti is the only coach in Serie A who has had three students ever win the top scorer. In addition, Lautaro Martinez can also improve the goal when the safe partner Lukaku is back.