In usual circumstances it would be both encouraging and exciting for Germany’s national coach Joachim Löw to see two German strikers in Stefan Kießling and Kevin Kuranyi lead the way in this year’s race to finish top of the Bundesliga goal scoring charts.  Conversely, the fact Löw has historically been unimpressed with both individuals could leave the national coach with a conundrum come the summer.
The issue will certainly be one to consider carefully with the lack of form amongst his other striking options a concern.  The solitary other German striker …

The Turkish super league – commonly seen as a two horse race between fierce rivals Galatasary and Fenerbahce; however this season the tide has turned, with several teams seperated by only eight points and all in the running to take the title. The current campaign has also seen the emergence of fresh goalscoring talent, but it seems one man familiar to Bolton fans looks poised to claim the Golden Boot – arise Ariza Makakula.  
With 17 goals already to his name, loan ranger Ariza Makakula is making a name for himself at his current club Kayserispor. The Portuguese hitman currently leads …

The race for the Golden Boot in the Dutch Eredivisie is as good as over with two months of the season still to play. Ajax striker Luis Alberto Suarez has hit 26 league goals in only 25 appearances this season making him one of the hottest properties in European football.
The 23 year old Uruguayan International started his career as a winger with Nacional in his homeland before moving to Holland to join FC Groningen in 2006.  He scored 14 times in 35 appearances with them before switching to Ajax in …

The League 1 domestic season will be completed in two month’s time; however there are still a lot of things to be decided, including the 09/10 League 1 golden boot winner. Five players are in the running for the prestigious award, they are Rickie Lambert, Lee Barnard, Jermaine Beckford, Grant Holt and Billy Paynter. Three players are currently level on 21 goals while Billy Paynter sits in 5th place on 19 goals, a margin which separates five players from just two goals.
Until last night the Southampton strike pairing of Rickie Lambert and Lee Barnard …

This season’s Bundesliga has been one of the best yet due to again, its unpredictability. Over the last three seasons, only one title has gone to Bayern Munich, the country’s biggest team. In the 06-07 season, it went to Stuttgart. The next season it went to Bayern after they spent heavily by signing Franck Ribery, Luca Toni, Miroslav Klose and numerous others. Last season, it went to Wolfsburg, who were ninth at the start of the winter break. The equivalent of this in England would be Aston Villa then Chelsea …

The French Ligue 1 has seen a long overdue resurgence over the last two seasons mainly due to the non-dominance of Olympique Lyonnais.  Their seven successive titles, beginning in 2002, brought a certain stagnation to a league that finds itself out with the higher echelons of Europe’s best domestic competitions.
The current title chase is wide open with a possible six teams vying for the right to be the champions of France.  Bordeaux, the 2009 champions, are currently the top of the pile although the likes of Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais are clipping …

This season in Portugal has seen the re-emergence of Portugal’s most successful club team Benfica at the top of the league, and their fantastic form to date has been widely down to the South American spine of their team. There is an abundance of talent throughout the side including highly rated Argentine winger Angel Di Maria, but it is the  little and large partnership between Oscar Cardozo and the rejuvenated Javier Saviola that has seen Benfica hit a devastating 59 goals in their 22 games, with the front two scoring …

Fulham gained a surprise entry into the Europa League this season after finishing 7th in the Premier League. Roy Hodgson has transformed his players from the downbeat side which was nearly relegated just two seasons ago. He has brought the best from “past-it” players like Paul Konchesky and Damien Duff whilst Bobby Zamora has been an inspiration this season with many pundits demanding that the striker should be given a chance in the England squad. Hodgson has also spent his money wisely, bringing in relatively unknown players in to the …

The last two seasons of disappointment and uncertainty for Valencia seem a distant memory given their return to form this season. A disastrous 07/08 campaign saw ‘Los Che’ languishing in 10th position in La Liga, a finish that is even more unthinkable given that they had previously won the Spanish title in both the 01/02 and 03/04 seasons. The introduction of Unai Emery as manager last season improved things, and allowed for Valencia to gain their 6th placed La Liga finish which saw them scrape into the Europa League. Their …

Times have been hard for Benfica in recent years, consistently overshadowed by Porto on the domestic front and failing to make any lasting impact on the European stage there has been little to celebrate for Portugal’s most successful club.  However having built a squad around a core of talented South Americans 2009/10 has seen the emergence of an Eagles side which looks capable of recapturing the successes of yesteryear.  This has certainly been apparent in the Europa League where some impressive performances, the most recent a 5-1 aggregate hammering of …