Who Are The Best Strikers In Serie B?
Using data from FBRef and Instat to assess who are the best performing strikers in Serie B.
With the majority of European football season’s drawing to a close during the recent weeks, plenty of analysis will be taking place. Coaches, analysts, scouts, journalists will all be dissecting their club’s season to extract where the marginal gains required can be made. With that being said, elite football has many minds looking into it in terms of analysis, so I thought I would delve into one of the lesser talked about leagues and try to shine a light on players who may not be known on the global stage.
It’s fair to say that Serie A is currently enjoying a renaissance, especially with the quality of strikers who now grace the league, whether it be Lautaro Martinez at Inter, the invigorated Tammy Abraham at Roma, highly in demand Victor Osimhen of Napoli or the forces of nature that are Rafael Leão and Dušan Vlahovic at AC Milan and Juventus respectively. There are plenty of world beaters in the top tier of Italian football, so what is the situation in Serie B?
Let’s have a look..
Looking at the chart below, we can clearly see that Lecce’s Massimo Coda leads the way with goals scored having notched up 20 for the season and chipping in with 8 assists. Obviously Coda’s Lecce teammate Strefezza sits in second place in the goal scoring charts, but I don’t want this analysis to just be about the top 3 goal-scorers, I want to highlight certain players who stand out based on their numbers. The next player that I find interesting is Gabriel Charpentier, with the least amount of minutes played (986) he has scored 10 goals, averaging 0.91 goals per 90 minutes. Finally, Alfredo Donnarumma has scored 14 goals in 2,007 minutes of football with 0.63 goals per 90. His performances intrigue me as out of the three players with 14 goals, he has played the least amount of football.
In terms of the best goal return for minutes played, Coda certainly stands out as being ever present for Lecce and obviously being in lethal goal scoring form this season. Franco Vazquez had a remarkable season for Parma, especially as he has been played as a midfielder for most of the season. I think Mirko Maric and Danny Mota are also worth noting as having had good seasons for their respective clubs.
When looking at goals scored from number of shots on target per 90, as expected Charpentier appears to perform higher than average. Former Reading man George Puscas also makes an appearance. Coda has a high number of shots on target per 90 but has a lower number of goals scored from those shots.
In terms of turning provider for their team, Coda once again stands out above the rest with 8 assists to compliment his 20 goal haul.
Looking at the goals and assists per 90, again Coda, Donnarumma and Charpentier all make appearances. Meaning they are worth a closer look…
Massimo Coda has been lethal in front of goal for Lecce this season, he has proven to be an all round consistent performer. Most of his goals are from inside the penalty area, which shows he acts as a poacher, always on hand to grab a goal. He has 8 assists to his name which demonstrates he can turn creator for his team. Something of an all rounder, it’s no surprise Coda has had such a great season in Serie B.
On loan Gabriel Charpentier has impressed for Frosinone, his ratio of goals against the minutes he has played is impressive. He works hard and has a high number of ball interceptions. With Genoa being relegated to Serie B, the Frenchman should be ideal to lead the charge back to Serie A next season.
Journeyman Donnarumma had a good season on loan at Ternana, he has a high number of goals and assists proving himself to be an all round creative force. He provides key passes that have enabled his team to launch attacks and he also works hard to recover the ball in the opponents half. A very solid player with bags of experience.
There we have it, my stand out attackers in Serie B. Stay tuned for more analysis from me.
