Champions League Top Goalscorer: Raphinha leads wide-open race but big guns lurking | OneFootball

UEFA Champions League

Raphinha leads the way in Champions League goalscorer charts

It's a wide open race to be Champions League top goalscorer this season. Paul Higham takes a look at the contenders and their form heading into the quarter-finals.

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Much like the chase for the famous old trophy itself, the race to be Champions League top goalscorer is wide open as we head into the quarter-finals.

Just eight teams remain in the running to be crowned European champions, with seven players realistically in the frame to finish as top scorer this season as the competition gets down to the sharp end.

Barcelona's Raphinha leads the way in terms of both goals scored and market leader, with the 7/4 favourite to be top scorer sitting on 11 Champions League goals. That is one ahead of Bayern Munich's Harry Kane and Dortmund's Serhou Guirassy.

Robert Lewandowski is 3/1 and two goals behind Barcelona team-mate Raphinha but the Pole will fancy his chances of scoring a few goals in the quarter-finals, while Real Madrid pair Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr are lurking just behind on seven goals each.

At first glance, they look too far behind for us to get involved, but Real will fancy going all the way again and that could give Mbappe and Vini a few extra games to make up the difference. We've long given up ruling Real Madrid out of anything.

Champions League top scorer betting

What form are the main contenders in?

Raphinha is a really interesting one. He bagged a hat-trick against Bayern and then five of his goals came in three games against Benfica - a side he obviously loved playing against.

The Brazilian also scored against quarter-final opponents Borussia Dortmund during the group stages so he'll fancy adding to his tally - but a curious fact is that his 11 goals have come from an xG of around 4.3. That's a remarkable return and perhaps one that can't last.

Dortmund should give Barca chances and that gives hope for former striker Lewandowski, who has drawn a blank in four of his last five in the Champions League including against his former side, but the Pole has been a bit ordinary by his standards this season.

On the opposite side of this quarter-final is Serhou Guirassy, who won't be fazed at facing Barca after scoring twice against them in the group stage so he could make a big move. His negative is that Dortmund are big underdogs and not fancied to progress further.

Uefa Champions League - Top 7 Goalscorers

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Harry Kane will be popular at 13/5 but he's up against a tough defence in Inter that has conceded just two goals in the Champions League this season. And four of Kane's goals came against Dinamo Zagreb and he was quiet before hitting three in the last-16 tie with Leverkusen.

Mbappe bagged a hat-trick against Man City earlier in the season and will look to capitalise on Arsenal missing centre-back Gabriel for their tie, as will Vinicius Jr who also has a hat-trick in the competition (against Dortmund) as part of a seven-goal blitz in four games, but he's not scored in four since.

PSG's Ousmane Dembele was excellent against Liverpool but his finishing is a bit of a problem. He did get a hat-trick against Stuttgart and two against Brest but he has the worst accuracy of the leading contenders as he only hits the target with 33/.3% of his efforts on goal.