5 Forwards That are Exceeding Expectations this Season

After only starting ten Premier League games last season, scoring five goals, a lot of Liverpool fans would’ve been ok with Roberto Firmino departing in the summer, but to start this season, he has been in red-hot goalscoring form.

In the Premier League he has already beaten his tally from last season, scoring six goals from seven games, only five starts, only behind Erling Haaland in goals per minute this season.

With two goals against Rangers in the Champions League, he currently stands on eight goals this season, level with Mo Salah and is only three goals behind his tally from the entirety of last season where Liverpool played every game available to them, making his return to goal scoring form a surprising light for Liverpool fans this season.

Most people will remember Enner Valencia for his time at West Ham, where he showed flashes to be a good player, but ultimately it never came to fruition, but at thirty-two years old, playing for Fenerbahçe in the Turkish Süper Lig, he is in his best goalscoring form of his career.

Last season Valencia was barely a starter for Fenerbahçe, only playing from the start nine times in the league, scoring seven goals, which after just seven games this season, he has eclipsed, scoring ten league goals already, averaging a goal every 51 minutes, scoring two or more times in a game four times this season.

Sheraldo Becker’s highest scoring season in his career came in the 2018/19 season, where he netted seven goals for ADO Den Haag and in his three seasons playing for Union Berlin, he only managed seven league goals, averaging a goal every 488 minutes, but this season excelling in a very good Union Berlin side.

With six league goals this season, he has nearly matched his tally from his past three seasons, averaging a goal in the league every 107 minutes, a career-best, whilst also netting in European competition for the first time, securing his side a win over Malmö.

Apart from one season for Hannover 96 in 2017/18, Niclas Füllkrug has been a player that has done well in the Germany’s second division, but when played in the first division, couldn’t step up to the raised quality, but this season has surprised everyone for newly promoted Werder Bremen.

After nine games this season, Füllkrug is the Bundesliga top scorer, helped by the departures of Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski, but he is not only scoring consolation goals, his goals have been incredibly valuable for Werder Bremen who as a newly promoted side are currently sitting fifth in the league with Füllkrug averaging a goal every 100 minutes.

The final striker on this list is Marcus Antonsson of Varnamo, who many readers may recognise from spells in England with Leeds United and Blackburn Rovers, where he scored a combined 11 goals in 47 games.

During what is still the 2021/22 campaign in Sweden, the 31-year-old has been scoring for fun back in his homeland for Varnamo, firing in 18 times in 24 matches, including six goals in his last five games - with his side’s home fixture against Helsingborgs seeing the former Leeds man score a hat-trick.

Due to Antonsson’s terrific goalscoring form, his current side, Varnamo sits in tenth place, which is considerably better than what was predicted at the start of the campaign they have scored 29 goals as a whole in 25 matches.