10 players who have surprised everyone this season in Europe's top 5 leagues
We are just past the quarter mark in the 2015/16 season and the league tables around Europe are slowly giving an indication of how it could be at the end of the season. At this point it also becomes easier to identify the standout performers for different teams.Some of last season’s best performers like Eden Hazard and Diego Costa are still struggling to find their feet. On the other hand, many top players like Robert Lewandowski, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mesut Ozil and Neymar have stepped up their game by a notch this season. But nothing less is expected of these players.In addition to the usual suspects, many players have performed above expectations this season and their contributions towards their sides have taken most fans by surprise. Even after a significant number of games into the season, their performance graph continues to be steady.Here is a list of ten players from Europe’s top 5 leagues, who have surprised everyone.
#1 Jamie Vardy - Leicester City
12 games into the Premier League season and Jamie Vardy sits on top of the league’s top goal scorers table with 12 goals to his name and a five goal lead over Ighalo, Romelu Lukaku and teammate Riyad Mahrez in second place.
Vardy is currently on a nine-game scoring streak in the league which is the best goal scoring streak ever in the EPL by an Englishman. If the Leicester City star can score in the next league game against Newcastle, then he will equal Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of scoring in 10 successive league games.
The 28-year-old started the season with a goal against Sunderland on opening day and then assisted Mahrez’s goal against Spurs which won the Foxes a point. He started his goal scoring streak in a 1-1 draw against Bournemouth and went on to score braces against Arsenal and Southampton, the latter which salvaged a point for his side from the jaws of defeat. He scored a goal apiece in recent wins against Crystal Palace, West Brom and Watford, and these goals proved to be winners.
The Englishman scored just five league goals last season – which was also his first season in the Premier League, but this season he doubled the tally after just 10 games. This is incredible considering that he was playing non-league football in 2012.