From Mohamed Salah to Karim Benzema, top contenders for Ballon d'Or this season

The nominees for the latest edition of Ballon d'Or are all set to be announced on Friday, October 8. Ahead of the key announcement, let's take a look at Europe's top performers over the past year and also at players who are currently in very good form. Sky Sports has released a ranking of its own, where it applied a fixed formula to determine the top in-form players in Europe at the moment, analysing performers from leagues such as Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, and Ligue 1. 

Karim Benzema ahead of Mohamed Salah

According to the rankings, Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema and Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah remain the top performers across leagues in the ongoing season in Europe. While Salah has 6 goals from his seven league matches, Benzema has 9 goals in the same number of games. However, Benzema edges Salah in terms of the total number of assists in the ongoing season. Benzema has seven assists to his name, while Salah has just three. 

Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe of PSG, Inter Milan's Edin Dzeko, and Real Sociedad's Mikel Oyarzabal are placed third, fourth, and fifth respectively in the table. When it comes to most goal involvements this season, Benzema (1st), Haaland (2nd), and Salah (3rd) take the top three spots once again. 

Argentine footballer Lionel Messi takes the first spot when it comes to listing top players in the past 12 months, since October 1. Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski, Benzema of Real Madrid, and PSG's Kylian Mbappe occupy the second, third, and fourth positions, respectively. However, Lewandowski takes the first spot in terms of most goals scored in the past year. Lewandowski has scored 47 goals since October 1 and has been involved in 53 goals. He also has 6 assists to his name. 

Lionel Messi was awarded the prestigious Ballon d'Or in 2019, the former Barcelona forward's sixth in his career. With the award, Messi became the first footballer to win six Ballon d'Or titles, one more than his Portuguese rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who has five to his name. In 2020, the award ceremony was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.  

Image: AP