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Whoever feels Ligue 1 isn't competitive enough clearly hasn't seen a game in the French league this season.
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), the reigning champions, are far from the top of the table but are among the three Champions League spots.
Top five goal-scorers in the Ligue 1 this season:
There have been some amazing player battles for the league's Golden Boot award. Of course, Kylian Mbappe is in the reckoning, but there have been quite a few other stellar attackers this season who have lit up Ligue 1.
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On that note, here are the top five goal-scorers in Ligue 1 this campaign:
#5 Karl Toko Ekambi (Lyon) - 11 goals
A highly underrated player, Karl Toko Ekambi joined Lyon permanently last summer. After impressing in a six-month loan spell last season, Ekambi has hit the ground running in the Ligue 1.
With 11 goals and six assists from 21 games this season, it is fair to say the Cameroonian is back in the competition with a bang. He has also forged a fearsome attacking partnership with Memphis Depay.
The striker previously shot to fame with a 17-goal haul with Angers in the 2017/18 season. But on current form, he could well surpass that tally this campaign.
#4 Boulaye Dia (Reims) - 12 goals
Boulaye Dia is not the most glamorous name in the list. But that's because his senior career only started three years ago. However, he has now become a revelation with Reims in the Ligue 1.
Having struck 12 league goals this campaign, the Senegalese has already posted career-best figures. He also scored an amazing hat-trick against Montpellier in October last year.
In a season where Les Rouges et Blancs have grossly underperformed, languishing in 14th place in the 2020-21 Ligue 1 standings, Dia's goalscoring exploits have given fans some reason to cheer.
Boulaye Dia has got the potential to be the next big thing in the French top flight.
#3 Kevin Volland (AS Monaco) - 12 Ligue 1 goals
Remember the player who scored inside nine seconds in a Bundesliga game against Bayern Munich? Yup, Kevin Volland is the one. Now he is with Monaco, enjoying some of his best days yet.
Joining from Bayer Leverkusen after four successful years in the Bundesliga, the German arrived in Ligue 1 last summer. Following some early struggles, he has been firing on all cylinders lately.
He has scored 12 Ligue 1 goals for the Monegasques this season, along with eight assists, making him the most dangerous player in the squad right now.
He has also forged an excellent partnership with Wissam Ben Yedder, with Monaco harbouring hopes of a return to the Champions League next season, thanks to the duo's exploits.
#2 Memphis Depay (Lyon) - 13 goals
Few would have expected Memphis Depay to be in the reckoning for one of the most prolific strikers in the game after his disastrous spell with Manchester United in the Premier League.
However, after joining Lyon in 2016, the Dutch striker has scored 67 times from 162 games in all competitions, with 56 of them coming in the Ligue 1.
Depay has scored 13 Ligue 1 goals this season, which includes an opening-day hat-trick against Dijon.
There is no denying that Depay has breathed new life into his career, and at 26, he has just hit his peak.
#1 Kylian Mbappe (PSG) - 16 goals
No surprises here. Kylian Mbappe rules the roost in terms of goal-scoring in the French top-flight; he has won the domestic Golden Boot in two of the last three seasons and looks good for another this campaign.
Mbappe is now aiming to become the first player to win the prestigious award thrice since Sonny Anderson in 2001 and the first French player since Jean-Pierre Papin (1990) to do so.
Despite missing the first three Ligue 1 games of the season due to COVID-19, Mbappe is the leading scorer in the league, scoring 16 goals in 20 games.
The Frenchman recently hit triple-digit figures for PSG; he now needs only a solitary goal to enter the club's top-three goal-scorers of all time.
