Kylian Mbappe, Mohamed Salah and Karim Benzema: Europe's top goalscorers - in pictures

We take a look at who is leading way in battle for Europe's Golden Shoe so far this season

Nine goals - Ludovic Ajorque (Strasbourg) 18 Golden Shoe points. AFP

Nine goals - Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) 18 Golden Shoe points. PA

Nine goals - Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich) 18 Golden Shoe points. AFP

Nine goals - Duvan Zapata (Atalanta) 18 Golden Shoe points. AP

Nine goals - Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain) 18 Golden Shoe points. Reuters

10 goals - Diogo Jota (Liverpool) 20 Golden Shoe points. EPA

10 goals - Wissam Ben Yedder (Monaco) 20 Golden Shoe points. Reuters

10 goals - Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) 20 Golden Shoe points. AFP

11 goals - Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan) 22 Golden Shoe points. Reuters

11 goals - Anthony Modeste (Cologne) 22 Golden Shoe points. Getty

11 goals - Juanmi (Real Betis) 22 Golden Shoe points. AFP

12 goals - Jonathan David (Lille) 24 Golden Shoe points. AFP)

12 goals - Giovanni Simeone (Verona) 24 Golden Shoe points. EPA

13 goals - Ciro Immobile (Lazio). 26 Golden Shoe points. EPA

13 goals - Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund) 26 Golden Shoe points. AFP

15 goals - Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 30 Golden Shoe points. AP

15 goals - Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) 30 Golden Shoe points. Getty

16 goals - Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina) 32 Golden Shoe points. AP

16 goals - Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen) 32 Golden Shoe points. Getty

19 goals - Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) 38 Golden Shoe points. Getty

As we head into the second half of the 2020/21 season, the race to be European football's top goalscorer is hotting up with some familiar faces in the running again.

Last season saw Bayern Munich goal machine Robert Lewandowski claim the Golden Shoe after scoring 41 times in 29 games, breaking Gerd Muller's record of 40 goals in a Bundesliga campaign, set in 1971/72.

It was the highest in Europe since Cristiano Ronaldo notched 48 goals for Real Madrid in 2014/15 and Lewandowski finished an impressive 11 clear of second placed Lionel Messi, in what was the Argentine's final campaign at Barcelona before leaving for Paris Saint-Germain.

Messi's old sparring partner Ronaldo was third with 29 goals in Serie A with Juventus before he left for a return to the Premier League and Manchester United.

You can find out who leads the way this season out of Europe's big five leagues — La Liga, Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 — in the gallery above. To view the next image, click on the arrows or swipe if on a mobile device.