Last week we looked at the most accurate strikers in Serie A, bringing you the seven most prolific front-men of the season so far. Yet in today's game it isn't just those hit-men who are responsible for scoring goals. With so many teams utilising a formation with just one man up front it is increasingly important that those behind the striker are contributing and a quick look at the scoring chart highlights this fact, with no fewer than eight midfielders in the top twenty.
Today we bring you a detailed focus on the best of those players, the midfielders making the most of the chances that come their way. Sebastian Giovinco and Francesco Lodi very narrowly missed out but here are the top seven - with a minimum of four goals - drawn from WhoScored.com's Serie A Player Statistics.
7. Simone Pepe (Juventus) - 7 shots per goal
Often criticised, the former Roma man has consistently performed well enough in training and matches to keep his place in Antonio Conte's side at the expense of much more popular - not to mention more naturally talented - players such as Milos Krasic and Eljero Elia. The versatile 28 year old has played in a variety of roles as the Bianconeri have regularly switched formations but has contributed two assists alongside his five goals, which include a match-winner against Lazio and a vital equaliser away at Napoli.
6. Gastón Ramírez (Bologna) - 6.75 shots per goal
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Tipped for a move to one of European footballs biggest clubs, Ramirez is a left winger who can play in a more central attacking role, echoing the style of Alexis Sánchez. Like the former Udinese man, the 21 year old Uruguayan has excellent technical skill and vision - as his three assists thus far prove - and with four goals from 27 shots, he clearly knows how to find the back of the net.
5. Marco Rigoni (Novara) - 6.5 shots per goal
If Ramirez is a name many will soon be learning, Rigoni is a player perhaps destined never to be well known. Despite following the path of Alessandro Del Piero from Padova to Juventus, the leap was far too great for a midfielder of his modest talents. His career has, since leaving Turin, been spent bouncing around in the lower divisions before landing in Novara two seasons ago. Successive promotions saw the Biancoazzurri arrive in Serie A and Rigoni has impressed so far, netting six goals (from 39 shots) and three assists.
4. Claudio Marchisio (Juventus) - 6.17 shots per goal
Sometimes lists such as this can throw up unknown names and statistics can always throw up oddities, but when it comes to Marchisio it is merely confirmation of a truly talented player currently in great form. Under Antonio Conte he has stopped being the utility man and has been used consistently as a central midfielder for arguably the first time in his career. He has proven beyond all doubt just how good he can be with match-winning strikes against both Milan clubs among his six goals so far this season.
3. Maximiliano Moralez (Atalanta) - 4.75 shots per goal
Often players can take time to settle into a new league and club, particularly in the case of South American players moving to Europe yet, in the case of Moralez, no adjustment period was necessary. The shortest player in Serie A at just 5'3" has made a big impression, his guile and invention have been a major factor in Atalanta's incredible start to the season. His four goals and two assists have helped them to some superb results and made his ill-fated spell at FC Moscow nothing more than a bad memory.
2. Marek Hamšík (Napoli) - 4.4 shots per goal
One of the undoubted stars of Napoli's hugely talented squad, Hamšík is having one of his better seasons, as his five goals and four assists attest. That those goals have come from just 22 shots is typical of his teams attacking prowess and the lethal nature of their counter-attacking style. With Napoli rarely enjoying the majority of possession - they average just 52% per game - it is vital they maximise their chances and, with the Slovakian joining team-mate Edison Cavani in the leagues most prolific players, it's clear things are going well.
1. Antonio Nocerino (Milan) - 3.83 shots per goal
A player signed for 0.5 million Euros that had never scored more than four goals in a Serie A season is not a name you might expect to find atop this list, but his remarkable accuracy - six goals from just 23 shots - shows just how rich a vein of form the Italian is in. Nocerino has been simply sublime thus far for Milan, adding some much needed pace, power and energy in midfield for the defending champions. How long his good form lasts will be vital to the Rossoneri in the second part of the campaign.
