Osimhen on record form, but Higuain Serie A record will be tricky

Victor Osimhen is on track to become Capocannoniere and win the Scudetto with Napoli, but it might not be enough to match Gonzalo Higuain’s all-time Serie A record of 36 goals.

The Nigeria international was on target in tonight’s 3-0 victory over Cremonese, which was his sixth consecutive league fixture on the scoresheet, during which he found the net eight times.

In the 2015-16 season on his way to the record, Higuain did the same.

Tonight’s tap-in took Osimhen’s tally to 17 goals in just 18 Serie A games, having missed four matches due to a femoral bicep strain in September and October.

The all-time record had belonged to Milan legend Gunnar Nordahl for decades, setting 35 goals in the 1949-50 campaign.

That was until Higuain broke it with 36 for Napoli in 2015-16, scoring a hat-trick in the final game against Frosinone, sealed with an acrobatic bicycle-kick.

Ciro Immobile was able to equal the record with 36 goals in the 2019-20 season for Lazio.

There are only 16 rounds left in the current campaign, so to reach the record of 36, Osimhen would need to score 19 goals in those games.