Donyell Malen leads Europe’s 2026 scoring charts as unbeaten Roma face Sassuolo

Donyell Malen has moved to the top of the scoring charts across Europe’s five major leagues in 2026, while Roma aim to extend their unbeaten start to the Serie A season against Sassuolo on Saturday.

The Netherlands forward has scored 22 goals during the calendar year, one more than Raphinha and Harry Kane, who have both found the net 21 times.

Malen is also the only player in Europe’s five major leagues to have scored at least 10 goals both at home and away in 2026. He has scored 10 times on home soil and 12 goals away from home.

Roma will host Sassuolo at the Stadio Olimpico in one of four Serie A fixtures taking place on Saturday, after the 11th round begins on Friday with Venezia against Udinese.

The Rome club have lost only two of their 24 Serie A meetings with Sassuolo, recording 13 wins and nine draws, according to Opta. Roma have also won their past four matches against Sassuolo, their longest winning run against the club in the competition.

Sassuolo have won just once in 12 away league matches against Roma, drawing five and losing six. That victory came on 12 March 2023, when they won 4-3, with Armand Lauriente scoring twice and providing an assist.

Roma are one of only four teams across Europe’s five major leagues yet to lose this season, alongside Lazio, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

With seven wins and three draws from their opening 10 matches of the 2026-27 campaign, Roma can avoid defeat in their first 11 Serie A games for only the third time in their history. They previously achieved the feat in 2013-14, when their unbeaten run lasted 17 matches, and in 2003-04, when they went 14 games without losing.

Roma also have the best attack in Serie A this season, scoring 28 goals in their first 10 matches. It is the first time in the club’s history that they have reached that total at this stage of the competition.

Sassuolo, meanwhile, have lost their past four league games. Opta records only one previous occasion when they suffered five or more consecutive defeats in Serie A: a run of seven losses between January and March 2014.

They have not won away from home in the league since beating Udinese 2-1 on 15 February. Since then, Sassuolo have drawn three and lost eight of their 11 away matches, including six defeats in their past seven, with one draw.

Sassuolo also have Serie A’s weakest defence, conceding 26 goals in their opening 10 matches for the first time in their history in the competition.