This season 490 goals have been scored in 199 matchs. So 2,462 per match in average are scored. Compare with the last two decades: 1986/1987: 2,095 1987/1988: 2,247 1988/1989: 2,368 1989/1990: 2,271 1990/1991: 2,171 1991/1992: 2,092 1992/1993: 2,332 1993/1994: 2,095 ---introduction of the French League Cup--- 1994/1995: 2,503 1995/1996: 2,281 ---reduced to 18 clubs--- 1997/1998: 2,359 1998/1999: 2,363 1999/2000: 2,572 2000/2001: 2,503 2001/2002: 2,421 ----back to 20 clubs--- 2002/2003: 2,202 2003/2004: 2,379 2004/2005: 2,174 2005/2006: 2,134 2006/2007: 2,235 2007/2008: 2,284 2008/2009: 2,258 2009/2010: 2,462 As you see, more goals than in 2003-2004 when we had Drogba, Cissé, Pauleta, Frei, Nonda or Giuly. Back to 2001 or 2000: there were Sonnygoal, Trezeguet, Marco Simone, Nonda, Alex, Aloisio, Christian ! Do we have better strikers so Savidan is no more alone to score 13 goals ? Lisandro is the Star under spotlights, but the top scorers are offensive midfielders, Nenê and Gervinho, on contrary to last year when Gignac and Hoarau were revealed. Pure stars as Morientes and Gudjohnsen are just flops. Do we have more offensive coaches leading good teams ? Ricardo left to Sao Paulo (I share your grief ). Lorient has never been so strong, Lille almost puts Barça in shame (almost) and Laurent Blanc wants "to play well in order to win" that are words stolen from the legendary FC Nantes managers. What's your opinion ?
I'd like to add that, even with all those goals, the L1 average stays far behind the other European leagues ! Italy: 2,556... It seems to be a general trend actually.
I'm enjoying the uptick personally, you can tell by watching the league this season that the games have been a bit more exciting than years past, when we would have 6 0-0 draws in a week.