An in-depth look at Kylian Mbappé's goals

It would seem almost reductive to sum up Kylian Mbappé's achievement solely from a statistical point of view given how ingrained its visual impact is in our minds and how overwhelming its influence has been on Paris Saint-Germain's results. However, when he gobbles up space as quickly as he does records, it's impossible not to take the time to analyse what no other Paris Saint-Germain player has done for the club: score 201 goals.

Kylian's story is, above all, one of intuition, of movement, of space and of bulging goal nets, as, since he joined the capital club in 2017, the France international has toppled every defence and broken every age-related record in his path.

So, let's take a closer look at his goals. First of all, from the 201 that he has scored, he appears to have a slight penchant for his right foot, which is where 152 of his strikes have come from, as well as a propensity to use his left without batting an eyelid, as he has netted no fewer than 144 goals with his supposedly weaker foot – including the record-breaker against Nantes, as if to prove our point even more.

As for his strike partners, the rise of the trio formed by Mbappé, Leo Messi and Neymar Jr is worth noting, as the Brazilian has provided him with no fewer than 24 assists, whilst the Argentine has managed to assist him 17 times in just two years.

KYKS LOVES SUSPENSE

His last three games – marked by a brace against Lille, another masterful two-goal haul away to arch-rivals Marseille and a late goal against Nantes – were quite simply a demonstration of the young prodigy's array of talent.

Incidentally, did you know that Kylian particularly enjoys taking things down to the wire? Of course, we couldn't possibly forget his 94th-minute goal against Real Madrid, which almost literally made the Parc des Princes erupt, but it was far from an isolated incident for the Bondy native, who has made torturing his vital organs to bring the capital to its feet his signature, as a quarter of his goals (49, to be precise) have been scored in the last 15 minutes of games.

HIS FAVOURITE OPPONENTS

A torturer of defences and a man well-accustomed to sitting down every goalkeeper that stands in his way, Mbappé has scored in the biggest stadiums in Europe and past the greatest of 'keepers. With 34 goals in the Champions League, he is already the club's top scorer in the most prestigious competition of them all.

If we stay in France, though, we can see that there are some recurring victims of his devastating drives forward. For example, he has scored no fewer than 12 goals against Dijon, including four braces, making the Burgundy outfit his preferred target.

Just below them, the Paris striker has managed to score no fewer than ten goals against Montpellier and Monaco (including three braces and a hat-trick against the club that developed him), as well as against Lille and Lyon (including his memorable four-goal haul in 2018, his brace in 2021 and his hat trick in the Coupe de France).

This season, Lille may well be his favourite team to play against, as he notched up a hat trick in the game away to them last year and a brace in the home game, which is still fresh in our minds.

The same goes for Marseille, who are undoubtedly becoming one of his favourite victims, as proven by his recent brace at the Vélodrome. As a result, Mbappé now has nine goals to his name in Le Classique!

201 GOALS AND COUNTING

Mbappé still has energy left, too. From his total of 21 goals in his very first season at Paris to the highly symbolic milestone of 201 goals that engraves his name in Rouge et Bleu history, Kylian still has an overwhelming desire for more.

This season, in fact, the no. 7 has found yet another gear. With no fewer than 30 goals scored and eight assists provided, he has contributed to 38 goals in 30 games for Paris, making it hard to believe that the marksman will stop there.

As a reminder, Mbappé is currently Ligue 1's top scorer with 18 goals, the Champions League's second-top scorer with seven goals – one behind Mohamed Salah – and the Coupe de France's top scorer with five goals, all of this after ending up as the 2022 World Cup's top scorer with eight goals.