Leicester striker Jamie Vardy leads the race for the Premier League Golden Boot, but there are three players hoping to overtake him with less than a fortnight remaining.
Vardy scored his 23rd league goal of the season in Leicester’s heavy 4-1 defeat at Bournemouth on the weekend, moving him three ahead of Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Mohamed Salah – who shared the 2018-19 Golden Boot with Aubameyang and Sadio Mane – remains in contention on 19 goals along with Southampton striker Danny Ings.
With a three-goal cushion Vardy is the clear favourite to claim his first Golden Boot, and though it appears to be a four-way battle, a flurry of goals from Raheem Sterling – currently on 17 – could see the Manchester City forward close the gap.
A fortnight to go
Jamie Vardy (Leicester) – 23 goals: Sheff Utd (H), Tottenham (A), Man Utd (H)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) – 20 goals: Liverpool (H), Aston Villa (A), Watford (H)
Danny Ings (Southampton) – 19 goals: Brighton (H), Bournemouth (A), Sheff Utd (H)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) – 19 goals: Arsenal (A), Chelsea (H), Newcastle (A)
Advantage Vardy
Vardy recently received a silver fox from Leicester after reaching 100 Premier League goals, while he is now just one goal away from matching his tally of 24 in their 2015-16 title-winning campaign.
The 33-year-old’s rate has somewhat slowed in the second half of the season, having initially reached 17 goals in the first 18 matches, but he edged further ahead as the only scorer among the quartet on Matchday 35.
Ings meanwhile is comfortably enjoying his most prolific season in the top-tier – his previous best of 11 coming at Burnley in 2014-15, while a year prior he scored 21 league goals for the Clarets in the Championship.
Both Vardy and Ings will be aiming to become just the third English striker to win the Golden Boot since the turn of the century.
Kevin Phillips won the award for his impressive tally of 30 goals in 1999-2000 for Sunderland, while Tottenham’s Harry Kane was the top scorer in 2015-16 (25 goals) and 2016-17 (29).
Salah chasing third Golden Boot
Vardy and Ings have stiff competition in the form of Salah and Aubameyang.
Salah is after a third Golden Boot having won the previous two seasons, sharing the 2018-19 spotlight with Mane and Aubameyang – just the third time there has been a three-way tie for top spot in the Premier League era.
Aubameyang was also the Bundesliga top scorer with 31 goals in 2016-17 while at Borussia Dortmund.
A tie this time around is not out of the question, but regardless, the Golden Boot winner will not be crowned until the final day of the season so long as it remains as close as it is currently.
However, a Premier League player is unlikely to win the European Golden Shoe, with Robert Lewandowski’s tally of 34 goals (68pts) the marker to beat, with Lazio’s Ciro Immobile (29 goals) and Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo (26 goals) the most likely to surpass Lewandowski.
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/38HUxH3
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