Leicester striker Jamie Vardy leads the race for the Premier League Golden Boot going into the final day of the season on Sunday.
Vardy scored his 23rd league goal of the season in Leicester’s heavy 4-1 defeat at Bournemouth earlier this month, and he is now just two ahead of Southampton striker Danny Ings.
A Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hat-trick on the final day against Watford could make things interesting, while Mohamed Salah and Raheem Sterling must score at least four to challenge for the award.
One match left
Jamie Vardy (Leicester) – 23 goals: Man Utd (H)
Danny Ings (Southampton) – 21 goals: Sheff Utd (H)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) – 20 goals: Watford (H)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) – 19 goals: Newcastle (A)
Raheem Sterling (Man City) – 19 goals: Norwich (H)
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 when scoring in Matchday 35.
Ings meanwhile has closed the gap in what is comfortably 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
It would take a huge final-day tally from Salah or Aubameyang to win the Golden Boot outright.
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 will not win the European Golden Shoe given Robert Lewandowski’s tally of 34 goals (68pts) the marker to beat, with Lazio’s Ciro Immobile (31 goals) and Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo (30 goals) the most likely to surpass Lewandowski.
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3jDte5Q
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