Just like the race for Champions League football next season, the bid to win the Premier League’s Golden Boot is likely to run until the final day of the campaign.
Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah are both chasing a third Golden Boot, but the pair could yet be tracked down by a handful of players looking to finish the season with a flurry.
The last round of Premier League fixtures falls on 23 May, while both Liverpool and Spurs have three games remaining.
That gives Kane and Salah the edge over their nearest rivals, meaning it looks set to be a straight shootout between the pair going into the final fortnight of matches.
Harry Kane (Tottenham) – 21 goals
Remaining fixtures: Wolves (H) 16 May, Aston Villa (H) 19 May, Leicester (A) 23 May
The Tottenham striker won consecutive Golden Boots in 2015-16 and 2016-17, and his consistency in the Premier League ever since has resulted in many believing Kane could overhaul Alan Shearer’s record.
Shearer holds the all-time Premier League record for goals with 260, but Kane is now less than 100 away and at the age of 27 he has every chance of catching the former England captain.
In the short term, Kane could pick up a third Golden Boot this month, with upcoming home matches against Wolves and Aston Villa presenting the current England skipper with an opportunity to finish as top scorer ahead of England’s push for Euros glory.
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) – 21 goals
Remaining fixtures: West Brom (A) 16 May, Burnley (A) 19 May, Crystal Palace (H) 23 May
Like Kane, Salah has already won two Golden Boots, scoring 32 goals in 2017-18 – a record for a 38-game Premier League season – before sharing the award with Sadio Mane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in 2018-19 with 22 goals apiece.
Salah is currently just four goals shy of reaching a century in the Premier League, and were he to reach that landmark during Liverpool’s final three league games, it would also strengthen his prospects of beating Kane to the Golden Boot.
Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd) – 18 goals
Remaining fixtures: Fulham (H) 18 May, Wolves (A) 23 May
Manchester United only have two games left to play compared to Liverpool and Spurs’ three, but Fernandes remains an outside shot for the Golden Boot.
With Champions League qualification assured, Fernandes’ game-time could be carefully managed given United have a Europa League final to look forward to against Villarreal on 26 May.
However, Fernandes would almost certainly favour the match practice ahead of that final, with the midfielder just two shy of surpassing the 20-mark in his first full Premier League campaign.
No midfielder has ever won the Golden Boot, meaning Fernandes would be chasing a little slice of history as he looks to overhaul Kane and Salah.
Son Heung-min (Tottenham) – 17 goals
Remaining fixtures: Wolves (H) 16 May, Aston Villa (H) 19 May, Leicester (A) 23 May
Eight Premier League goals in Spurs’ opening six games – including four against Southampton – ensured Son was an early contender for the Golden Boot.
Teammate Kane has since overtaken him, but the South Korean has rediscovered his goalscoring form of late, finding the net in their past three league games against Southampton, Sheffield United and Leeds.
Not only would Son need to heavily outscore Kane in Spurs’ final three games, but he would also need to rely on Salah and Fernandes failing to score if he is to have any chance of becoming the first Asian Golden Boot winner.
Any other contenders?
Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin (16 goals) and Leeds United’s Patrick Bamford (15) would both need to a considerable end-of-season haul to claim the Golden Boot.
Calvert-Lewin scored a hat-trick against West Brom back in September, while Bamford did likewise against Aston Villa a month later. It would take at least another couple of hat-tricks for these two to trouble the top of the Golden Boot rankings.
Premier League Golden Boot winners
- 1992-93: Teddy Sheringham (Nottingham Forest/Tottenham) – 22*
- 1993-94: Andrew Cole (Newcastle) – 34*
- 1994-95: Alan Shearer (Blackburn) – 34*
- 1995-96: Alan Shearer (Blackburn) – 31
- 1996-97: Alan Shearer (Newcastle) – 25
- 1997-98: Dion Dublin (Coventry), Michael Owen (Liverpool), Chris Sutton (Blackburn) – 18
- 1998-99: Michael Owen (Liverpool), Dwight Yorke (Man Utd), Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Leeds) – 18
- 1999-00: Kevin Phillips (Sunderland) – 30
- 2000-01: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Chelsea) – 23
- 2001-02: Thierry Henry (Arsenal) – 24
- 2002-03: Ruud van Nistelrooy (Man Utd) – 25
- 2003-04: Thierry Henry (Arsenal) – 30
- 2004-05: Thierry Henry (Arsenal) – 25
- 2005-06: Thierry Henry (Arsenal) – 27
- 2006-07: Didier Drogba (Chelsea) – 20
- 2007-08: Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd) – 31
- 2008-09: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea) – 19
- 2009-10: Didier Drogba (Chelsea) – 29
- 2010-11: Carlos Tevez (Man City), Dimitar Berbatov (Man Utd) – 20
- 2011-12: Robin van Persie (Arsenal) – 30
- 2012-13: Robin van Persie (Man Utd) – 26
- 2013-14: Luis Suarez (Liverpool) – 31
- 2014-15: Sergio Aguero (Man City) – 26
- 2015-16: Harry Kane (Tottenham) – 25
- 2016-17: Harry Kane (Tottenham) – 29
- 2017-18: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) – 32
- 2018-19: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal), Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) – 22
- 2019-20: Jamie Vardy (Leicester) – 23
*42-game season
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2SHoVgM
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