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The European Golden Shoe has been dominated by La Liga of late with Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi among the most recent winners.
However, this season has sprung up a few early season surprises, who can genuinely give the traditional heavyweights a run for their money.
Here are the contenders for the European Golden Shoe
Honourable Mentions
Albert Prosa - FCI Tallinn - 25 points
As things stand, Albert Prosa actually leads the race for the European Golden Shoe, with 25 goals for FCI Tallinn in the Estonian Premium Liiga. However, since his goals have a factor of 1.0, he's unlikely to win the award, especially since the season started in March and will end in November.
Rauno Sappinen - FC Flora Tallinn - 22 points
The Estonian striker has 22 goals to Prosa's 25 and is also unlikely to finish the season in the top echelons of the European Golden Shoe race.
Mikhail Gordejchuk - BATE Borisov - 21 points
The Belarusian winger has scored 14 goals so far this season from 23 games, and with just 7 games to go in the 2017 Vysheyshaya Liga this season, it's unlikely he'll be anywhere near the top come next May, despite the fact that the Belarussian league has a factor of 1.5.
#5 Ciro Immobile - Lazio - 16 points
The Italian striker has had a storming start to the season, scoring 8 goals in just 6 games so far this season, playing all 540 minutes of Lazio's league season so far, which has led the Biancocelesti to 4th place in the table.
Immobile's best performance of the season came in the high-profile clash against AC Milan, with the forward running riot and scoring 3 goals past the likes of Leonardo Bonucci et al. In addition to his goal-scoring feats, Immobile has assisted 3 goals in Serie A this season.
The Italian league has a factor of 2.0, and if the Lazio striker keeps his goal scoring form up, he could very well be a dark horse for the European Golden Shoe this season. The 27-year-old had his best-ever goal-scoring season last year with 26 goals, so perhaps he is beginning to bloom late in his career.
#4 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - Borussia Dortmund - 16 points
The Gabonese striker may be ranked 4th in the European Golden Shoe race, but leads the way throughout Europe's Top 5 leagues if you consider all competitions - having scored 13 so far this season.
In the Bundesliga, Aubameyang has 8 goals from 535 minutes in 6 games for Borussia Dortmund, which has led to the Schwarzgelben leading the title race in the early stages. The 28-year-old had the best season of his career last year, scoring 40 goals in 46 appearances in all competitions.
Even if his 'dream' move to Real Madrid is no longer a possibility, Aubameyang will thrive at Dortmund, and given that the Bundesliga has a goal factor of 2.0, barring injury, the Gabonese striker should be up there come next May. With the likes of Mario Gotze, Andriy Yarmolenko, Max Philipp and Christian Pulisic all striving to ensure he scores, Aubameyang will be disappointed if he does not replicate last season's Bundesliga tally of 31.
#3 Lionel Messi - FC Barcelona - 18 points
The Barcelona star is ever-present in this list, and is the defending champion, having won his fourth Golden Shoe award last season with 37 goals in the league, having never shared a single one of his trophies.
Lionel Messi has started this season like a house on fire as well, racking up 9 goals in 540 minutes of the 6 games Barcelona have played this season, resulting in a 100% record for the Catalans as they lead La Liga. Strangely enough, Messi has not scored in 3 of those games, scoring 4 against Eibar, 3 against RCD Espanyol and 2 against Deportivo Alaves.
With Ernesto Valverde beginning to deploy Messi in a false nine role occasionally, the Argentine superstar is well on his way to become the first ever player in history to win the European Golden Shoe 5 times. Knowing Messi though, he'd much rather have his hands on the La Liga and UEFA Champions League trophies come the end of the 2017/18 season.
#2 Paulo Dybala - Juventus - 20 points
Despite his current stature in the game, Paulo Dybala has never been much of a goal-scorer, having never exceeded 20 league goals in any season of his entire career. However, ever since the Argentine striker has received the iconic #10 shirt of Juventus, he's been racking up goals, scoring 10 so far in just 6 appearances in the Bianconeri shirt.
What's more impressive is that Dybala has only completed the full 90 minutes thrice, playing 466 of Juve's 540 minutes in the league. The Argentine has already scored two hat-tricks this season, away to Genoa and Sassuolo, but it was his brace in the Turin derby that was the most impressive.
With Gonzalo Higuain struggling to find the net this season, Dybala's form could not have come at at better moment for Juve. Given the difficulty of scoring in Serie A, Dybala may struggle to be at the top end of the Golden Shoe race come the end of the season, but then again, the world is at the 23-year-old's feet.
#1 Radamel Falcao - AS Monaco - 22 points
Falcao's resurgence has gone quietly unnoticed by most of the European football universe, but now that Kylian Mbappe isn't grabbing the headlines at AS Monaco this season, the spotlight is finally coming back on El Tigre.
Also Read: To hell and back: the story of Radamel Falcao's miraculous resurrection
The Colombian striker has scored 11 goals in 7 games this season, and now that goals in Ligue 1 are rated at a factor of 2.0 (instead of 1.5 previously, when Zlatan Ibrahimovic was around), the Colombian has a real chance of winning the title.
What's been impressive about Falcao is the fact that he's scored in every single game bar the 4-0 reverse against OGC Nice - it's the sort of consistent scoring that will see him dominate the scoring charts this season.
People might point to Edinson Cavani, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe at PSG being contenders, but since Falcao is the sole focal point of Monaco's attack, he stands a better chance of winning the European Golden Shoe come the end of the season.
