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The Golden Shoe, formerly known as the Golden Boot, is one of the most intriguing sports awards out there - given to the top scorer across league competitions on the European continent, it takes the total number of goals scored (only league matches) and multiplies it with a difficulty factor that can range between 1 - 2, 2 being for the factor for the big 5 leagues.
Last season, Lionel Messi walked away with the award, bringing his total tally to 4 Golden Shoes, a figure only matched by, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo.
The great Portuguese is way behind the running this time around, though, with notable players such as Paulo Dybala, Harry Kane, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (all on 24 points) and Mohamed Salah (26 points) just outside the top 10.
As the season wears on, though, this list is likely to take a very different shape
#10 Mikhail Gordejchuk
Club: BATE Borisov
League: Vysheyshaya Liga, Belarus
Goals Scored: 18
Factor: 1.5
Total Points: 27
The Belarussian has top-scored for the league leaders at an average of 0.62 goals a game, and has scored nearly a third of BATE's 61 goals this season.
As the Vysheyshaya Liga draws to a close, he is expected to drop down the list, rather drastically so.
#8 (tied) Albert Prosa
Club: FCL Tallinn
League: Premium Liiga, Estonia
Goals Scored: 27
Factor: 1
Total Points: 27
In the insanely high-scoring Premium Liiga in Estonia, Albert Prosa has scored 27 of the 106 goals scored by his side, but are somehow still second to Flora, by six whopping points. Prosa has achieved his goal tally at a rate of knots, scoring at 0.77 a game.
He, and his fellow Estonian, Rauno Sappinen are the highest scorers - outright - at the moment, but the Estonian league's non-existent difficult factor means they will continue to slip down the order as the big boys start piling up the numbers.
#8 (tied) Rauno Sappinen
Club: Flora Tallinn
League: Premium Liga, Estonia
Goals Scored: 27
Factor: 1
Total Points: 27
Top scorers for the best side in Estonia, Rauno Sappinnen has a similar strike rate as his compatriot, scoring his 27 goals at 0.77 a game, but since Flora have scored 6 goals less than their great rivals, the significance of his goals for the team also increases.
He, though, will suffer the same fate as Prosa and will undoubtedly drop out of the top 10 as the top strikers across Europe hit their groove mid-season.
#5 (tied) Robert Lewandowski
Club: Bayern Munich
League: Bundesliga, Germany
Goals Scored: 14
Factor: 2
Total Points: 28
The Polish hitman didn't particularly enjoy life under Carlo Ancelotti, despite missing out on the Bundesliga golden-boot to his nemesis Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang by just one goal, and starting this season decently... but with the return of Jupp Heyneckes to the helm, there seems to be greater collective confidence within the Bayern camp and that will surely translate to more goals for the hungry Pole who is already banging them in at an incredible 0.93 per game
As the Bayern juggernaut rolls on picking up a head of steam, Lewandowski is sure to head toward a podium slot this time around.
#5 (tied) Lionel Messi
Club: Barcelona
League: La Liga, Spain
Goals Scored: 14
Factor: 2
Total Points: 28
That man again.
The current holder of the Golden Shoe has been in scintillating form (minor four-game goal 'drought' notwithstanding) this season, banging in 14 goals at 0.93 goals a game and looking very much in the mood to single-handedly bring back pride, and the League trophy, to the Camp Nou.
He's not going to be stuck at 5 for much longer, is he?
#5 (tied) Falcao
Club: Monaco
League: Ligue 1
Goals Scored: 14
Factor: 2
Total Points: 28
El Tigre is back. And boy, what a story that has made for!
With an incredible goal a game, Falcao's scoring has kept Monaco in the hunt as they defend a surprise Ligue 1 championship despite the loss of so many of their key players. The captain has led from the front and has scored 14 of the 40 they have scored so far.
The greatest stat of them all, though? He scores with 50% of the shots that he gets on target. How's that for accuracy, eh?
#4 Igor Angulo
Club: Gornik Zabrze
League: Ekstraklasa, Poland
Goals Scored: 19
Factor: 1.5
Total Points: 28.5
A 33-year old Spaniard who plies his trade in the Ekstraklasa, the brilliantly named Igor Angulo has been on fire for Polish league leaders Gornik Zabrze having scored 19 of their 40 goals so far this season - coming in at a quite incredible 1.06 goals a game (joint highest on the list)
With Zabrze flying high in Poland, Angulo will be hopeful of maintaining a top-10 place, despite having the handicap of only a 1.5 multiplying factor.
#3 Ciro Immobile
Club: Lazio
League: Serie A, Italy
Goals Scored: 15
Factor: 2
Total Points: 30
Who the hell said Serie A was boring, eh?
Arguably Europe's most entertaining division at the moment, the Italians have shed their tag of purveyors of dull, tactical 0-0 draws that get analysed like they are chess matches and are playing some of the best football out there.
Lazio were early front-runners in this, and their target man Ciro Immobile irrepressible - scoring 15 goals at a goal a game - but both he and his club have gone off the boil recently, and the straight he received this weekend vs Torino will not help the Italian's cause here.
#2 Mauro Icardi
Club: Inter Milan
League: Serie A, Italy
Goals Scored: 16
Factor: 2
Total Points: 32
The charismatic, controversial, and brilliantly effective Argentine has been scoring bucket-loads this season and has helped propel his Inter team to the top of the table - a position they last occupied eons ago.
Icardi's 15 goals have come at a goal a game, and make up for nearly half of Inter's 33 League goals - now that's leading by example!
#1 Edinson Cavani
Club: Paris Saint-Germain
League: Ligue 1
Goals Scored: 17
Factor: 2
Total Points: 34
The underrated Uruguayan has gone under the radar as PSG's newcomers Neymar and Kylian Mbappe tear things up on the pitch and steal the limelight, but it's Edi Cavani's goals that are helping PSG establish a reign of utter dominance over Ligue 1
While there is surely an argument there on whether Ligue 1 deserves the same multiplication factor as La Liga, Seri A or the Premier League... as things stand, no one can grudge Cavani his place atop the pile.
With PSG going from strength to strength, he will take some dislodging too.
