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After months of discussions, reports and rumours, the news is now official: the Premier League will return to action on June 17th. And while the race for the league title is seemingly over, one race that will continue is the one for the Golden Boot.
The 2018-19 Premier League season saw the prize shared; Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane all scored 22 goals.
With nine games remaining for most teams, whether someone beats that total during this campaign remains to be seen. Regardless, it’s likely that one of these five players will lift the Golden Boot when all is said and done.
#1 Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
The current leader of the race for the Golden Boot in the Premier League, Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy currently has 19 goals to his name. The 33-year old may well be in the twilight of his career, but on the pitch he simply isn’t showing it.
The current Premier League campaign has seen Vardy average a goal every 114 minutes. If he continues at that rate, he’s very likely to beat his personal best of 24 Premier League goals. But can the Foxes hitman pull it off?
On paper at least, it’s very possible. Leicester do have a handful of tricky games remaining, such as Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur away. But equally, they’re also set to face strugglers like Watford, Bournemouth and Brighton & Hove Albion – giving Vardy opportunities to fill his boots.
More to the point, prior to the Premier League’s suspension, the 33-year old had just found form again. Vardy had gone seven games without scoring between December and March – but managed a brace in Leicester’s most recent game against Aston Villa.
Assuming the former England international comes back at full fitness, there’s no reason why he can’t continue to score goals. And if he can keep finding the net, then he could also cement Leicester’s spot in the Champions League for 2020-21, too.
With two goals more than his nearest rival as the season re-commences, Vardy has to be the favourite to win this prize.
#2 Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Well renowned as one of the Premier League’s best-ever strikers, Sergio Aguero currently sits at fourth in the list of the competition’s all-time top scorers. The Argentine has won the Golden Boot once before – in the 2014-15 Premier League season. And with 16 strikes to his name this season, he’s definitely in with a chance of repeating the feat.
Capable of finishing from seemingly any angle, with both feet and with his head, Aguero is a complete striker. At 31 years old, it’d be easy to expect him to be slowing down, but that hasn’t been the case this season.
The Argentine opened his tally in Manchester City’s opening game, and he hasn’t really stopped since. In Premier League action this season, he’s never gone more than three games without finding the net.
Supporting Aguero’s quest for the Golden Boot is the fact that City are so dangerous in front of goal. Pep Guardiola’s side currently sit in second place in the Premier League table, but are also the league’s top scorers with 68 goals. They’ve failed to find the net on just two occasions this season.
More interestingly, City’s final four games see them play Brighton, Bournemouth, Watford and Norwich City – all of whom currently sit in the bottom six. With opposition like this, there’s every chance that Aguero adds enough goals to his current total of 16 to take the Golden Boot.
Also Read: AGUEROOOOOO! The anatomy of the Premier League's most dramatic moment
#3 Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
One of the most dangerous attackers in the Premier League, Liverpool’s Sadio Mane currently has 14 goals to his name. That means that he’ll need another eight at least to match his 2018-19 tally of 22 – a tally that was enough for the Senegalese international to share the Golden Boot.
Is he capable of achieving that? It’s hard to say. Mane is clearly one of the Premier League’s best goalscorers. But it’s also true that his strike rate of a goal every 149 minutes isn’t as good as his competitors. Sergio Aguero, for instance, has averaged a goal every 88 minutes this season.
Despite this, it’s impossible to write Mane’s chances off. He’s been one of the most consistent goalscorers in the Premier League this season. And he has never gone more than three games without finding the net.
Of course, with a huge lead of 25 points at the top of the table, Liverpool’s march to the Premier League title seems academic now. That means that Jurgen Klopp’s side could play with the kind of attacking verve and freedom that will suit the Senegalese down to the ground.
With beatable opponents like Aston Villa, Brighton, Burnley and Newcastle United left, there’s every chance the Reds could score plenty of goals yet. And if Mane can score at least some of them, he’s in with a possibility of retaining the Golden Boot.
Also Read: Who are the 10 best Premier League strikers right now?
#4 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
It’s hard to believe it, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has only been a Premier League player for two and a half seasons. The reason that the time period feels longer probably has something to do with his incredible goalscoring exploits.
After scoring 10 goals in 13 appearances in his first half-season in the Premier League, the Gabonese international won the 2019-20 Golden Boot with 22 goals. Right now, he has 17 to his name – putting him second in the race behind Leicester’s Jamie Vardy. Could the Arsenal man overhaul the Foxes’ veteran?
It’s quite possible. Firstly, the Gunners don’t have a bad run-in – facing strugglers like Brighton, Norwich, Aston Villa and Watford before the season ends. And it’s also notable that when the season was suspended, Mikel Arteta had Arsenal on serious form.
They’d won their last three Premier League fixtures, scoring eight goals in the process – three of which came from Aubameyang. Right now, he’s easily the Gunners’ most reliable source of goals.
With current reports also suggesting that Arsenal have finally offered the hitman a new contract, the Gabon international may well prove to be more settled once the action begins. If that’s the case, then there’s every chance that he scores enough goals to retain the Golden Boot.
#5 Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Liverpool’s Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah won the Golden Boot in his first Premier League season with the club by scoring 32 goals in 2017-18. Last season saw him score 10 less. But his 22 goals were still enough for him to retain the prize – albeit jointly with teammate Sadio Mane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
This season, the Egyptian international has scored 16, leaving him three behind the Premier League’s top scorer Jamie Vardy. So can Salah catch him before the season ends and land his third Golden Boot in a row?
Like Mane, Salah’s goal average – 140 minutes per goal – is slightly below that of Vardy, Aubameyang and Sergio Aguero. But that’s not reason enough to rule him out of this race. While he has gone for short stretches without scoring, the Egyptian has been highly consistent across the entire 2019-20 Premier League campaign.
Like Mane, he’ll have a chance to score goals against some of the Premier League’s weaker defences when Liverpool face the likes of Aston Villa and Brighton. But to add to that, Salah is also the Reds’ designated penalty taker – meaning he may well have more chances to find the back of the net.
Due to Liverpool’s multi-pronged attack – they don’t rely on a single goalscorer like some of their rivals – the Egyptian should probably be considered an outside bet in this race. But as a former winner, there’s no way he can be counted out.
