Christmas is traditionally seen as the half way point of the football season, and a good opportunity to take check on one of the most interesting races of any given Premier League season, the race for the Golden Boot.
Evergreen striker Jamie Vardy won the award last season hitting 23 goals for Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester. Vardy is once again in the running this time around but who else are the leading contenders and what do the numbers look ahead of Christmas?
Patrick Bamford, Bruno Fernandes, Harry Kane – 9 Goals
Three players all share 5th position in the goalscorer charts. Leeds striker Patrick Bamford is seeing his best ever Premier League return so far this season. This is largely down to Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds United’s gung-ho football, which has a greater emphasis on attacking football and in turn produces a lot of goalscoring opportunities for Leeds’ main striker.
It remains to be seen whether Leeds will be in the market for a new striker in the January transfer window, and If so, may push Bamford further down the goalscoring charts but If he continues to be the main man up top for Bielsa’s men there is every chance Bamford could hit double figures and keep his name high on the goalscoring list. Bruno Fernandes is becoming a bit of a Fantasy Football hero, with the goals and assists he is providing from the heart of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s midfield.
Fernandes is currently on 9 goals for the season and he is sure to add to that tally frequently, assuming he stays fit for the course of the season. He is also the Manchester United penalty taker and the Red Devils regularly win penalties due to the pace of the likes of Rashford, Martial and Mason Greenwood. He may be up against it, looking at some of the strikers mentioned in this piece but he is sure to hit an impressive goalscoring tally come the end of May.
Harry Kane has managed to stay injury free this season and he is seeing some of his best form under Jose Mourinho. However most of Kane’s praise has come from his work outside the box and in assisting others.
Mourinho is playing Kane in a much deeper role this season and it’s not uncommon to see him clearing up defensively and playing long balls from his own half. This has probably slowed down Kane’s goalscoring antics somewhat this season compared to others. However, Kane still makes the top 5 of the goalscoring charts and he is one of the best finishers in league, so despite adopting a new deeper lying role within the Spurs team, Kane is certainly going to be knocking on the door for the Golden Boot.
Jamie Vardy, Son & Dominic Calvert-Lewin – 11 Goals
Yep it’s that name again, Jamie Vardy.
Vardy continues to be one of the most prolific strikers the Premier League has ever seen, even at the age of 33. Last year’s Golden Boot winner currently has 11 goals and is on course to hit well over 20 goals this season assuming he stays injury free.
Leicester’s fast counter-attacking football suits Vardy down to the ground and he is showing no signs of slowing down at his mature age. Vardy is one of the top contenders in the Premier League Golden Boot Index, which is a popular football spread betting market.
We’ve already mentioned Harry Kane’s deep lying role in the Tottenham team, but who exactly has he been assisting? Well the answer is overwhelmingly Son Heung-Min.
Son has hit the net 11 times already this season and the South Korean is certainly Tottenham’s focal point in attack, with Son scoring many goals on the back of Spurs breaking quickly on teams.
Spurs title challenge has derailed somewhat these past couple of weeks but overall they have looked impressive and have the ability to open up most teams in the league, ensuring Son continues his impressive figures this season.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin broke goalscoring history earlier this season hitting the highest number of goals inside the opening 10 Premier League matches. This was reflective of Everton’s strong start to the season, in which sees Carlo Ancelotti’s toffees sit in 4th position in the Premier League. Calvert-Lewin has added more goals to his game and he has cemented himself as Everton’s main striker. With service coming from the likes of Richarlison and James Rodriguez, DCL will surely be a serious contender come the end of the season.
Mo Salah (Leader) – 13 Goals
A combination of a positive COVID-19 test and regular squad rotation from Jurgen Klopp has meant that Mo Salah has had less minutes out on the pitch than at gameweek 14 in the Premier League last season. However, the Egyptian maestro is already leading the goalscoring charts with 13 goals, a whole 2 goals clear of the chasing pack.
A very impressive return so far from the joint 2018/19 Golden Boot winner. Salah rocketed up the goalscoring ladder after hitting two goals inside four minutes when coming on as a late sub in the 7-0 demolition of Crystal Palace. Liverpool also sit pretty at the top of the Premier League team and appear to have rediscovered their mojo that saw them dominate the league last season and Mo Salah could win the Golden Boot all by himself this time around.