The Golden Boot is one of the most esteemed individual awards in the Premier League. The 2021/22 Premier League campaign has already commenced, with West Ham’s Michail Antonio currently leading the charts with four goals in three games.
Many clubs have top-notch, premium forwards who can go on to score a lot of goals and boost their chances of winning the coveted award. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the top five candidates who could win the top scorer prize in English top-flight this season.
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5. Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy is the oldest player ever to win the Premier League Golden Boot, winning it in the 2019/20 campaign. He netted 23 goals in 35 games, including a memorable hat-trick in the 9-0 demolition of Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium.
With two goals in three games, the former England international has started the new Premier League campaign strongly, and at 34 isn’t showing any signs of stopping. That just further typify the kind of quality Jamie Vardy possesses.
If Vardy gets sufficient service from his teammates throughout the season, then no one can stop the wily English striker from winning the award again.
4. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Since joining Liverpool from AS Roma, Mohamed Salah has been a consistent goal-getter, netting 97 goals so far.
The Egyptian international, 29, has won two Premier League Golden Boot awards—in his first season with Liverpool in 2017/18 and shared it with his teammate Sadio Mane and Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the following campaign.
While Liverpool had an ordinary last season, he was one of the rare bright sparks and somehow dragged Jurgen Klopp’s side into the top four. Salah finished one short of Harry Kane last term, despite netting 22 goals in 38 games.
With two goals in the opening three games of the new season, Salah is definitely in the running for the Golden Boot.
The Portuguese megastar, 36, is widely regarded as the greatest player ever to grace the game, and has the status of a club legend at Manchester United. He scored goals for fun at his former club Juventus, finishing as Serie A’s top scorer last season with 29 goals.
At 36, Ronaldo isn’t the same player that left Old Trafford 12 years ago for Real Madrid. But having won the Golden Boot award back during the 2007/08 campaign with 31 strikes in 34 games, he’ll be motivated enough to reproduce those numbers, win the prize again and make history with the Red Devils.
Undoubtedly one of the most prolific goalscorers in recent years, the Belgian international, 28, delivered 64 goals in 95 matches for Inter Milan in two campaigns. Astonishingly, he has never won the Golden Boot regardless of boasting 113 goals in a fruitful Premier League career that saw him represent Chelsea, West Brom, Everton and Manchester United.
However, considering the pool of attacking talent under Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea, Lukaku has every chance to win his maiden Golden Boot this season.
1. Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
After dominating the back pages of the English dailies and tabloids for the entirety of the summer transfer window, Harry Kane has ended up staying at Tottenham Hotspur, perhaps for another season.
The England international, 28, has been the most consistent goal scorer in the Premier League over the last half-decade, winning the prestigious Golden Boot award three times as a result.
The Spurs star scored 23 times in 35 league matches to finish one clear of Salah at the top of the goalscoring graphs last season. Kane is currently in his prime and coming off an impressive international break that saw him score three in as many World Cup qualifiers.
Time and again he’s proven to be Spurs’ standout player and with creative talents like Son Heung-min, Dele Alli and Lucas Moura in and around him, Kane, if he stays fit, has the potential to match former Arsenal legend Thierry Henry’s record of Golden Boot on four occasions this term.
I am Rohan Sengupta from one of the busiest cities in India, Mumbai. A Journalism graduate with a keen interest in sports, football is something I simply cannot live without and writing, discussing and analyzing the game is what I do 24*7.
