The latest Premier League season is well and truly up and running now and after five league games, there have already been a number of players who have stood out from the crowd. Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino have been outstanding for Liverpool, whilst Kelechi Iheanacho and Marcus Rashford have continued to make a name for themselves as two of the best academy graduates in England. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has made an impressive start to life at Manchester United and Romelu Lukaku has continued his impressive form for Everton.
There’s a number of strikers hoping to get their name engraved on this season’s Golden Boot. Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy led the charge last season as their side’s battled it out for the Premier League title but will they be in contention for the award this year?
So far Kane has scored two goals and grabbed an assist in the opening five fixtures and considering the Tottenham man usually has a slow start to the season, that’s not a bad rate. However, after picking up a serious ankle injury last weekend, the England international could be missing from action for up to eight weeks and that could prove to be detrimental to his Golden Boot hopes this year around.
Leicester City haven’t picked up where they ended last season, looking a shadow of the team that won the Premier League title but they still possess some serious attacking threat. Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy remain at the centre of Claudio Raneiri’s side and the England forward has equaled Kane’s tally so far – also adding an assist. However, after five games in action, Vardy hasn’t quite looked as threatening in front of goal and with his side likely to struggle more this season, he may miss out on the illustrious goal-scoring award.
Here’s a few suggestions after the opening weeks of the new Premier League campaign…
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Ibrahimovic was one of Manchester United’s biggest summer signings and given his past goal-scoring records, it’s no surprise he’s hit it off early in the Premier League. However, he seems completely unfazed by his new surroundings and whilst a few suggested his success may not be transferable in England, he’s demonstrated in his opening five fixtures that it definitely is. The former Paris Saint-Germain striker has already notched up four goals this season. He’ll be the one to watch out for and pressure isn’t something he recognises.
Sadio Mane
The new Liverpool forward doesn’t even have the best goal-scoring rate in his team after the opening five fixtures but he’s been so good for the Reds since making the switch from Southampton in the summer, that if he maintains his performance levels, he’s bound to compete with the best. He’s already scored two and got an assist in his opening four Premier League fixtures and his debut goal against Arsenal was voted as the Premier League Goal of the Month for August.
Romelu Lukaku
The Everton man has been their star player for some time now and he’s not even played the full 450 minutes available so far this season. He’s got the best goal-scoring rate in the Premier League so far, netting four goals and one assist in just 297 minutes of football – averaging a goal every 75 minutes. Whilst he doesn’t look as threatening in possession as he has done previously, he still maintains a serious goal threat and the striker will no doubt be a danger throughout the campaign.
Diego Costa
After last season’s nightmare, Costa needs an impressive campaign and so far, he’s gotten off to the best start possible. In fact, it’s been an outstanding start as he’s played just less than five full games and scored a goal in each one. He’s averaged a goal every 88 minutes of Premier League action so far and he’s even added an assist too. Impressive…
Kelechi Iheanacho
Iheanacho may be a surprise addition for some but the youngster has always had an impressive goal-scoring rate. So far, his Manchester City career has just been taking off but under Pep Guardiola this season, he could feature heavily for the Blues and therefore could mount a challenge for this season’s Golden Boot. It would certainly be some achievement if he did but he’s made an impressive start, scoring two and assisting three in 160 minutes of Premier League football. Only Lukaku has a better goal-scoring rate so far, with Iheanacho netting a goal every 80 minutes and he added one in the recent Manchester derby.
