The Premier League Golden Boot is going to be hotly contested again this season with a number of top strikers in the division. Last season, it was won by Harry Kane who finished the season with 25 goals, but he has some catching up to do if he is to retain it. The league is going to be close at the top this season and the impetus will be on the goal-scorers to fire their sides to glory. Although the Golden Boot won’t be in their thinking at the moment, as the season progresses, the leading scorers will begin to think about the award, especially those with big egos. Here are the early contenders:
Diego Costa
After a disappointing season last year, there were rumours that Diego Costa would be going back to Atletico Madrid, but Antonio Conte managed to keep hold of the striker and he is now reaping the rewards. The Spanish international has his motivation back and is using his aggression in the correct manner. He also looks a lot leaner than he did last season and that has resulted in an extra yard of pace. At the moment, he has nine goals to his name and is the early leader in the Golden Boot race. The 29-year-old was the forgotten man during the summer as the media talked about Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Sergio Aguero, but ignored Costa. It is early days, but if Conte manages to keep his striker focused, Costa is a serious contender to finish the season as the league’s top scorer.
Sergio Aguero
The Argentine has started the season in great form, already finding the back of the net on eight occasions. There were doubts about how he would suit Pep Guardiola’s style, but he is slowly adapting his game without losing his goal-scoring prowess. In a team like Manchester City, he will always get chances and it is difficult to see him suffering a serious goal drought at any point. Aguero is one of the best finishers in the business, but he will have his sights on a place in the PFA team of the year rather than the Golden Boot. The 28-year-old has never been included in the team voted for by his fellow players, despite being one of the stars of the league since moving to England. That said, he will need to score goals this season to achieve that. He remains the frontrunner for the Golden Boot.
Romelu Lukaku
Although he doesn’t play for one of the traditional big teams in the league, Lukaku remains one of the league’s best goal-scorers. He has an incredible goal return for his age and is continuing to develop at Everton. It is surely only a matter of time before he takes the step up to a bigger club, but he will still challenge for the Golden Boot at Goodison Park. This season, he has scored seven goals with his shot accuracy standing at 74%. This shows that when the Belgian gets the opportunity, he rarely misses the target and as he grows older, his strike rate will only improve.
Alexis Sanchez
Since moving to play as a central striker, Sanchez has been in great form and he could be an outside bet to finish the season as the league’s top scorer. He is excellent at running at defenders and poses a different sort of threat than other strikers in the league. The Chilean is a good finisher, while he is also capable of scoring from range. His only issue is that he does suffer niggly injuries that may not keep him out of action but certainly affect his performance. Sanchez will be one of the leading goal-scorers this season, he has already scored six times, but I don’t think he will win the Golden Boot.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
The Swede is a new contender after joining Manchester United on a free transfer. He has scored goals wherever he has gone and has scored six times this season so far. The worrying thought for Premier League defenders is that he is adjusting to a new division and the best is still to come. Ibrahimovic can score all sorts of goals and will find the back of the net on a regular basis, regardless of Manchester United’s form. His winning mentality will mean that he will never get too down-heartened when he has a few poor weeks in front of goal, as he has shown already this season.
Prediction – Aguero to win the Golden Boot
Interesting