Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer, Didier Drogba, Michael Owen, Robin van Persie and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: six players to have won the Golden Boot more than once since the Premier League began in 1992.
Last year’s winner – Harry Kane – could become the seventh name on that illustrious list if he walks away with the prize in May. However, there are five players looking to spoil Kane’s party.
Analysing this season’s candidates, one thing is abundantly clear: this is a six-horse race. With just 13 games to go, the top six scorers are three ahead of the chasing pack which includes previous Golden Boot winner Sergio Aguero (11 goals).
If Kane manages to scoop the prize, he will be the first player to collect the award in back-to-back seasons since Robin van Persie managed the feat with Arsenal in 2012, before taking the award with Manchester United the following year.
The Spurs forward sits three goals off the pace, however having missed five games through injury earlier in the season, Kane has steadily racked up the goals since returning and currently tops the stats for minutes per goal (122) and conversion rate (25%).
Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez leads the way with 17 goals after netting a brace against Hull City at the weekend. The Chilean’s impressive scoring streak has kept Arsenal’s regular centre-forward Olivier Giroud out of the starting XI. The Frenchman has made just six league starts for the Gunners this season.
While Zlatan Ibrahimovic tops the Premier League rankings for shots (103), the stats reveal the Swede is fundamentally struggling in two key areas. The Manchester United striker has recorded the worst shot accuracy of the six forwards highlighted (55%) and also has the worst conversion rate (15%).
Sunderland’s survival hopes will depend largely on Jermain Defoe‘s goal scoring form in the final three months of the season. The 34-year-old has netted 14 of Sunderland’s 24 goals (58%), the biggest contributor in the Premier League to any club’s total goal tally. Of the six forwards, Defoe has been the most prolific from the penalty spot, scoring all five that he has taken.
As the Premier League’s top scorer in the first half of the season, scoring 14 times in his first 18 games, Chelsea’s Diego Costa appears to have lost that killer touch since the turn of the year, finding the back of the net just once in five appearances in 2017.
As the most explosive of the six strikers, seven of Romelu Lukaku‘s 16 strikes have come in just two games – Sunderland (3) and Bournemouth (4). The Everton forward is making a strong claim for the award, topping the table for both shot accuracy (65%) and conversion rate (25%).
Of the six candidates, Sanchez has scored the most goals with his right foot (12). Lukaku leads the way as the top left-footer (9), while he and Ibrahimovic have been the most deadly in the air, both scoring four goals with their heads.
Alexis has carried on scoring quietly despite spending a lot of time out on the wing, and Arsenal fans will be praying he continues in this vein and becomes Arsenal’s first Golden Boot winner since Van Persie…..
Russell Cane
Stats provided by Oulala.com
Alexis is our besat hope for many a year, but the winner of the Golden Boot will come from the players that stay fit right until the end of the season. I make Sanchez third favourite behind Costa and Kane.
Alexis is gonna look so cool playing in that PSG team. Verratti, wow, he’s what we need, if we could replace Santi with this dude that would be a correct step. Wenger had chance to sign Draxler, now PSG could have Draxler and Alexis, if this happens people will not be happy. Draxler / Ozil ..who would you want now, if we get Reus that might make up some. I don’t like seeing a lightweight in the no10 role, it’s the tip of a diamond middle three when defending, crucial area.