The Golden Boot; The English Premier League’s (EPL) Top Scorer!

We take a look at who is likely to win the Golden Boot award for the EPL’s top-scorer in 2021/22.

The Favourites

Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea FC)

The powerful Belgian striker has now overtaken Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane as the current favourite to lift this year’s Golden Boot. He returned to Chelsea (he also played for them between 2011-14), for a reported club-record fee of £97.5 million. When he made the move, Lukaku became the most expensive player of all time with cumulative transfer fees of almost £285 million, which eclipses Neymar’s €222 million transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain. Last Sunday, Lukaku scored on his return debut in the 15th minute, converting Reece James’ cross, in the 2–0 away win over Arsenal. Somewhat surprisingly, Lukaku has never won the Golden Boot, but he has 113 goals in a prolific EPL career that has seen him represent Chelsea, West Bromich Albion, Everton, and Manchester United. Lukaku is a naturally gifted goal-scorer, who looks to be in good form and ready to score more!

Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur FC)

The Golden Boot award is currently held by Tottenham and England’s Harry Kane. He won it by netting 23 times in the EPL last season. Kane is one of only 3 players to have won it 3 times. The other 2 players to have achieved this feat are Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry. In recent weeks, Kane has been linked with a big-money move to Manchester City. Despite causing a furore in the media when he reportedly failed to appear for training at the beginning of August, he came off the bench last week to help Spurs in their 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wherever he ends up playing, the striker seems to be the man to beat (along with Lukaku!). If he moves to City, who boast creative talents like Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish, this will potentially offer him even more scoring opportunities!

Mohamed Salah (Liverpool FC)

The pacy Egyptian attacker came close to winning the Golden Boot last term. In last year’s competition, after a back-and-forth battle between him and Kane that lasted most of the season, Salah was pushed into 2nd place by Kane. He netted 22 times in 2020/2021 and has 95 goals in 4 EPL seasons since returning to England in 2017. The Egyptian nearly won the Golden Boot last year, despite Liverpool not enjoying the greatest of campaigns. If Liverpool can put together a more impressive EPL challenge this season, then Mohamed Salah remains very much in the mix for the Golden Boot 2021/22.

Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United FC)

After scoring a hat-trick against Leeds United FC in the opening game of the season, the Portuguese attacking midfielder already has 3 goals under his belt. He is currently 2nd in this year’s race for the Golden Boot, behind West Ham United’s Michail Antonio, who also has 3 goals, but has provided more assists. He is currently 4th favourite with the bookies. If Fernandes can keep finding the net with the regularity that he enjoyed for most of last season, he stands a chance of winning the award. Fernandes ended up finishing 3rd in the race for last year’s Golden Boot, with 18 EPL goals.

Other Contenders?

Diogo Jota (Liverpool), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Danny Ings (Aston Villa), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) and Michail Antonio (West Ham) are also players in the mix for this year’s Golden Boot, but it would be a surprise if none of the 4 favourites win the award!