The Premier League is five games in and the usual suspects are already featuring regularly on scoresheets up and down the country. When all is said and done at the end of the season, who will be claiming the Golden Boot? Before we go into the different options, remember that through matched betting you will never have to risk your money when placing bets, as you will be able to guarantee a profit from bookmaker offers. With a Profit Accumulator Platinum membership for example, you will be able to keep profits rolling in on a consistent basis.
If you are unfamiliar with what the Golden Boot is, it is a trophy that is presented to the player with the most Premier League goals in a season. The list of previous winners is a who’s who of great Premier League stars from down the years. Thierry Henry has won the award the most times, becoming top scorer in four separate seasons. Legendary striker Alan Shearer won it three years running from 1994 to 1997, with Michael Owen, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Didier Drogba, Robin van Persie and Harry Kane claiming the award twice. Other notable names to have bagged the most goals include Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez and Sergio Aguero.
Who will come out on tip this year though? Let’s take a look at some of the leading candidates.
Romelu Lukaku
Club – Manchester United
Goals so far – 5
Minutes played – 450
It is no surprise to see the big Belgian at the top of the scoring charts. He had an exceptional few years with Everton where he became their record scorer in the Premier League before joining the Red Devils in the summer. At the age of just 24, Lukaku has played for four different English clubs; Chelsea, West Brom, Everton and now Manchester United. He has made a total of 191 appearances in the league, scoring a very impressive 90 goals overall. When you consider that most of those came for West Brom and Everton who weren’t considered to be top clubs, it looks even better.
So far this season, ‘Red Rom’ has looked unstoppable. He has netted five times, and has got an impressive 68% of his shots on target. Former club Everton were the latest victims, as he fired one in at the back post in a comprehensive 4-0 win.
In terms of the betting odds, Lukaku can be backed to be the Premier League’s top scorer at 3/1 with most bookmakers, including Sky Bet, Paddy Power and Betway. He is currently the betting favourite and considering he has five goals and counting, backing the favourite on this occasion may prove to be a shrewd move.
Sergio Aguero
Club – Manchester City
Goals so far – 5
Minutes played – 377
As mentioned earlier, Sergio Aguero has already won the golden boot once before, when he netted 26 goals for Manchester City in the 2014-15 season. A truly World Class player, the diminutive striker looks almost unplayable so far this year. His overall Premier League goals record is incredible too, scoring 127 goals in just 186 appearances. With service from the likes of David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Leroy Sane it is very likely that that number is going to increase.
He already has five so far, equalling Lukaku’s total by securing a majestic hat-trick at Vicarage Road against Watford. As a man that has got goals on such a consistent basis, putting your money on the Argentinian may be a safe. There are a few things that could derail him getting right to the top of the scoring charts. The first is Pep Guardiola’s tendency to rotate his squad meaning Aguero may not play every game. The other is a sketchy injury record, though it looks like he is mostly over a persistent hamstring problem.
Aguero can be backed for the Golden Boot at odds of 4/1 at Bet365 and 10Bet amongst others. He will certainly be challenging for the trophy come May.
Harry Kane
Club – Tottenham Hotspur
Goals so far – 2
Minutes played – 444
Even though Harry Kane has only netted two league goals so far, there is no need to panic. He is widely known to be a slow starter, with a bizarre stat of never scoring in August. Now that we’re well into September, the goals should start flowing at a much quicker rate. The fact that puts him towards the top of our thinking for this season’s Golden Boot is the fact that the England striker has claimed the trophy for the past two seasons running, with 25 and 29 goals respectively.
Both of Kane’s league goals so far this season came away against Everton, and he will hope to settle in to his temporary home of Wembley pretty quickly. Christian Eriksen enjoyed putting plenty on a plate for Kane in the last few years, and he will probably do the same plenty of times this year. It has to be said that a lot of the Spurs striker’s goals came late on last season, so he could easily catch up to the other players totals.
You can get best odds of 4/1 on Kane to make it three in a row.
Alvaro Morata
Club – Chelsea
Goals so far – 3
Minutes played – 367
Replacing the enigmatic Diego Costa in the Chelsea side was never going to be easy, but Alvaro Morata has started pretty well. The Spaniard has found the net three times already and looks to be a great aerial threat. Whether or not he can finish as well with his feet still remains to be seen.
Though the Manchester clubs have started extremely well, the Blues are very likely to be in the Premier League title picture. If that is the case, the majority of their goals are going to have to come from their main striker. He may have drawn a blank against Arsenal, but the former Real Madrid and Juventus man is likely to bag plenty of goals this term.
His best odds are 10/1 with bookmakers such as BetVictor and Ladbrokes, which looks like it could provide good value.
Gabriel Jesus
Club – Manchester City
Goals so far – 4
Minutes played – 327
Sergio Aguero is not the only Manchester City striker that is finding the net on a regular basis. Brazilian youngster Gabriel Jesus has scored 4 goals so far this term, with a strike for every 82 minutes he has played. Since arriving in the Premier League in January, Jesus has netted 11 goals in just 15 games. He really is the real deal.
Forming a lethal partnership with Aguero, it seems like the sky is the limit. There may be a race to see who is the King of the Etihad, though for Jesus the fact that Aguero squared the ball to him for a tap in bodes well for the future.
The former Palmeiras striker can be backed at best odds of 15/2 at Betstars.
Alexandre Lacazette
Club – Arsenal
Goals so far – 2
Minutes played – 337
As the main striker at Arsenal, you would expect Alexandre Lacazette to find the net on a regular basis. The problem so far has been that manager Arsene Wenger isn’t sure who he wants to start up front. Fellow Frenchman Olivier Giroud has got the central striker role before, and so have Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez.
Lacazette’s pedigree can not be denied though, and you have to expect he will play the majority of the games up top. After netting a bucket load for Lyon last term, he really should not be overlooked, particularly when he settles in fully to his new club.
He currently has a best price of 25/1 if you fancy him to be the top scorer.
Jamie Vardy
Club – Leicester City
Goals so far – 4
Minutes played – 427
It is fair to say that Jamie Vardy was a late bloomer, in terms of regularly getting on the scoresheet in the Premier League. Now aged 30, the former Fleetwood man is still grabbing the headlines with his scoring exploits.
In the 2015/16 season where the Foxes lifted the title against all odds, Vardy netted 24 goals, while last time out he grabbed just 13. The England striker has started this season exceptionally though, with 4 goals in just 5 games. If he can keep this strike rate up then who knows?
If you fancy the Vardy party to have a happy ending, he can be backed at a best priced 40/1 with Bet365 and Betfred among others.
Sadio Mane
Club – Liverpool
Goals so far – 3
Minutes played – 291
Since signing for Liverpool for around £35 million last summer, Sadio Mane has been in phenomenal form. The 25 year old got 13 goals in 27 appearances last year and has started even quicker this time out.
Apart from the fact he has already had to sit out three games this season, the main think that may derail the Senegalese attackers chances is that there are plenty of other goalscorers at Anfield who may share the goals. Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Philippe Coutinho are likely to all net a few.
You can back Mane to be the top scorer at best odds of 40/1 with a few bookmakers, including Sportingbet and Unibet. Even though this is good value, I suspect that the other candidates will be more consistent scorers.
Whoever ends up winning the Golden Boot, it looks like we are going to be in for an incredible season. Remember that through matched betting, you can make sure that you come out with a profit from bookmaker offers.