With the end of the season rapidly approaching - the title race is essentially over and two clubs have already suffered relegation, with games left to play. Two question marks remain: which clubs will secure a top 4 finish? Which player will earn the much-coveted Golden Boot? Unlike in previous years, the race to be top scorer has several possible candidates this time round. There's still time for any of them to win.
So the potential winners are as follows: Romelu Lukaku (EVE) on 24 goals, Harry Kane (TOT) on 21, Diego Costa (CHE) on 20, Alexis Sanchez (ARS) on 20, and Sergio Aguero (MANC) on 18 goals. All of these forwards are their team's principal goal scorers - and might all be expected to score several times more before the end of the season. That being said, it's probably safe to discount Aguero's chances, even at this juncture—having suffered a groin injury, he missed City's last fixture and may miss their next fixture too. Considering he's already trailing the others, the odds are against him despite his prodigious talent.
Romelu Lukaku is obviously already in the lead by three goals, but he's at a disadvantage compared to the others—Everton have just two fixtures left to play. Namely Watford (H) and Arsenal (A), two games that will be hard to predict. Watford are already mathematically safe from relegation - and it shows. This might be an opportunity for Lukaku to score a couple more and cement himself at the top of the scorers table, since it'll be significantly harder at the Emirates. It will be Arsenal's last match of a poor season, and they'll be desperate to end on a high in front of their own fans.
Diego Costa faces a different challenge—with the title almost wrapped up, his manager may decide to rest him for one, or even two, of the final matches - especially with the FA Cup Final against Arsenal on the way. This obviously means he'll have less chance to add to his tally—he already needs to score at least five more than Lukaku before the end of the season. Chelsea's remaining games are against West Brom, Watford and Sunderland, and none of them are going to be a match for this Chelsea juggernaut. There's goals to be had, the question is: will Costa be on the field for long enough to score them?
Harry Kane has a chance of winning something this season, even if the rest of his team don't. Spurs have a hard run-in to the end of the season too, though—Manchester United (H), Leicester (A) and Hull (H). The first is a chance for Kane to break his hoodoo against United, since the Tottenham striker has never scored against the Red Devils. It might be a good chance too, with Mourinho's side possibly distracted (or even weakened) in anticipation of Europa League involvement. Leicester away will be tricky too, the Foxes having drastically improved since the sacking of Claudio Ranieri. And finally Hull. The Tigers might still be locked in a relegation battle up to the final day, making them ferocious opponents to be facing, even at home.
Considering he isn't a true striker, Sanchez's place among the top scorers is all the more impressive—and means he's unlikely to score the five goals minimum he'll need to match Lukaku, assuming the Belgian doesn't score again this season. As it stands, Lukaku has to be considered our favourite to win the coveted award, with Harry Kane a chasing second.
Whatever the outcome, the race for the Golden Boot looks set to go to the final day.
Photo by Simon Harriyott
© Copyright topfootballtipster.com 2019
