Each season, the English Premier League (EPL) awards its Golden Boot Award to the leading goal scorer in its regular-season league play. It is the top individual honor to earn in club soccer, and the battles can be fierce. It can be a fun soccer bet prediction for fans.
In the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons, there were three-way ties both times. English national team star Michael Owen had a share in both seasons. More recently, in 2018-19, three international players shared it. Egyptian Mohamed Salah, Senegal national Sadio Mane, and Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all scored 22 goals. Salah and Mane both play for Liverpool and Aubameyang for Arsenal.
It is almost February, and the EPL regular season will wrap in May. So who looks like a top contender for the EPL Golden Boot Award? We take a look below:
The Top Contenders
Salah, Liverpool -- With 13 goals (as of January 28), the aforementioned Egyptian national is atop the list. If he did manage to take home this year’s honor, it would be the third of his career. He scored 32 goals to capture the Golden Boot in 2017-18 and tied for it again in 2018-19 (22 goals). Salah has scored 43 goals for his country, and he has scored 113 career goals for Liverpool across all competitions.
Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur -- Like Salah above, Kane aims for his third Golden Boot, having captured it in back-to-back seasons (2015-16 and 2016-17). The English national broke the plane and opposing fans’ hearts 25 and 28 times during the two-year run. Will he do it again this year after a four-year hiatus? He already has 12 goals.
Son Heung-Min, Tottenham Hotspur -- Kane’s teammate, South Korean national Heung-Min, also has 12 goals. He has scored 101 career goals for Hotspurs across all competitions, and the star striker has posted 28 for his country. He could make history, as no player hailing from the continent of Asia has won this award.
Bruno Fernandes, Manchester United -- The Portuguese national holds firm with 11 tallies this EPL season. He would love to join the ranks of Cristiano Ronaldo (winner in 2007-08 with 31 goals) to give their home country a second Golden Boot winner.
Dominic Calvert-Lewis, Everton -- The Englishman stands firm right now with 11 goals. The pace at which he is scoring (11 goals in 17 matches) puts the young star in rare company. This has been the best season of his career (he turns 24 in mid-March).
Jamie Vardy, Leicester City -- How could we forget the guy who won this honor last year? We shouldn’t, because he’s right in the mix with 11 goals. Last year the Englishman scored 23 goals to take the award for himself. When the season’s end nears, he may be one of the leaders in the European football odds to win this.
Recent winners
Following the 1992-93 season, the EPL began awarding its Golden Boot Award. Here’s a look at the most recent 10 seasons’ award winners.
| SEASON | PLAYER | NATIONALITY | CLUB | GOALS |
| 2010-11(*) | Carlos Tevez (tie) | Argentina | Man. City | 20 |
| 2010-11(*) | D. Berbatov (tie) | Bulgaria | Man. United | 20 |
| 2011-12 | Robin Van Persie | Netherlands | Arsenal | 30 |
| 2012-13 | Robin Van Persie | Netherlands | Man. United | 26 |
| 2013-14 | Luis Suarez | Uruguay | Liverpool | 31 |
| 2014-15 | Sergio Aguero | Argentina | Man. City | 26 |
| 2015-16 | Harry Kane | England | Tottenham Hotspur | 25 |
| 2016-17 | Harry Kane | England | Tottenham Hotspur | 29 |
| 2017-18 | Mohamed Salah | Egypt | Liverpool | 32 |
| 2018-19(*) | P. Aubameyang | Gabon | Arsenal | 22 |
| 2018-19(*) | Sadio Mane | Senegal | Liverpool | 22 |
| 2018-19(*) | Mohamed Salah | Egypt | Liverpool | 22 |
| 2019-20 | Jamie Vardy | England | Leicester City | 23 |
NOTE: (*) - There were ties in 2010-11 and 2018-19 for the Golden Boot Award.
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Brian McLaughlin is a writer for BetMGM and co-host of BMac and Herd’s FCS Podcast. He has written for The Sporting News, headed up the PARADE Magazine High School All American teams, covered the FCS for HERO Sports, and wrote for so many newspapers he lost count. Follow BMac on Twitter @BrianMacWriter.
