Bruno v Salah v Kane: The Unpredictable Golden Boot Race

The race for the Premier League Golden Boot is starting to become an unpredictable and exciting race this season, as the likes of Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Tottenham’s Harry Kane are all separated by just one goal, with the Anfield club’s Egyptian winger leading the race on 17, compared to the other twos 16.

Manchester United midfielder Fernandes is currently joint second in the race for the Golden Boot this season, having scored 16 goals in 28 appearances, just one behind leading top scorer Salah.

Fernandes is aiming to become the first midfielder in English top-flight history to win the Golden Boot. The former Sporting Lisbon captain has scored eight goals from open play, with his other eight all being from the penalty spot. United tend to rely on the Portuguese midfielder in general, as he has been involved in 49% of United’s Premier League goals this season, which is incredible, considering the Red Devils are the league’s second top scorers with 55 goals, just one shy of City.

The 26-year-old rarely misses a game in general, as he has played 2380 minutes, which equates to 94% of United’s Premier League minutes, as he is yet to suffer an injury or miss out on a full game at the club, as there has only been five league appearances this campaign where he hasn’t completed a full 90 minutes.

Frank Lampard currently holds the record for the most goals scored by a midfielder in Premier League history, with 22 goals, which United man Fernandes has a realistic chance of matching and even beating if he carries on his current form.

Liverpool forward Salah is currently the top scorer in the Premier League with 17 goals in 27 appearances and alike Fernandes and Kane, he also takes penalties, as he has scored six of them, most recently against Manchester City in his side’s 4-1 loss at Anfield on 7th February.

The Egyptian forward looked almost a certainty to win the Golden Boot after Liverpool’s 7-0 demolition of Crystal Palace on 12th December where he scored a brace, but, since then he has scored just four times in 14 matches with two of these goals coming in a 3-1 win at West Ham in late January.

It looks as though alike many of his teammates, the Egyptian has struggled to deal with the pressure of the turbulent period the Anfield club are going through, as they have won just three games since that win at Selhurst Park, failing to score in eight of these games, which has seen them slide out of contention for a Champions League place, as they currently lie seven points off fourth-placed Chelsea.

If Liverpool are to have a late resurgence, then they will be hoping that Salah can find some form, as the Egyptian has participated in 42% of their 47 Premier League goals. The 28-year-old won the Golden Boot in both the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons and is priced at 6/4 to do it again.

Tottenham striker Kane is currently in fine form, following his recent brace against Crystal Palace last time out at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. This means that the England captain now has seven goals in his last 10 Premier League appearances, despite Spurs going through a rough patch of form, which saw them win just three of 13 league games between their 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace in early December, till their recent 4-0 hammering of Burnley late last month.

With the likes of Gareth Bale seemingly getting back into form, having scored four goals in his last three games against Burnley and Crystal Palace, Kane could get a lot more service from his Tottenham teammates, as prior to Bale’s recent resurgence, Kane’s partnership with Son has been their main source of goals, as following their recent 4-1 win against the Eagles, the duo recently broke Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton’s Premier League record, as they scored a 14th goal of the season of which one has assisted the other to combine for the goal.

Jose Mourinho’s side look as though they may have found a new burst of life, as they currently sit five points off fourth-place Chelsea, with a game in hand on Thomas Tuchel’s side, and will be reliant on Kane’s contribution as overall he has been involved in 63% of their goals.

Kane is priced at 9/4 to win the Premier League Golden Boot for the first time since the 2016/17 season.