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Mohamed Salah is in pole position to win the Premier League Golden Boot this season, having scored 20 goals so far in 2021/22.
Harry Kane is the defending champion after he held off a long challenge from Salah to narrowly finish first in the top-flight scoring charts with 23 last season.
READ MORE: European Golden Shoe: 2021/22 standings and award history
That was the third success for Kane, matching the total of Golden Boot triumphs held by the all-time EPL record goalscorer Alan Shearer.
This year Kane will be seeking what would be a record-equalling fourth crown.
Salah and Bruno Fernandes, who each made the podium last season, entered the campaign hoping to challenge again, while a proven Premier League scorer, Romelu Lukaku, returned to Chelsea after a prolific spell in Serie A with Inter.
READ MORE: Who will be the European Assists King for 2021/22?
Man Utd then brought Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford in a sensational return, making 2021/22 look like the most competitive Golden Boot race in years.
Former winner Jamie Vardy, Leeds striker Patrick Bamford, Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin, West Ham star Michail Antonio and Aston Villa duo Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings are part of a strong contingent from outside England’s ‘big six’ teams who were rated as contenders when the season began.
Keep this page saved throughout the season as we take an in-depth look at the latest standings for the players who have the most EPL goals.
Mohamed Salah is still leading the Premier League Golden Boot race, holding a seven-goal lead over his closest rivals.
Liverpool forward Salah has scored 20 goals in 27 top-flight appearances (25 starts) in the 2021/22 campaign.
Salah did not add to his tally over the past week. Having been an injury doubt, he appeared as a substitute in the Premier League win over Arsenal, a match in which team-mate Diogo Jota scored.
Liverpool were then in FA Cup action at the weekend, meaning Salah did not have another opportunity to strike in the Premier League.
The goal at Arsenal for Jota, who also netted in the cup, moved him on to 13 for the league season, putting him in a tie for second in the English goalscoring charts and now one goal clear of Sadio Mane.
Manchester United were not in action this week, meaning Cristiano Ronaldo remains on 12 goals with Mane.
Ronaldo had surged up the standings the previous week to disrupt Liverpool’s dominance towards the top.
The 37-year-old, having missed the previous week’s Manchester derby through injury, scored a magnificent hat-trick as Man Utd battled to a 3-2 win over Tottenham at Old Trafford.
Prior to his treble – which included a sublime long-range strike to open the scoring – he had only scored one Premier League goal in 2022.
But Tottenham players, who bounced back nicely from that Old Trafford defeat, are also making their mark on these standings.
Former Golden Boot winner and defending champion Harry Kane was in action for Spurs against West Ham on Sunday and scored to increase his total to 12, putting him level with Mane and Ronaldo.
Kane had a miserable start to the season after a summer of speculation linking him with a move to Man City but he now has 11 strikes in his last 14 league appearances under Antonio Conte.
His team-mate Son Heung-min scored twice in the 3-1 win over the Hammers, though, so he sits one ahead on Kane with 13, and level with Jota in second.
Salah is still enjoying a comfortable lead but there is a huge battle going on behind him as players now head into the international break.
2021/22 EPL top goalscorers
Who are the past winners of the Premier League Golden Boot?
EPL Golden Boot winners
The record for most goals in a season is shared by Alan Shearer (1994/95) and Andy Cole (1993/94).
Both players scored an astonishing 34 goals, though the season was longer then – Shearer did it in 42 matches and Cole in 40.
Mohamed Salah came close to that record in 2017/18, scoring 32 times in 36 outings, producing the best Premier League goalscoring season for 13 years.
The Golden Boot winner with the best goals per game ratio in a season is Harry Kane.
England’s captain netted 29 times in just 30 games to win the 2016/17 title, averaging 0.97 goals per game.
Arsenal and Liverpool have had the most Premier League Golden Boot winners, with six each. Man Utd have had five while Tottenham and Chelsea are on four.
There are only three players who have scored the most goals in the EPL more than twice.
Shearer won the Golden Boot three times, once with Newcastle and twice with Blackburn Rovers, while Kane’s win in 2020/21 was also his third.
Thierry Henry holds the record, though, having been named the top scorer in the Premier League on four occasions for Arsenal.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez have both won the award, scoring 31 goals in 2007/08 and 2013/14 respectively.
The Premier League began from the 1992/93 season.
Prior to that, Ian Wright was the last highest goalscorer in England when it was the old First Division.
Gary Lineker and Alan Smith were also winners in the 1990s before the league was rebranded.
Premier League: Player stats including appearances, goals and assists
Who are the Premier League top scorers of all time?
Alan Shearer is the highest goalscorer in Premier League history, having ended his career in 2006 with a magnificent 260 goals to his name in England’s top division.
Man Utd legend Wayne Rooney (208) is the only other player who has scored more than 200 EPL goals.
Andy Cole (187), Sergio Aguero (184), Frank Lampard (177) and Thierry Henry (175) are other former Premier League players who sit near the top of the all-time list.
Kane is the highest-scoring active player and had 166 goals when he started this season.
He has long been cited as one of the rare contenders who has a chance to rival Shearer’s record total.
Robbie Fowler (163), Jermain Defoe (162) and Michael Owen (150) round out the 10 players in EPL history who have scored 150 goals or more.
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