Mohamed Salah is in pole position to win the Premier League Golden Boot this season, having scored 22 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.
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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.
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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.
The Premier League Golden Boot race has come down to a straight battle between Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min over the final week of the season.
A dramatic double matchday in the top-flight last week has shaken up the standings below the top two, where Salah’s lead over Son is now just one goal.
Jurgen Klopp’s men finish the season with matches against Southampton and Wolves this week, while Tottenham have just one game left at Norwich City on Sunday.
Liverpool forward Salah has scored 22 league goals in the 2021/22 campaign, with that total coming from 34 appearances (30 starts).
That puts him on top of the goalscoring charts in England, where he has sat for most of the campaign.
However, Salah has scored just three goals in his last 10 top-flight outings, allowing some of his key rivals to move closer in the standings.
Salah’s latest league appearance in the 2-1 win at Aston Villa on May 10 – where he was a late substitute – saw him fail to find the net.
Son, though, did strike in the 3-0 north London derby win over Arsenal and despite not netting in the subsequent contest against Burnley on Sunday, he now has 21 goals from 34 games, having closed in on the Liverpool star at the top of the leaderboard.
The Spurs forward has netted 10 times in his last nine Premier League matches, meaning he enters the last game of the campaign still in with a chance of coming out on top.
Son will need to continue that momentum while hoping Salah’s recent stall goes on, or hope the Liverpool man plays a reduced schedule with the Champions League final against Real Madrid in mind, especially after he limped out of the FA Cup final win over Chelsea in the first half.
Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, has all but certainly missed out on golden boot glory this season.
He failed to score as Man Utd were embarrassed in a 4-0 loss at Brighton last time out and his side now only have one league game left to play, away to Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Ronaldo has scored 18 league goals from 30 games, but with Salah sitting four clear with more matches to play it would take the most remarkable turn of events for the Portugal star to end up on top.
But a strong finish to the season from an individual perspective – Ronaldo has scored nine league goals since March 12 – means a place on the podium looks likely for the 37-year-old.
However, Son’s team-mate Harry Kane is still in with an outside chance of coming third, having surged up to fourth place and moved on to 16 goals for the year.
The former Golden boot winner has rallied since a slow start to the season and a period of intense transfer speculation. He scored a penalty against Burnley to follow up on his double in the win over rivals Arsenal.
Salah’s Liverpool team-mate Diogo Jota sits in a tie for fifth with 15 goals, but his last five EPL outings have not produced a goal.
Jota was the main challenger to Salah for much of the campaign but is now trending in the wrong direction amid intense competition for attacking places at Liverpool.
Sadio Mane (15 goals) is the third Liverpool player in the top five, with the top Man City scorer, Kevin De Bruyne, has moved level with the Liverpool pair after his sensational four-goal outing in the 5-1 win at Wolves.
Another former golden boot champion Jamie Vardy has moved up to 14 goals after netting four times in two games for Leicester City last week.
He sits just ahead of Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha (13), who rounds out the top 10 along with Man City attacker Raheem Sterling.
Brentford’s Ivan Toney on 12 goals for the campaign, putting him level with Jarrod Bowen, who struck twice against Man City in a thrilling 2-2 draw on Sunday.
They are ahead of a group on 11 that contains the top league scorers for both Arsenal and Chelsea, England duo Bukayo Saka and Mason Mount.
There are a total of 22 players who have reached double figures in the Premier League this season.
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.