From Chelsea rejection to Liverpool stardom and Golden Boot wins, Mohamed Salah’s journey to the top has been far from plain sailing. But, since finally taking his place amongst the worlds elite, he hasn’t looked back. The Egyptian’s transition from an assist maker to goalscorer has been nothing short of extraordinary, going from 15 goals a season to 44 in a single campaign.
Now, after winning two consecutive Golden Boots, he is on the hunt for a third; an award that he is best positioned to win, despite being three goals away from the leading scorer, Jamie Vardy.
Mohamed Salah is Best Positioned to Win the Golden Boot
The Fixtures
With the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – the joint holder of the award alongside Sadio Mane and Salah – and Vardy to compete with, the luck of the draw will undoubtedly play a part in deciding the race for the Golden Boot. It is perhaps the player with the most favourable fixture list that is best positioned to take home the famous award. A favourable fixture list is exactly what Mohamed Salah has got. The Egyptian and his fellow teammates play just three of the top six in their last nine games.
Meanwhile, Vardy comes up against four and Aubameyang, like Salah, comes up against three. The games against the top six may even decide the race itself. When taking a look at the three players’ individual record against the top six, it is Salah and Vardy who look likely to score the all-important goals. Salah has netted 15 goals against the big six of which a total of nine have come against the three sides he has left to play. Vardy, meanwhile, has scored 43, more than any other player.
Contrastingly, Aubameyang has scored just three goals against the traditional big six in the Premier League. This leaves a window of opportunity for both Salah and Vardy to take advantage of the forward’s failure in big games and potentially take the Golden Boot in the process.
The Chance to Be Greedy
Mohamed Salah and Liverpool currently sit just two wins away from Premier League glory; two cup finals left to win. But, after those two wins, the pressure of the collective goal is suddenly gone. Instead, players like Salah may have the chance to strive towards an individual goal such as the Golden Boot. Whilst Vardy and Aubameyang are fighting for European places, a pressure-free Salah could be scoring for fun.
Other Candidates
One player that will want a say in all of this, though, is Sergio Aguero. The Argentine is still very much in his prime and is, therefore, still a goal-scoring machine. With 16 goals to his name, he is in with every chance of securing just his second-ever Golden Boot. The only thing that stands in the way of this, however, is his ability to stay fit. We are now seeing Pep Guardiola choose to rest Aguero more and more and, with lockdown potentially further halting a return to match sharpness, we could see the City man miss out on the famous award yet again.
Overall, the Golden Boot race looks set to be as competitive as ever with Salah looking to make it a hattrick by once again outscoring the likes of Vardy and Aguero; a hattrick that looks extremely possible when factoring in both fixtures and goalscoring records.
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