Kane? Aguero? Who Will Be The Premier League’s Top Scorer This Season?

By Malek Murison

The battle to be Premier League top scorer has been fought by a list of fantastic players over the years. Teddy Sheringham, Andy Cole, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Didier Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez and Sergio Aguero are just some of the names to have won the prestigious award. Generally with goals come titles, so it’s in every club’s interest to create opportunities for their strikers.

Last season Sergio Aguero topped the charts with 26 goals, with Harry Kane enjoying a breakout year and taking second place. But so far this season, things have turned out very differently to what many fans would have expected.

Englishman and Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy is top of the individual table with a remarkable 13 goals in 13 games, including goals in his last 10 consecutive matches. The unlikely rise of Vardy is even more significant given that he barely made it out of double figures last season, and has made it to the Premier League after long spells at clubs much lower down England’s footballing pyramid. Perhaps even more of a surprise has been Vardy’s Leicester sitting at the top of the table at the end of November. This one fact shows the impact that having an in-form goalscorer can have on a club.

But who looks good enough to go the distance and finish the season in top spot? The Premier League is certainly a marathon, not a sprint, so while Vardy’s flying start has put him well ahead of the rest, there’s no guarantee his good form will continue, especially as Leicester City embark on a tough run of fixtures over Christmas.

It’s likely that Leicester City will eventually tail off, which will leave room for some of the league’s bigger names to come to the fore. One such man is the aforementioned Sergio Aguero, Manchester City’s talismanic striker. Arguably the finest out and out forward in the world, the Argentine’s only barrier is his own fitness. He’s had a stop-start campaign so far, and only has seven goals to his name, but will no doubt be up there at the end of the season if he can play enough matches. His club’s title challenge will largely depend on his consistency. At the start of the season Aguero was favourite to be this year’s top scorer, but he’ll have to up his game if he’s to fulfill expectations.

Another contender is Belgian Romelu Lukaku. As the focal point of a strong Everton side, Lukaku is rumoured to be hoping to attract the interest of the world’s best clubs. The Premier League is the perfect stage on which to do that, and he’s well on his way to justifying the near £30 million Everton paid Chelsea for his services with his nine goals so far this season.

Perhaps a dark horse for the goalscorer award this year is Englishman Harry Kane. The Tottenham striker had an indifferent start to the season, failing to score until October. This led to claims that he was, after last year’s successful campaign, a one-season-wonder. He’s since scored in his last five games and is finding form again for a Tottenham side who look capable of big things. With time on his side and a place in England’s starting 11 at the Euros in France next summer up for grabs, fans would be wise to back him.