With the international break nearly over, the punters here at the Transfer Tavern are looking forward to watching the Premier League again.
Indeed, fans will be hoping for a goal-feast this weekend to make up for the two week hiatus. Given how the season has panned out so far, it would not be surprising if we were treated to a flurry of goals!
The usual suspects, such as Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane and Alexis Sanchez have all been among the goals, and continue to be the league’s most fearsome forwards. The likes of Christian Benteke, Wayne Rooney and Diego Costa will all hope to get more among the goals as the season goes on, having all made slow starts to this campaign.
While we were all discussing the top goalscorers in the Transfer Tavern, one of the punters raised an interesting point. He asked us which of the leading scorers so far had emerged as surprise contenders in taking the Golden Boot. It is always one that is difficult to call, but below are the five names that we picked out as the surprise men to take the crown.
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Hit current Golden Boot winner Sergio Aguero below to see FIVE shock candidates for this year’s honour!
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Jamie Vardy
While it is uncertain whether Vardy will take the crown by the end of the season, one thing that isn’t uncertain is how good he has been. Indeed, Vardy has shown that he is no flash in the pan, with his 12 goals so far being no mean feat.
Vardy showed us all towards the end of last season how much quality he had, but I bet there weren’t many at the start of this campaign who backed the former Fleetwood forward to do as well as he had.
Riyad Mahrez
While Vardy has got most of the plaudits, his team mate Riyad Mahrez has been equally impressive and has arguably come from nowhere. Last season, Mahrez would sometimes find himself in and out of the team, but this year his seven goals has been such a pleasant surprise.
Though being in midfield will ultimately make it difficult to lift the crown, it never stopped Cristiano Ronaldo!
Odion Ighalo
Ighalo’s goalscoring exploits had been well demonstrated last season in Watford’s promotion campaign, but not many would have expected Watford to do as well as they have so far, and nor would they have expected Ighalo to score so many either.
Ighalo has formed a great partnership with Troy Deeney, with Deeney’s unselfish play being key in Ighalo’s brilliant start to the season. With Watford looking more likely to avoid relegation, Ighalo could easily be up there with a chance.
Romelu Lukaku
There would have certainly been a few punters here in the Tavern that would have backed the big Belgian, and it certainly could pay off.
Everton look to be benefiting from their absence from the Europa League, and with Lukaku again the focal point in the attack, Blues fans will be hoping that he breaks the 20 goal mark this season.
Graziano Pelle
Given Southampton’s slow start to the season, many punters may have ripped their bets on Pelle in disgust. However, Southampton have come roaring back and Pelle’s return to form has been a huge part of this.
Pelle has got 6 goals so far this season and still has every chance to be at the top of the tree come the end of the campaign.
