2018/19 Premier League Top Goal Scorer

The battle to see which player finishes as top goal scorer is one of the most interesting side-plots to the Premier League season.

Having finished top scorer in both 2015/16 and 2016/17, Harry Kane was the favourite to finish top scorer last season.

However, an Egyptian arrived from Serie A and set the Premier League alight with his goal scoring exploits.

Mohamed Salah came from nowhere to set records as he finished the 2017/18 Premier League campaign as the top goal scorer. Salah scored 32 goals, 2 more than Kane and set the record for the most goals scored in a 38-game Premier League season.

The question is, will Salah live up to the extremely high standards he set last season to finish as the 2018/19 Premier League top goal scorer?

On the evidence of the first few games in the Premier League, it appeared Salah was going to struggle to match his success of the previous campaign. Liverpool have enjoyed a good start to the season but Salah has not been in the same prolific form of last season, despite scoring 3 goals. However, the former Roma forward is only 2 goals behind the top scorers in the Premier League after six games and only two players in the top 25 have had more shots on target than the Egyptian.

It would be foolish to write-off Salah at this stage of the season.

The bookies favourite to finish as the 2018/19 Premier League top goal scorer is Sergio Aguero. The Argentine has looked menacing in-front of goal but 3 of his 4 goals came in one match, meaning there have been plenty of games where he has failed to find the back of the net.

Only once has Aguero finished as the top scorer in the Premier League and with Pep Guardiola likely to rotate his forwards with the Champions League having started, Aguero’s minutes on the pitch could be reduced. Aguero has the lowest shots on target percentage (50%) after six games of the top seven scorers in the Premier League.

A better option for the 2018/19 Premier League top scorer could be someone who is likely to play more games. Step forward Harry Kane. Many pundits have called for Kane to be given a rest following his exploits at the World Cup but it does not appear to be forthcoming. Kane was hugely disappointed not to finish last season as top scorer and has 3 goals to his name after six games this season.

Unless injured, Kane will play as many games as physically possible for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League this season, perhaps making him a better bet to finish as the top goal scorer.

Other players who have the potential to finish as the 2018/19 Premier League top scorer include Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Alexsandar Mitrovic. The latter two players have made good starts but it remains to be seen how well their teams progress this season and that could hamper their chances.

It appears Hazard is going to be rested for some of the Europa League games, leaving him fresh for the Premier League. The Belgian is being employed further up the pitch by Chelsea this season and takes penalties, making him a good outsider to finish the season as top scorer.