With 22 Premier League games played in the 2016/17 season, this year could see a record number of players break the 20 goal mark.
With goalscoring so far this season, the Golden Boot race is set to be the most competitive in the last 20 years with three players already only six goals shy of the 20 mark and a further five players already in double figures for the campaign.
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Top PL Scorers 2016/17 So Far
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Player
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Goals
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Diego Costa, Alexis Sanchez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic
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14 goals
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Harry Kane
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13 goals
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Jermain Defoe, Romelu Lukaku
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12 goals |
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Sergio Aguero
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11 goals
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Dele Alli
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10 goals
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At current goalscoring rates the top six in that table will break the 20 goal mark before the end of the campaign, and Sergio Aguero will hit 19.9 goals himself but clearly some players will improve form and others will drop off in the second half of the year.
As things stand though, with six set to break 20 goals it would be the first time since 1994/95 where that number of players hit the ceiling and back then the Premier League was a 42 match division.
The reduction in games is worth noting because the Premier League has only registered five or more players scoring 20 or over on three occasions – six in 1993/94 and 1994/95 with 42 games, and then five in 2009/10.
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Top PL Scorers 1993/94
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Player (Club)
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Goals
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Andy Cole (Newcastle United)
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34 goals
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Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers)
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31 goals
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Matt Le Tissier (Southampton)
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25 goals |
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Chris Sutton (Norwich City)
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25 goals
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Ian Wright (Arsenal)
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23 goals
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Peter Beardsley (Newcastle United)
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21 goals
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Top PL Scorers 1994/5
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Player (Club)
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Goals
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Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers)
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34 goals
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Robbie Fowler (Liverpool)
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25 goals
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Les Ferdinand (Queens Park Rangers)
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24 goals
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Stan Collymore (Nottingham Forest)
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22 goals
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Andy Cole (Newcastle United/Manchester United)
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21 goals
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Jurgen Klinsmann (Tottenham Hotspur)
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21 goals
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Top PL Scorers 2009/10
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Player (Club)
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Goals
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Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
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29 goals
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Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
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26 goals
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Darren Bent (Sunderland)
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24 goals
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Carlos Tevez (Manchester City)
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23 goals
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Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
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22 goals
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