The arrival of the current international break gives us a chance to evaluate the progress of players and clubs so far this season. This is how the frontrunners for the top scorer award in the Premier League stack up against each other so far.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 12.25
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang enjoyed a very prolific start to his Arsenal career after joining the club from Borussia Dortmund in January. In 13 appearances in the Premier League, the Gabon international striker scored ten goals and created a further three.
He had a slower start this time around, as he failed to score in his first three matches of the season. Since then, however, he has managed to bag four in five matches, including a brace in Sunday’s 5-1 win over Fulham.
Mohamed Salah – 8.00
Last season’s top scorer has had a slight dip in form this season, as he has only scored three goals in the league so far, and not a single one in any other competition.
That might not be of too much concern for Liverpool, as the Egyptian forward only had two more goals at a similar stage last year. It was in November (seven goals in four games) that he got really going. You wouldn’t bet against him shifting gears after the international break.
Eden Hazard – 6.50
Chelsea’s Eden Hazard is the man of the moment. The 27-year old Belgian midfielder has carried his standout World Cup form into the new campaign, where he has already bagged seven goals in eight matches. That is even more remarkable if you consider that he only played a total of 43 minutes in the first two matches of the season. He didn’t score in either, but he created a goal in each.
Since then, Hazard has scored at least one goal in every match he has started, except for the 0-0 draw with West Ham. He is leading the goal scoring charts and it could be said that he is also currently the frontrunner for the Player of the Year award.
Sergio Aguero – 4.00
Sergio Aguero has not been at his clinical best this season. Despite being back in Pep Guardiola’s good books and starting every league match for Manchester City so far, he has at times appeared to lack his clinical edge with chances that he would ordinarily bury without a fuss. He bagged a hat-trick against Huddersfield in the second match of the season, but he has only scored twice in six games since.
That notwithstanding, Aguero remains to be arguably the finest poacher the Premier League has seen in the last decade or so. A return of eight goals in 11 matches in all competitions demonstrates that he still carries a significant guarantee.
Harry Kane – 3.40
No one has scored more Premier League goals than Harry Kane since his breakthrough season in 2014/15. He leads the way with an impressive total of 111 goals. Aguero has 96 in the same time period, while Romelu Lukaku has scored 73 for Everton and Manchester United in the same time. Before Salah came and shoved everyone out of his way last season, Kane had won the previous two Golden Boot awards. He only fell three goals short of completing the hat-trick last season.
The Tottenham Hotspur forward has, like Aguero, appeared rather sluggish at the start of the current campaign. He could excuse himself, however, as probably being a bit fatigued from his exertions at the World Cup. With six goals, he won the Golden Boot ahead of the likes of Lukaku and Antoine Griezmann. Even so, he already has five goals in eight league matches so far.