The new Premier League season kicks off on Friday evening and there is much to look forward to in the competition’s 31st campaign. While the race for the PL Golden Boot will likely feature many of the usual suspects, there may well be a few new names who could be front-runners for the award.
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah & Tottenham’s Heung-min Son both won the Golden Boot last term after they scored 23 league goals apiece. Salah is now a three-time winner of the accolade, becoming only the fourth player to do so.
He previously shared the prize with Sadio Mané and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the trio bagged 22 league goals each in 2018/19, a season after the Egyptian forward won the Golden Boot outright for scoring a record 32 goals in a 38-match Premier League season.
(Photos by @premierleague on Twitter)
Salah’s impressive haul came in what was his first season after switching to Liverpool in 2017 and five years later and there is once again a new kid on the block, in the form of Erling Haaland at Manchester City. Haaland is favourite to win the Golden Boot and the bookies have him priced at 3.75 to get his hands on the award at the first time of asking in the Premier League.
Haaland netted 86 goals in 89 appearances for Borussia Dortmund and the Norwegian striker scored 20 times in his first 16 UEFA Champions League games.
The bookies have Salah listed at 5.50 to win a record-equalling fourth Golden Boot, while his new Liverpool teammate Darwin Nuñez is 10.00 to take the prize for top scorer. Son is at a massive 15.00 to win back-to-back awards, and his fellow Spurs striker Harry Kane is 6.00 to scoop an elusive fourth Golden Boot. Cristiano Ronaldo is 21.00 to be top scorer in the league and Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus is 13.00.
🇳🇴 Erling Haaland in the Champions League:
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) July 21, 2021
🤯 Youngest player in history to score 20 goals
😮 Fewest appearances ever to reach 20 goals
🔥 20 goals in 16 games in this competition
🎩 1st player to score hat-trick on his debut since 2004#UCL pic.twitter.com/SalBasE4PI
Kevin De Bruyne is the favourite to create the most goals, with the Belgian midfielder priced 5.50 by the bookies to register the most assists during the season. De Bruyne was named Playmaker of the Season in 2018 and in 2020, and the Man City creator-in-chief is primed to win it once more.
Salah pipped Trent Alexander-Arnold to the Playmaker award last term but the bookies fancy the full-back over his Liverpool teammate. Alexander-Arnold is 10.00 for most assists in the league while Salah is 15.00. Kane, Son, and Man United’s Bruno Fernandes are each 17.00 to notch the most assists this season.
The Golden Glove is given to the goalkeeper who keeps the most clean sheets and last season it was shared by Man City’s Ederson and Liverpool goalie Alisson, after both Brazilian stoppers kept 20 shutouts apiece.
Ederson became the fourth player (after Pepe Reina, Petr Cech & Joe Hart) to win the Golden Glove three times or more and he is 2.00 to claim the award once more. His countryman and national teammate Alisson is 2.75 for the Golden Glove, while Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy comes in at 9.00. Spurs’ Hugo Lloris is 11.00, Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale 26.00 and Man Utd’s David De Gea 29.00.
(Photos by @premierleague on Twitter)
Everton boss Frank Lampard is odds-on favourite to be the first manager to lose his job this season, with Southampton’s Ralph Hasenhuttl also in danger of winning the ‘sack race’. Based on the schedule during the earlier stages of the campaign, Fulham manager Marco Silva and Bournemouth boss Scott Parker could also emerge as contenders for early dismissals.
Leave a comment with who you predict to win the Premier League Golden Boot, Golden Glove, and Playmaker of the Season awards, as well as the first manager to lose their job in the 2022/23 season.
*All betting odds are accurate at time of writing.
