Football writer Adrian Clarke takes a closer look at the players vying to win the Coca-Cola Golden Boot award, which is given to the Premier League player/s with the most goals.
The Coca-Cola Premier League Golden Boot is awarded to the top goalscorer in a season and, since the start of the competition in 1992/93, it has become a prestigious award.
It has been won by numerous iconic stars, with Thierry Henry and Mohamed Salah tied for the most Golden Boot wins with four apiece.
Premier League Hall of Fame members Alan Shearer, Andrew Cole, Sergio Aguero and Didier Drogba, have all won the award at least once.
This season, chasing his third Golden Boot in four seasons, is the irrepressible Erling Haaland, who leads the Premier League’s 2025/26 goalscoring standings with 22 goals.
While it would take an extraordinary run to eclipse his record-breaking 36 goals in 2022/23, the Manchester City striker continues to set the standard, netting once every 97.5 mins.
Interestingly, none of the other contenders are previous Golden Boot winners.
Brentford’s Igor Thiago is Haaland’s closest challenger, enjoying a sensational breakthrough campaign, with 17 goals so far this season. The Brazilian leads the way for penalty goals, with six.
Man City’s Antoine Semenyo is enjoying his most-prolific Premier League season having scored 13 times in total, including 10 for previous club AFC Bournemouth.
The Ghanaian could make a late run to pip team-mate Haaland to the prize after scoring three times in his first five Premier League appearances for his new club.
Who are the league's in-form goalscorers?
Chelsea duo Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro are in strong form, netting nine goals between them over the past five Matchweeks.
Most goals last five PL matches
| Player | Goals |
| Cole Palmer | 5 |
|---|---|
| Joao Pedro | 4 |
| Crysencio Summerville | 4 |
| Bryan Mbeumo | 3 |
| Antoine Semenyo | 3 |
| Viktor Gyokeres | 3 |
Four of Palmer’s five goals came from the penalty spot, but it is great to see the England international back on top form.
Finding the back of the net in four successive matches, prior to the draw against Manchester United, Crysencio Summerville has played a key role in helping West Ham United pick up 10 points from a possible 15.
Most goals from Golden Boot contenders over last five PL matches and totals for 25/26
| Player | Goals | Total |
| Joao Pedro | 4 | 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Antoine Semenyo | 3 | 13 |
| Bryan Mbeumo | 3 | 9 |
| Erling Haaland | 2 | 22 |
| Hugo Ekitike | 2 | 10 |
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Liam Rosenior and Michael Carrick are inadvertently having an impact on this season’s Premier League goal charts.
The new Chelsea head coach prefers to use Joao Pedro as his No 9, and the Brazilian has responded in clinical fashion, scoring four goals from five shots on target across the last five games.
Carrick’s use of Bryan Mbeumo as a centre-forward has breathed fresh life into the Cameroonian’s hopes of finishing close to the top of the goal charts too.
Relishing his new role, the Man Utd star has scored key goals against Man City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
His three goals under Carrick came from 11 shots with a combined 1.76 Expected Goals (xG).
Mbeumo’s previous five starts saw him play wide right and shoot 16 times, producing 2.35xG, yet he only scored once.
Golden Boot favourite Haaland is back on song with two goals in two games, having suffered an unusually barren spell which saw him net just once in seven league matches.