Could strikers from Newcastle United or Manchester City yet have a say in the battle to be the Premier League’s top scorer?
Robin van Persie’s season has been phenomenal, it has been so good that many are assuming he has the Golden Boot wrapped up already.
Another hat-trick against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday took his Premier League goal tally for the season to 22, six ahead of his nearest competitor.
Closest to him is Newcastle United’s Demba Ba who has netted 16 times.
Ba has recently returned from a month away at the African Nations Cup, just as he was in the midst of scintillating form. Who knows how close he would be to van Persie had he not been away.
He scored on his return against Aston Villa on Sunday, showing he is as sharp as ever.
But Alan Pardew said this week Ba would likely play a deeper role in his partnership with new team-mate Papiss Cisse, potentially indicating Cisse could end up scoring more than Ba between now and the end of the season.
Another challenger to van Persie is Sergio Aguero, currently on 15 goals. He will have a big part to play in the Premier League title race between now and the end of the season, and like van Persie, he is an explosive striker who has a hat-trick in him.
We think it is a big ask though for Aguero to catch up a deficit of seven goals on van Persie, especially as both could be rotated to play a part in their club’s European campaigns.
Similar with Wayne Rooney, who also sits on 15, and tends to play a deeper role than either Aguero or van Persie.
Wenger has said he will rest van Persie in the coming weeks whenever he gets an opportunity, but it would truly take something special from his competitors to catch him up.
Most likely is Ba, who has no European campaigns to worry about, but it would still require a big effort and a dip in form from van Persie, something which seems highly unlikely given his consistency over the past 18 months. Only an injury could ruin van Persie’s chances now surely.
One point worth noting is that on 22 goals, van Persie has already beaten the 20 goals scored by Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez to share the Golden Boot last season. And its only February.
What do the bookies say: Race for the Golden Boot: van Persie 3/10; Rooney 6/1; Aguero 7/1; Ba 12/1
Do you think van Persie has the boot laced up already?
image: © Ronnie Macdonald
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