Golden Shoe 2016-17: Top Goalscorers in Europe, Latest Rankings on September 19

There’s a three-way tie in the race for the Golden Shoe, but with Europe’s top leagues still in their early stages, the standings are populated with less familiar names.

Rosenborg’s Christian Gytkjaer, Kairat’s Gerard Gohou and Paide’s Vjatseslav Zahovaiko lead the way with 17 goals apiece in the top flights of Norway, Kazakhstan and Estonia, respectively.

A number of players who are more likely to contest the award come the end of the season have made progress, though, with Robert Lewandowski, Diego Costa and Barcelona duo Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez all getting on the scoresheet over the weekend.

Here are the current standings, complete with a selection of scorers from Europe’s top leagues:

Rules: To calculate a player’s points tally, their goals are multiplied by a difficulty factor based upon which league they’re scored in.

For example, in the Premier League or Serie A, goals are worth two points, while in Ligue 1, goals are multiplied by 1.5. For the likes of Gytkjaer, Gohou or Zahovaiko, their leagues have a difficulty factor of one, and so their goals and points tallies are the same.

Michail Antonio and Jose Callejon Maintain Early Season Form

While neither Michail Antonio nor Jose Callejon are likely to be in contention for the Golden Shoe come May, it’s worth paying tribute to their outstanding form, which places them as the top scorers in the Premier League and Serie A, respectively.

The former turned in a Dimitri Payet cross with his side 4-0 down to West Bromwich Albion, with OptaJoe paying tribute to his aerial prowess:

5 – West Ham have managed just five headers on target this season, all by Michail Antonio and all of them resulted in goals. Bubbly.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 18, 2016

Antonio almost sparked a comeback for West Ham United, with the visitors clawing back a second goal minutes later, but West Brom were able to hang on for the three points.

Meanwhile, after the sale of Gonzalo Higuain in the summer, Napoli’s Callejon has taken it …

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