In keeping with the general competitiveness of the Premier League this season, the race to win the Golden Boot does not look like being settled any time soon.
The prize may be secondary to collective honours, but the leading contenders – Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Romelu Lukaku – would all take great pride in finishing the campaign as the division’s leading goalscorer.
All three strikers have been essential to their teams this season, both with their goals and contributions in general play. It is increasingly rare for modern-day centre-forwards to offer a scoring threat and little else, and each of Kane, Vardy and Lukaku has proven himself to be the ideal frontman for his respective side’s style of play.
Kane currently tops the charts with 21 strikes in 31 appearances, with the Tottenham Hotspur man recently becoming the first player since Ruud van Nistelrooy to break the 20-goal barrier in both of his first two full Premier League seasons.
It has been another fine year for the England international, who began the 2014/15 campaign behind Roberto Soldado and Emmanuel Adebayor in the pecking order at White Hart Lane.
Both of those players have now moved on, with Kane establishing himself as the top man at White Hart Lane.
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As well as being a clinical finisher, Kane links up the play and is capable of bringing his teammates into play. His penchant for dropping deep and moving wide in the build-up allows runners to dart beyond him, while the strength of his back-to-goal play means he can be used as a target for Tottenham to hit as they seek to transition from defence to attack quickly.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino has labelled Kane a ‘nine and a half’ in the past, a tag that accurately describes his capacity to both facilitate and finish.
In a reversal of their clubs' positions in the overall Premier League standings, Leicester City's Vardy is attempting to chase down top scorer Kane, who has found the back of the net twice more than the 29-year-old.
Much like his international colleague, Vardy offers more to his team than just a regular source of goals.
Most of Leicester’s success this season has come on the counter-attack, an approach that relies heavily upon Vardy’s speed and directness; his willingness to run the channels and chase after lost causes has also been crucial, and it is not an exaggeration to assert that Claudio Ranieri’s men would not be looking down on the league’s other 19 outfits from the summit were it not for the former Fleetwood Town striker.
Everton have not had anywhere near as good a season as Tottenham or Leicester, but Lukaku remains in the running for the goalscoring prize. While the Belgium international is three behind Kane at present, he has two games in hand to make up the difference.
After a relatively disappointing campaign in 2013/14, Lukaku has been back on top form this term. His first touch has improved immeasurably, allowing him to combine with teammates with much greater effectiveness, and his sheer size and physicality makes him a nightmare opponent for many centre-halves.
Lukaku’s array of attributes is such that he is virtually an all-round centre-forward, capable of beating defenders with both brain and brawn, power and precision.
“It’s good fun,” Kane said of the race to finish top of the scoring charts. “It’s good competition to be up there and fighting for the Golden Boot. It’s what keeps you alive, so we’ll see what happens come the end of the season.”
Regardless of the outcome all three strikers will be pleased with their tallies so far this year, particularly as each has helped his side with far more than just goals.
Defensively formidable Foxes
When Leicester defeated Everton at Goodison Park in mid-December, they moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League table in a manner that exemplified their thrill-a-minute season up to that point.
Riyad Mahrez’s two goals and a strike from Shinji Okazaki wrapped up a 3-2 victory for Ranieri’s side, whose goal tally after 17 games stood at 37, with 24 conceded – as many as 18th-placed Swansea City – and just three clean sheets recorded.
In the 14 matches since then, Leicester have found the back of the net on 17 occasions and let in only seven goals. There have been nine defensive shut-outs in that time, with Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool among the opponents who have been unable to find a way past an increasingly watertight backline.
There has been a shift in emphasis at the King Power Stadium in recent months, with Leicester now far less gung-ho than they were earlier on in the campaign.
That is what has made their unlikely title challenge sustainable, and it is now arguably their defensive resolve rather than the attacking quality of Mahrez and Jamie Vardy that is most likely to carry them over their line.
Unlike the majority of teams challenging for league championships, Leicester prefer ceding possession to controlling it.
The back four tends to position itself extremely deep, with the midfield also sinking back and Vardy often left as the sole outlet at the top of the pitch.
Leicester’s success in getting the game’s first goal has allowed them to defend in this way: the league leaders have opened the scoring in nine of their last 10 encounters, meaning they have rarely needed to chase a game and push higher up the field.
Not only does that suit a central defensive pairing lacking in pace, it also allows Leicester to enact their overall game plan with far greater ease.
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