Mo Salah leads Lionel Messi in race for Golden Shoe

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On Saturday night Jurgen Klopp said Mohamed Salah was “on his way” to being mentioned in the same breath as Barcelona genius Lionel Messi.

But Liverpool’s awesome Egyptian is already ahead of the Argentine ace in the race to win Europe’s Golden Shoe.

And if Salah can continue to score goals at the prodigious rate he has enjoyed all season, he could become only the second Premier League player in the last 11 seasons to win the coveted title awarded to the most prolific scorer in the Europe.

Salah scored four goals against Watford on Saturday evening to take his league tally for the season to 28, three more than nearest challenger Messi who opened the scoring in Barca’s 2-0 defeat of Athletic Bilbao last night.

Edinson Cavani of Paris Saint-Germain, Ciro Immobile of Lazio and Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane are all a further goal behind.

The only other Premier League player to claim the Golden Shoe in the last decade was former Reds striker Luis Suarez, who shared the accolade with Cristiano Ronaldo in 2013-14 when both scored 31 goals.

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The Golden Shoe table is ranked on points rather than goals, with goals scored in Europe’s top five leagues worth two points.

Jonas of Benfica has scored 31 league goals this season but strikes in the Portuguese league are only worth 1.5 points, which places him sixth in the standings.

Messi is the current holder of the Golden Shoe, with the Argentine winning it four times.

Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo has won it four times too — the first coming with Manchester United in 2007-08. Since 2008, La Liga has provided 11 of the 12 winners, with Atletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan the other player to top of chart in 2008-09.
Top 10 after Sunday’s games:

1. Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, 56 points (28 goals)
2. Lionel Messi, Barcelona, 50 (25)
3. Edinson Cavani, Paris Saint-Germain, 48 (24)
3. Ciro Immobile, Lazio, 48 (24)
3. Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur, 48 (24)
6. Jonas, Benfica, 46.5 (31)
7. Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich, 46 (23)
8. Mauro Icardi, Inter Milan, 44 (22)
8. Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid, 44 (22)
10. Sergio Aguero, Manchester City, 42 (21)
10. Luis Suarez, Barcelona, 42 (21)

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