Gyokeres fighting against the odds in Golden Boot race | OneFootball

After banging in a hat-trick in Sporting's 3-1 victory over Moreirense last Saturday, Viktor Gyökeres has now taken his tally to 34 Primeira Liga goals, as the Lions continue their push for back-to-back league titles.

Despite leading the way in terms of goals across all European leagues, Gyökeres is still only second in the race for the European Golden Shoe. So, how’s that possible?

It all comes down to how the Golden Shoe is calculated. Goals in different leagues are worth different amounts, depending on how strong UEFA ranks each league. Basically, the tougher the league, the more points each goal gets.

In the top five leagues, every goal is worth two points. In leagues ranked sixth to twenty-second, like Portugal’s Primeira Liga, goals are only worth 1.5 points. Anything lower than that and goals are just one point each.

So, even though the former Coventry forward has 34 goals, they only add up to 51 points. That’s just behind Mohamed Salah, who’s leading with 54 points from his 27 Premier League goals.

Last weekend, the Swedish striker moved past Robert Lewandowski, who’s got 50 points from 25 goals in La Liga. Chasing them close are Harry Kane with 48 points, and Mateo Retegui, the top scorer in Italy, sitting on 46.

European Golden Boot Race:

With Lewandowski sidelined for the next couple of games through injury and Mohamed Salah struggling to find the net lately, Gyökeres might just have a slim shot at snatching the Golden Shoe. As things stand, the Swedish striker needs just two more goals to leapfrog the Egyptian in the rankings.

Worth pointing out - no one from outside Europe’s top five leagues has won the Golden Shoe since Mario Jardel did it for Sporting in 2001–02 with 42 goals. Could be another Sporting striker to win this award?