No prizes for guessing what Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero, Luis Suarez, Robin van Persie, Dimitar Berbatov, Carlos Tevez and Didier Drogba have in common.
All of the above have won the Premier League top scorer prize this decade although these forwards managed this achievement by operating for a club who finished in the top four of the top flight in that respective season.
So while Liverpool haven’t typically been in the Champions League places recently, their near-miss during the 2013-14 season was powered by the goals of Barcelona-bound Suarez.
Indeed, you have to back to the 1999/2000 season to find the last time that a player outside the “top four” landed the top flight Golden Boot, with Kevin Phillips scoring in style for Sunderland that term.
Will the trend continue during the 2016/17 season?
Last season would suggest not. Harry Kane of third-placed Tottenham finished top of the pile with 25 goals, while Jamie Vardy of champions Leicester and Sergio Aguero of fourth-placed Manchester City were one behind him.
It naturally follows that if an individual player is managing such a substantial goal tally, then he’s likely to be operating for one of the better teams in the Premier League. Similarly, his goals are likely to be boosting the club in question as far as their results are concerned!
This time around, we have Mr Aguero having racked up three goals for City before the international break came around, even if an elbow to the jaw of Winston Reid saw the Argentine take a mini-break from playing duties.
We can assume (especially from looking at the odds) that the Citizens will be top-four material this season and that Aguero will be their main goal-getter providing that the injury-prone player gets enough game time.
Manchester United look like another team heavily likely to finish in the Champions League spots and they have the inimitable Zlatan Ibrahimovic taking free-kicks, scoring penalties and bagging from open play for them.
Ibrahimovic managed an incredible 38 goals in 31 Ligue 1 games for Paris Saint-Germain last season, something which meant the 34-year-old finished up on 113 goals in 122 appearances for the French giant.
Scoff all you like about the quality of the French league although it remains among the best in Europe and Zlatan has been prolific for respective clubs throughout an illustrious career.
Can any striker steal a march on Sergio and Zlatan?
There are a few candidates who might yet prevent the Premier League Golden Boot race from being a two-horse one. Diego Costa has started strongly for Chelsea despite the fact that the feisty forward could easily have received a red card during the Blues’ opener against West Ham and he dodged another bullet at Vicarage Road.
Costa will never deviate from playing on the edge and it might be something that Antonio Conte encourages, while the Spanish international is employed by a Premier League club with strong claims to a top-four spot in the English top flight this season.
With Eden Hazard, Willian and Nemanja Matic looking interested this season, Costa could be hitting the 20-goal mark as he did during the 2014/15 campaign although Michy Batshuayi arrived at Stamford Bridge for a big heap of cash and could yet usurp his older team-mate in attack.
Then there’s Harry Kane, much maligned in an England shirt after the sort of performances at Euro 2016 that had you calling for a nurse. Going from Three Lions hero to zero is nothing new however, with the Tottenham striker having delivered for his club during the previous two seasons.
It’s interesting to note that Kane struggled for form twelve months ago before a hat-trick at Bournemouth in October lit the blue touch paper, with strikers often needing that one inspirational game to get the confidence levels up and then they start firing regularly.
Kane clearly hasn’t turned into a bad or even average player overnight and the fact that he’s managed top flight tallies of 21 and then 25 in respective seasons illustrate he’s a class act. However, the prospect of a busy Champions League schedule combined with domestic duties might impact on his required game time.
Can Lukaku fire Everton into a top four spot?
After a recent 2-1 win at The Hawthorns, West Brom boss Tony Pulis remarked that Everton were a “top six” team and the Welshman is someone who knows a thing or two about the Premier League after managerial stints with Stoke City, Crystal Palace and the Baggies.
"When they are able to bring (Romelu) Lukaku, (Yannick) Bolasie and (Ashley) Williams on, there's a little bit of quality there," said Pulis.
"You've got to recognise with Everton, and they are going to spend more by the sound of things, they have a team, or are close to a team, which they think will finish in the top six. There's a difference, but you've got to make that up somehow".
Indeed, the Toffees made several notable signings during the summer transfer window although perhaps the best piece of business undertaken was Ronald Koeman managing to keep Lukaku at Goodison Park.
Everton fans had to endure the similar tones of last summer where Lukaku was linked to “top European clubs” and many of them still think that the Belgian’s first touch is mediocre, even if his finishing ability is unquestioned.
Eighteen goals last season represented a solid return and it shouldn’t worry Lukaku-backers that he failed to score before the international break. After all, his only start was against Stoke City (where he had a few chances) and his time with Belgium saw the forward score twice against Cyprus.
If Koeman is able to engineer a top-four finish this season, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise and would probably come about as a result of a tall muscular Belgian wearing his shooting boots for the majority of the campaign.
Will Jamie Vardy have another party?
The Leicester City striker has been nursing a wrist injury for the past couple of seasons, although Vardy nearly dislocated his own jaw in the 2016/17 opener at Hull after punching himself in the head after a bad miss.
The 29-year-old struck a happier figure two weeks later after finding the net against Swansea with a typical race through on goal and smart finish, with the former Fleetwood forward looking to replicate the 24 goals scored last season.
There are reasons to suggest that Vardy might not achieve this. Claudio Ranieri has changed the landscape by signing Islam Slimani and Ahmed Musa who will be looking to get among the goals and take the burden off their speedy team-mate.
This season’s Champions League campaign is vitally important for everyone connected to Leicester, not least as it might be the last time that the Foxes play in this competition for several seasons. Achieving a good Premier League position is important but it might play second fiddle if City can make headway against the European elite.
Similarly, it’s hard to see Riyad Mahrez emulating his 17 goals of last season. The Algerian will surely be rested for Premier League clashes this season, whereas last term saw Leicester simply needing to focus on domestic matters and it wasn’t as though Vardy and Mahrez were fielded too much in cup competitions either.
Liverpool players could share the wealth
Van Persie and Suarez were the last respective Arsenal and Liverpool players to shoot their way to the Premier League Golden Boot, with the two clubs struggling to find forwards with the same quality level since.
RVP was an absolute machine during his final campaign with the Gunners, racking 30 goals during the 2011/12 season before winning the same award with Manchester United a season later.
Similarly, Suarez was utterly brutal in 2013/14 to the extent that he managed 52 goals with striker partner Daniel Sturridge, although the latter has suffered badly with injury since that exciting adventure under Brendan Rodgers which nearly saw Liverpool crowned unlikely champions.
Odds of 33/1 illustrate how much Sturridge’s stock has fallen at Anfield, even if he can lay claim to still be the first-choice striker at the club providing he’s fit. However, Jurgen Klopp is wise not to depend on a player who is seemingly made of Weetabix and the German has a bunch of alternative goal-getters.
It should be remembered that Divock Origi is only 21-years-old, with the Belgian hoping to develop his game and follow in the footsteps of other Liverpool greats such as Suarez, Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler.
Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho are other players that can get themselves on the scoresheet regularly, with Firmino often fielded as a “false nine” although Liverpool’s top four aspirations can be bracketed more in the “hopeful” pigeonhole rather than the “confident” one.
Arsenal are the final team that can make the top four this season and Arsene Wenger has always been an attack-minded manager who has helped Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie scoop the Golden Boot award on multiple occasions.
The Gunners may well have the player who manages the most assists this term, with Mesut Ozil a wizard with the ball at his feet, especially if Olivier Giroud is operating in a centre forward position.
Despite receiving a fair share of criticism, the Frenchman has scored 16-14-16 in the past three seasons and will surely start racking up more game time after a suitable recovery from some impressive exploits at Euro 2016.
However, it could be the more dynamic Alexis Sanchez who provides the real cutting edge this term and he’s averaged nearly a goal per two Premier League appearances since arriving at the Emirates in the summer of 2014.
Sanchez managed to score in four consecutive top flight games during April 2016 and has all the attributes to be among the top scorers in the division, with the 27-year-old potentially reaching the peak of his powers and he’s surrounded by quality performers.
Granit Xhaka has arrived to be the henchman in midfield, with Santi Cazorla an underrated performer who can thread balls through the eye of the needle and we might even see Theo Walcott provide a willing foil so that Alexis can hit that magic 20-goal mark.
