Haaland eyes a fourth Premier League Golden Boot as several forwards bid to challenge

Erling Haaland will be seeking a record-equalling fourth Premier League Golden Boot this season after finishing last term as the league's top scorer with 27 goals, the Manchester City striker aiming to repeat that success as the new campaign begins.

Haaland has claimed the Golden Boot in three of his four seasons in English football, including a record 36 goals in 2022-23 and 27 in each of the following two campaigns, and arrives this season with 112 goals in 132 English top-flight appearances under his belt and after a seven-goal World Cup for Norway.

It is almost easy to forget about the British record signing in this discussion, after the Swede spent so much of last season injured; the 26-year-old finished second in the Golden Boot race in 2024-25 with 23 goals, outscoring Haaland and only finishing behind Mohamed Salah, but managed only four goals in 22 games in all competitions for Liverpool after his £125m move from Newcastle, and will hope new Reds manager Andoni Iraola can supply the service he lacked.

Thiago will hope to avoid being a one-season wonder at Brentford if he remains at the club: the 25-year-old scored 22 Premier League goals in his first full season in England after missing most of the previous campaign through injury, finishing second only to Haaland in the Golden Boot race and earning a Brazil call-up having never been capped before this year; Manchester United have been reported as being interested in him.

Joao Pedro will look to build on 15 Premier League goals last campaign following his move from Brighton to Chelsea, though he faces more competition for the striker role than last season, including ex-Albion team-mate Danny Welbeck, and how he fits under new manager Xabi Alonso is likely to matter; Alonso's German double-winning Bayer Leverkusen team of 2023-24 shared their goals, with nobody scoring more than 14 in the Bundesliga.

The Sweden forward at Arsenal had a steady debut season, netting 14 league goals and 21 in all competitions as a 28-year-old who contributed to Arsenal winning their first title in 22 years, with 14 of those 21 goals coming after the turn of the year; Ollie Watkins remains one of the Premier League's most consistent scorers since joining Aston Villa in September 2020, his 91 league goals in that period averaging just over 15 a season with 16 in the league last term, although the 30-year-old would likely need to match his final Brentford Championship season of 25 league goals to seriously challenge for the Golden Boot.

Benjamin Sesko scored 11 goals in his maiden Premier League season after moving from RB Leipzig last summer, nine of which arrived after Manchester United sacked Ruben Amorim on 5 January and abandoned his preferred back three and wing-backs system; in that period only Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White scored more Premier League goals, and the 23-year-old will aim to sustain that form over a full season under Michael Carrick.

There have been 34 Premier League seasons and 42 Golden Boots awarded because of joint top-scorers, with only 12 of those winners coming in seasons when their team also won the title; nobody scored more than 23 goals in the four seasons between 2018-19 and 2021-22, while the past four Golden Boots have required between 27 and 36 goals, and although most winners have been centre-forwards, other positions have claimed the award, with Cristiano Ronaldo in 2007-08 becoming the first winger to win it and Mohamed Salah sharing the record of four Golden Boots with Thierry Henry, a mark Haaland will attempt to equal this season.

With four-time winner Mohamed Salah no longer at Liverpool, Haaland will attempt this season to match the joint-record of four Golden Boots held by Salah and Thierry Henry, facing competition from the contenders outlined above as the Premier League campaign gets under way.