With just over a month to go in most European leagues, the race for the Golden Shoe is on. Inter(***)s Samuel Eto(***)o is in joint ninth with 19 goals, alongside Bayern(***)s Mario Gomez, Bologna(***)s Marco di Vaio and Manchester City(***)s Carlos Tevez [GALLO/GETTY]
Published On 13 Apr 201113 Apr 2011
The Golden Shoe goes to the player with the most league goals in Europe, with a weighting given depending on the difficulty of the league. Scotland(***)s Kenny Miller, right, has 26 but is in eighth place due to his goals being scored for Glasgow Rangers and Bursaspor in (***)weaker(***) divisions [GALLO/GETTY]
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Each player(***)s goals are multiplied by two for a strong league, or 1.5 for a weak league, to give a total score. Miller(***)s 26 x 1.5 gives a total of 39. Above him in sixth, Lille(***)s Moussa Sow(***)s 20 goals are multiplied by two because he plays in France(***)s Ligue 1, not Scotland or Turkey [EPA]
Also in sixth is Freiburg(***)s Senegalese striker Papiss Demba Cisse, who has rattled in 20 German Bundesliga goals. Admittedly, some of them have come against keepers who were desperate to protect their faces [GALLO/GETTY]
Now we come to the big boys. Dimitar Berbatov has scored 21 English Premier League goals as Manchester United gun for the title. The Bulgarian is also just three matches away from a potential Champions League win [Reuters]
Edinson Cavani has been a revelation as Napoli strive for their first Italian scudetto title since 1990. The Uruguay striker has scored 25 Serie A goals, giving him a Golden Shoe running total of 50 [EPA]
Ahead of him in the Italian scoring charts, and third in Europe, is Udinese(***)s Antonio di Natale with 26 league goals for the resurgent Bianconeri. The 33-year-old Italy forward was joint second with Chelsea(***)s Didier Drogba in last season(***)s Golden Shoe [EPA]
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Cristiano Ronaldo is loving the limelight at Real Madrid even if the trophies have failed to materialise since he left Man Utd in 2009. The Portuguese is second in the Golden Shoe standings with 28 La Liga goals, already two more than he scored in his debut Spanish season [GALLO/GETTY]
Few would bet against this man to win the trophy - once known as the European Golden Boot - for a second straight year. Argentine Lionel Messi has 29 La Liga goals for Barcelona. His total haul is already an incredible 48, smashing the Barca record set by the (***)original(***) Ronaldo in 1996/97 [GALLO/GETTY]
