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Erling Haaland reaches 20 goals for the season but he isn't the outright leader for the European Golden Shoe

Erling Haaland reaches 20 goals for the season but he isn't the outright leader for the European Golden Shoe

Despite scoring his 20th goal in all competitions, the Man City striker isn't the outright leader for the European Golden Shoe.

Erling Haaland scored his 20th goal of the season in all competitions in the 4-0 win over Southampton, but despite his incredible start - he's not the outright leader for the European Golden Shoe.

His start to life in Manchester has been nothing short of breath-taking, with Bournemouth the only team in the Premier League to stop him from scoring so far.

Also, despite being in October, he only needs eight more goals in the league to match last year's golden boot winning tally achieved by Tottenham Heung Min-Son and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah.

He currently has 15 goals in just nine league games - it's truly frightening form.

Even though he seems to be the most in-form player in world football right now, shockingly, he isn't the outright leader for the Golden Shoe.

He may have one hand on the golden boot in England but he is currently tied with Amahl Pellegrino, who plays for Bodo/Glimt and has 20 goals this season - how is this possible you ask? Don't worry, there's a fairly simply explanation.

The European Golden Shoe is the award given to the leading goalscorer in league matches from the top division of a European league.

A scoring system is in place for this award which means it isn't necessarily whoever scores the most goals total - there's a scoring system in place.


Goals scored in the top five leagues, according to the UEFA coefficients list, are multiplied by two, goals scored in the leagues ranked 6 to 22 are multiplied by 1.5, and goals scored in leagues ranked 22 and below are multiplied by one.

It means goals scored in higher ranked leagues will count for more than those scored in weaker leagues.

In terms of this year's race, Haaland is level with Pellegrino, but his Norwegian compatriot has already completed 24 out of 30 games in Norway's top league.

Haaland's 15 goals have been multiplied by two whilst Pellegrino's 20 goals have been multiplied by 1.5 to equal Haaland's current points total.


Robert Lewandowski at Bayern Munich was the winner last season whilst Lionel Messi has won the award on six occasions.

With Haaland's current form, there's no telling what records he could go onto break. But with his current form he looks impossible to stop.

There's one record that he hasn't broken with his blistering start: Cristiano Ronaldo scored 16 league goals in the opening eight games of the 2014/15 season for Real Madrid - in a record that will take some beating.

Who knows how many he'll end up with at the end of the season but no petition is going to stop the Norwegian sensation.

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: Erling Haaland, Manchester City, Football