While Harry Kane, Diego Costa and Sergio Aguero would all gladly take the Premier League trophy over the Golden Boot crown in 2017, personal accolades are always lapped up by the world’s top goal scorers. The duel between the best strikers in England makes an intriguing subplot to the title chase as each week they seek to hit the net to keep their team at the top and their name above the rest in the top scorers’ chart. Kane is the current holder of the glitzy gold trophy and looking to become the first to retain it since Robin Van Persie in 2012 and 2013. Aguero and Costa could have a stronger claim than the Tottenham star and there are a few others breathing down their necks. Take a look at the goal kings looking to land the Premier League Golden Boot…

Diego Costa, Chelsea

The country’s joint-leading marksman with 11 Prem goals, the deadly Spaniard is back to his best for Chelsea. Costa’s overall record in the league is simply stunning. Closer inspection reveals he has never gone more than four Premier League games without scoring and he boasts a shooting accuracy of 46%. This all suggests that you’d be a fool not trust 888sport’s golden boot predictions and back the 28-year-old to pick up his first Golden Boot. Unless his mighty collection of yellow cards (four this season and 20 in his league career) will soon lead to another suspension and less game time to outscore the others on this list.

Sergio Aguero, Man City

This awesome Argentina goal machine has already won two league titles and the Premier League’s Golden Boot, but never both in the same season. It would be sweet to do that double in 2017. The stats show just how Aguero has lit up the league since 2011 – 112 strikes in 162 games, plus 26 assists – and even though injury and suspension have slowed him down this season he still has 10 goals. While his right foot does the damage (83 goals against 21 from his left) Aguero is a danger inside and outside the box. The perfect No10.

Romelu Lukaku, Everton

The big Belgian just keeps getting better and better as talk of him joining one of the world’s elite clubs just won’t go away. For Everton he’s now notched 50 league goals in three and a bit seasons, and for a 23-year-old to already have 67 top-flight goals to his name is quite an achievement. Lukaku’s game mixes speed, power and skill and, on his day, he can breeze past the opposition as if they are statues. He’s working hard at his consistency and seven goals already this season is a great return. An outside bet for the Golden Boot, but by no means a long shot.

Harry Kane, Tottenham

Kane’s pedigree is now not in doubt – he’s already won the Golden Boot and kept Tottenham in the title picture until the very last knockings in 2015/16. Some label him a classic centre forward in that he only wants to lead the line and get behind defenders. But watch Kane closely and he closes the opposition down, covers so much of the pitch and pounces when you least expect it. Kane’s strike rate is better than one in two and after recovering from injury in November he’s looking to improve on his return. Whether it’s with his right, left or head and inside or outside the box, he’ll bag plenty more to have his say in finishing as the league’s top striker.

Roberto Firmino, Liverpool

The outside bet in this Golden Boot rundown, seeing as Firmino is not an out and out striker, but you could be surprised when you look over the Brazilian’s Premier League numbers. His overall goal ratio is better than one in three and his five goals this term is already half of what he notched last season. Liverpool like to spread the goals around with more than ten of the squad having scored in the Premier League, which suggests a Liverpool Golden Boot winner is unlikely. Reds fans won’t mind that – Luis Suarez collected the prize in 2014 as the trophy slipped away from Anfield. Just a decent amount from Firmino, plus that elusive league trophy, will do very nicely.

So, who’s your money on in the Golden Boot race? The smart punters won’t go beyond Costa, Kane and Aguero. But who’s to say that someone like Zlatan Ibrahimovic won’t turn on the style in the second half of the campaign, especially if United are out of Europe? All the players mentioned here are in with a shout and watching the goals fly in will be as exciting as ever and we haven’t even highlighted a certain Mr Alexis Sanchez.