Firstly, to make it ultra-clear…
The player who scores the most goals during the course of the season is the golden boot winner in Ligue 1 and all the other footballing leagues!
The top goal scorer can frequently be predicted a few games before the season’s end if the player in first place has built a sizable lead over his competitors.
But then the longer you wait, the odds keep on changing drastically… as the winner becomes a predictable one.
Also, the winner is only determined after each team has played all 38 of its games.
With that out of the way… here is a little history about this prestigious award!
Ligue 1’s all-time top scorer in a season has been Carlos Bianchi, Delio Onnis, and Jean-Pierre Papin, who have won the Golden boot a record five times.
Bianchi received each of his awards over a six-year span, while Onnis came in first place with three different clubs. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Papin won the award five seasons in a row!
But that was the past. Let’s talk about this season… where new faces rule the world!
The campaign for 2022–23 began on August 5 and it lasts until June 4, Due to the mid-season break in November and December that we had to make for the FIFA World Cup!
That break won’t likely have much of an effect on the Ligue 1 championship race, but it might influence which players finish as the top scorers in the league in 2022–2023!
You see some of the best footballers in the world, particularly in the attacking positions, play in Ligue 1.
And most of that credit can be accredited to the best three forwards in the current game, who all play for Paris Saint-Germain!
But you already know that, don’t you?
And you wouldn’t be wrong to think that it is these three that will fight amongst in the golden boot race!
The favourite to top the list of top scorer in Ligue 1 is World Cup finalist Kylian Mbappe with odds standing @ 1.53.
Mbappe was the favourite to begin with, but after winning the Golden Boot at the FIFA World Cup he just emphasis that point further!
At the time of writing this article (January 3), Mbappe tops the scoring chart with 13 goals!
So Mbappe is the hot favourite to win the Golden boot this season!
Neymar has a point to make following reports that PSG might be willing to sell him in the summer. But more importantly he has a point to make after facing disappointment with Brazil at the World Cup!
He is at the wrong side of 30 and is somewhat trapped between generations… yet he is the second favourite to win the Golden Boot!
Neymar has already netted 11 goals and is only 2nd behind Mbappe.
The odds that he will be the top goal scorer after 38 games are played, stands @ 3.25.
Although Lionel Messi’s first season with the team wasn’t particularly impressive, he has been way better this time around. He has found the net 7 times for PSG while assisting 10 times!
Freshly coming off winning the World Cup with Argentina, Messi is the 3rd favourite to win the Golden Boot award @ 13.
But it’s not just about these three.
There are other players from other teams, that deserve a shout out too!
Ex Arsenal man Alexandre Lacazette has managed to find the net 10 times for Lyon in this season so far.
Just 3 goals behind Mbappe… Lacazette is the fourth favourite to win the Golden Boot @ 17.
But there are others who are the same boat with the Lyon man!
At the time of writing Jonathan David (10 goals), Terem Moffi (10 goals), and Martin Terrier (9 goals) all have their odds marked @ 17.00 just like Lacazette!
So as of January the 3rd these 7 are the favourites to win the Golden Boot race!
The usual 3 suspects of Paris top the list while 4 other players sit behind them!
To make thinks simpler for you…
Here is the entire list! (Top 7)
Kylian Mbappe @ 1.53.
Neymar @ 3.25.
Lionel Messi @ 13.00.
Alexandre Lacazette @ 17.00.
Jonathan David @ 17.00.
Terem Moffi @ 17.00.
Martin Terrier @ 17.00.
