The race for the greatest individual prizes in football is on!
Last updated: 21st April 2010
The Golden Shoe and Espadrille are fast becoming two of the most prestigious awards in the game, with past winners including Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo and Jermaine Beckford.
The fact is we all love goals and those who know how to find the back of the net, but who is really the best at it?
Is it the player who scores the most, or the striker that always seems to pop up and score in the important matches?
Well here at Soccer AM we think the players with the best goals-to-games ratio should be recognised, which is why every week for the remainder of the season we will be revealing who, in our opinion, are the best strikers in Europe with a bit of help from our friends at Opta.
The Golden Shoe takes into account all the players in the top four tiers of the English game as well as the Scottish Premier League for the first time, while The Espadrille will be focusing on the top forwards from Italy's Serie A, Spain's Primera Division, the SPL and of course our very own Premier League.
To qualify, players must have played in at least half of their side's matches this season and only league goals count.
The Golden Shoe
The race for this year's coveted Golden Shoe is as tight as ever after a week in which only three of the top ten managed to hit the back of the net!
Wayne Rooney continues to lead the way despite failing to score in Saturday's Manchester derby; however Didier Drogba remains hot on his heels.
Liverpool hotshot Fernando Torres may have been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury, but he holds on to third place and is still very much in contention to win this year's top prize.
The Spain international, who is still hoping to be fit in time for this summer's World Cup, will finish this season with a ratio of 0.82 while Messrs Rooney and Drogba could conceivably end with a ratio of just 0.78.
Further down the table and this week's most prolific frontman comes in the form of Lee Hughes.
The Notts County striker scored twice as the Magpies secured promotion to League One on Saturday with a 4-1 win over Morecambe, and followed it up with the only goal of the game in Tuesday night's 1-0 victory over second placed Rochdale.
It means he moves up one place into fourth, overtaking the SPL's only representative; Kris Boyd.
Elsewhere there were goals for England hopeful Darren Bent and Swindon Town hitman Charlie Austin. Both men move up one place into seventh and ninth respectively.
PLAYER TEAM GOALS GAMES RATIO
Wayne Rooney Man Utd 26 30 0.87
Didier Drogba Chelsea 25 29 0.86
Fernando Torres Liverpool 18 22 0.82
Lee Hughes Notts County 28 36 0.78
Kris Boyd Rangers 21 29 0.72
Carlos Tevez Man City 22 31 0.71
Darren Bent Sunderland 23 35 0.66
Rickie Lambert Southampton and Bristol Rovers 28 43 0.65
Charlie Austin Swindon Town 19 30 0.63
Grant Holt Norwich City 24 38 0.63
*Accurate as of 21/04/2010
The Golden Espadrille
The best player EVER last week, now Lionel Messi could be staring at the double whammy of a Champions League exit and misery in the one that counts - the Golden Espadrille.
There are no prizes for second - it's not the Silver Espadrille, is it? - and that is where Messi the magical finds himself after Barcelona's blank at city rivals Espanyol.
Real Madrid won twice in four days to take advantage of their old foe's slip up and rekindle their Spanish title claims, and both their Espadrille hopefuls cashed in.
Front-runner Gonzalo Higuain kept his nose in front with the opener against Valencia on Sunday and now boasts almost a goal a game, while Cristiano Ronaldo netted in both Real's fixtures. With five matches still to go in La Liga the posturing Portuguese could yet prove a good outside bet.
Elsewhere injured Liverpool star Fernando Torres will not play again before the World Cup, but the crocked striker could yet hobble away in the coveted canvas creepers with an average of 0.82 goals per game.
For that to happen his rivals would need to misfire badly, but the Spaniard has set them a clubhouse target and the fight goes on. So tune in next week for the latest installment...
PLAYER TEAM GOALS GAMES RATIO
Gonzalo Higuain Real Madrid 25 27 0.93
Lionel Messi Barcelona 27 30 0.90
Wayne Rooney Man Utd 26 30 0.87
Didier Drogba Chelsea 25 29 0.86
Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid 20 24 0.83
Fernando Torres Liverpool 18 22 0.82
Antonio Di Natale Udinese 24 31 0.77
Kris Boyd Rangers 22 29 0.72
Carlos Tevez Man City 22 31 0.71
David Villa Valencia 20 29 0.69
*Accurate as of 21/04/2010
Torres in the top three and six despite his injuries.
On another point forget Villa I'll have Higuain thanks.....Some chance
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