Premier League top scorers 2024/25: Haaland under pressure at Leicester

Carlo Garganese

• 28 Dec 2024 18:25 GMT
• 19 min read

Erling Haaland came into the 2024/25 season hoping to join the greatest Premier League top scorers.

Manchester City forward Haaland is seeking a third consecutive triumph in the Premier League Golden Boot race this season.

That is a feat which has only previously been achieved by Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry, who are two of the greatest strikers to have ever played in England’s top division.

READ MORE: European Golden Shoe 2024/25 Standings

Haaland is looking to become the top Premier League scorer again after winning the Golden Boot by a healthy five-goal margin in 2023/24, when Chelsea attacking midfielder Cole Palmer surprisingly emerged as his closest challenger.

Man City star Haaland netted 27 times last season and fired two hat-tricks, including a four-goal haul in a victory against Wolves towards the end of the year. His exploits helped Pep Guardiola’s team to win a historic fourth straight Premier League title.

Despite those heroics, the Norway international’s goal total was well short of the 2022/23 tally he produced. That season saw him make a stunning start to EPL life, scoring a record-breaking 36 top-flight goals to claim the Golden Boot in his debut campaign, one which also saw City and Guardiola win a famous treble.

Haaland's two straight successes in the goalscoring charts in England made him the first player since Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah in 2019 to win back-to-back crowns.

READ MORE: Manchester United 2024/25 Top Scorers

Haaland made an emphatic start in his bid to score the most goals in the 2024/25 season, netting two hat-tricks before the end of August. He started the year as a strong favourite, coming in fresh after not playing at Euro 2024, but Palmer and Newcastle forward Alexander Isak are podium finishers from the last campaign who are challenging him again.

Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins and Haaland’s Man City team-mate Phil Foden are also looking to follow up their strong scoring seasons, while Dominic Solanke impressed for Bournemouth last year and has now joined Tottenham.

Former Golden Boot winners Salah and Son Heung-min are also eager to be crowned winners in the Premier League scoring standings once more, while Darwin Nunez was also in the running according to pre-season betting odds.

READ MORE: Champions League 2024/25 Top Scorers

Manchester United hope Rasmus Hojlund can kick on in his second year at Old Trafford and challenge to score the most goals this season, while Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz are among a number of possible Arsenal contenders.

Jean-Philippe Mateta enjoyed a brilliant end to last season for Crystal Palace and there are also some new transfer signings who have arrived at England's biggest clubs for the new campaign in deals which could shake up the Golden Boot race.

Man Utd hope Joshua Zirkzee can make an immediate impact, West Ham have signed Niclas Fullkrug from Borussia Dortmund and Evanilson joined Bournemouth to replace Solanke.

The Premier League top scorers will be displayed on this page throughout the season. We will take an in-depth look at the latest standings for the players with the most EPL goals, with updates from every matchday.

2024/25 Premier League top scorers

Mohamed Salah is first in the list of Premier League top scorers for the 2024/25 season, although his closest challenger in the standings is Manchester City star Erling Haaland.

Man City forward Haaland has 13 EPL goals from just 18 matches and he led the Premier League Golden Boot race for the early stages of the season.

Liverpool attacker Salah seized top spot from Haaland on December 4 and currently holds the outright lead once again after a brief period prior to Christmas when the pair were level.

Cole Palmer, last season's runner-up, is emerging as one of Salah and Haaland's main rivals once again. With 12 goals to his name so far, the Chelsea star could finish on the podium in back-to-back years.

Alexander Isak, Chris Wood, Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa and Matheus Cunha have been some of the other big movers in the scoring standings over recent weeks.

We have now moved past the third international break of the campaign and into a busy run of fixtures around the festive period with Liverpool star Salah, who has 16 goals from 17 appearances, currently sitting three strikes clear of his closest striking rival Haaland.

Last weekend saw Haaland and Salah both playing in high-profile away matches.

Under-pressure Man City lost 2-1 away to Aston Villa on Saturday, while Liverpool and Salah took on Tottenham a day later.

After Haaland was denied at Villa, the Egypt star had a chance to move into an outright lead and he did that by scoring twice, as did team-mate Luis Diaz, as Liverpool won a remarkable match 6-3.

Salah strengthened his lead further on Boxing Day. He struck late on as leaders Liverpool came from behind to defeat Leicester City 3-1 at Anfield, while it was a miserable day for Haaland, who missed a penalty as Man City were held to a 1-1 draw by Everton.

Therefore Haaland finds himself under pressure as Man City travel to play Leicester City on Sunday, while Salah and Liverpool will hope to keep up their momentum with a potentially tricky trip to face West Ham, who have improved over recent weeks.

For the first third of the season, there was a familiar face racing clear of the rest at the top of the Golden Boot rankings in the form of Man City striker Haaland.

Defending champion Haaland and last year's runner-up Palmer returned to Premier League action in the same game as Man City travelled to play Chelsea on the opening weekend.

It was Haaland who made a fast start to his Golden Boot bid with an early goal and Man City went on to win the match 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Haaland would have fancied his chances of adding to his goal tally in MD2 as Man City played at home to promoted Ipswich Town and he did that in fine style, scoring the first EPL hat-trick of the new season in ruthless fashion and storming to the top of the standings, with City winning 4-1.

If that was not enough to make the chasing pack already demoralised in the first month of the season, rampant Haaland then made it two hat-tricks in as many weeks, with his latest treble helping Man City to a 3-1 win over West Ham in London.

Haaland added two more goals as Man City came from behind to beat Brentford on MD4 and he then netted again as Guardiola's champions played a thrilling home clash with title rivals Arsenal that finished 2-2 on September 22.

The Arsenal goal saw him hit double figures for the season in just five games, making him the fastest player in EPL history to reach 10 goals. The City striker, who had previously held a share of the old record (10 goals in six games), now holds the milestone outright.

It was also a significant strike for another reason, as it took Haaland to 100 goals in all competitions for Man City. He matched Cristiano Ronaldo (who had his run of goals at Real Madrid) as the fastest player to achieve that feat for a club in Europe's top-five leagues, reaching three figures in just 105 matches overall.

After such a fast start, Haaland strengthened his position as a commanding favourite to score the most goals in the 2024/25 season.

However, since then he has only scored three goals in 13 games, which is a spell of poor form – at least by the Norway star’s high standards – that started with a rare run of failing to find the net for three consecutive matches against Newcastle, Fulham and Wolves.

A poor period of form for Haaland came as Man City suffered a dramatic period of dreadful results, the worst of Guardiola’s long tenure. At one stage they lost five matches in a row across all competitions and had a streak of seven games without winning.

It was not just the results which caused concern, but also the way Man City were suffering some shocking late collapses, while striker Haaland missed a Champions League penalty against Sporting CP as part of the alarming run.

While he scored the winner in a 1-0 victory against Southampton, his other strikes leading up to the festive period did not come in winning efforts – with goals coming in the 2-1 loss to Brighton and 2-2 draw away to Crystal Palace.

Haaland had a frustrating afternoon as Man City suffered a shock 2-1 away loss to Bournemouth and despite a productive international break for Norway, he could not follow that form up in the first game back against Tottenham.

He went without a goal and Spurs fans could barely believe it as their side romped to a 4-0 away victory on November 23, with that result a shocking outcome as a new contract signed by manager Guardiola had lifted the Man City mood ahead of the game.

Attacking stars Haaland and Salah had a pivotal head-to-head battle as Liverpool hosted Man City in a massive match on December 1.

The top-of-the-table clash at Anfield ended 2-0 in Liverpool's favour and also impacted on how the Golden Boot race, with Salah scoring a penalty as Haaland was kept out at the other end.

Haaland again went without a goal even though Man City ended their winless streak by beating Nottingham Forest and, following his goal at Palace, Matchday 16 was even worse for Haaland, as he was kept out in a dramatic late 2-1 derby defeat to Man Utd. He suffered the same fate a week later, with Man City losing 2-1, this time away to Aston Villa.

Haaland then had a penalty saved by Jordan Pickford in the frustrating 1-1 home draw against Everton on Matchday 18.

While Haaland was so fast to get up and running, Salah also made an excellent start in his bid to be the top scorer this season.

Salah netted in each of the Reds' first three EPL matches under new boss Arne Slot, including a starring performance on MD3 when Liverpool travelled to play rivals Man Utd at Old Trafford.

The Egypt international is known to have a great record at that venue and he impressed against United once again, netting once and setting up the other two goals for team-mate Luis Diaz as Liverpool cruised to a 3-0 win.

Salah and Diaz were frustrated as Liverpool fell to a shock home defeat against Nottingham Forest in their fourth match, but Diaz helped the Reds storm back to form, scoring twice in a 3-0 home win over Bournemouth on MD5, while Salah struck in a victory at Wolves.

But the most important run of form to help Salah surge into Golden Boot contention was a magnificent stretch where he scored in seven consecutive Premier League matches, netting nine goals in total during that span between October 20 and December 4.

Salah struck in a key win over Chelsea, before netting a crucial late equaliser against Arsenal in a 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium on October 27.

He also scored the winner against Brighton, as Liverpool came from behind to win 2-1, before getting a goal that made sure of a 2-0 home triumph over Aston Villa.

And Salah's match-winning double in the thrilling 3-2 win at Southampton on November 24 meant he became the second player after Haaland to reach 10 league goals this season.

Salah continued his stunning form with a double even though the Reds had to settle for a dramatic 3-3 draw away to Newcastle.

The Merseyside derby being postponed temporarily stalled Salah's progress and he then went without a goal as 10-man Liverpool drew a dramatic contest with Fulham 2-2, but was back on the scoresheet with two goals in the remarkable 6-3 away win over Spurs, in which Diaz also struck twice.

Salah scored late on against Leicester City on Boxing Day as Liverpool came from behind to defeat Leicester City 3-1 at Anfield and strengthen their hold on first position in the league table.

The Man Utd attackers once again endured a tough start to the season, which contributed to Erik ten Hag's sacking as manager and the subsequent appointment of Ruben Amorim.

United edged to a 1-0 win over Fulham in the first match of the season at Old Trafford, but after Rasmus Hojlund suffered an injury in pre-season, it was new signing Joshua Zirkzee who stepped up by scoring a debut goal with a deft finish three minutes before the end of the match, having come on as a second-half substitute.

Zirkzee did not net again until December 1, when he scored twice in a 4-0 win over Everton in Amorim's first EPL victory. Marcus Rashford also hit a double in that game although he has found the target just four times in the top flight this season. His other goals were an impressive strike in the win at Southampton and scoring the first goal of the Amorim era in a draw at Ipswich Town.

Hojlund opened his account in the win over Brentford on October 19 and got his second against Nottingham Forest on December 7.

Bruno Fernandes finally got off the mark with a penalty in the draw against Chelsea on November 3 that he followed up with goals against Leicester City, Forest and Man City, but United's long wait for a Golden Boot winner looks set to continue.

Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz wasted little time to get up and running, both scoring as Arsenal defeated Wolves 2-0 on MD1 to start their campaign.

Havertz struck again as 10-man Arsenal drew 1-1 with Brighton in MD3, and he added another in the late win over Leicester City. Both players were then on target in the MD7 home victory over Southampton and the MD13 triumph at West Ham.

Saka, who also scored against Liverpool on October 27 to become the youngest Arsenal player to reach 50 EPL goals, is also thriving in the assist rankings so far this season. Both he and Havertz netted in the thumping 5-2 win at West Ham, with the Germany star on target again in the 5-1 win away to Crystal Palace and 1-0 home triumph against Ipswich.

Danny Welbeck scored in both of Brighton's first two matches and got his most recent strikes against Nottingham Forest, Tottenham, Newcastle and Wolves.

Former Golden Boot winner Son Heung-min was prominent in the early goalscoring charts in England after the Spurs star struck twice in an emphatic 4-0 win over Everton and netted as part of an impressive individual performance in the 4-1 win over West Ham.

He now has three team-mates ahead of him in the standings, though, with Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson up to six goals and James Maddison having now reached eight.

Solanke netted twice in the 4-1 win over Aston Villa, after Johnson had earlier struck for Spurs.

Johnson then capped Spurs' famous win over Haaland and Man City, after Maddison had netted a first-half double to set them on their way, before the Wales forward struck again in the home clash with Fulham.

Son and Solanke were back on target when Tottenham faced Chelsea, but Spurs still suffered a 4-3 defeat. There were two goals for Maddison and another for Son in the crucial 5-0 win at Southampton on December 15.

Elsewhere in the Premier League Golden Boot race, Noni Madueke scored the second Premier League hat-trick of the season on MD2, doing so just one day after Haaland's Ipswich treble.

That hat-trick helped Chelsea storm to a 6-2 away win over Wolves. Palmer set up all three of Madueke's goals and scored with a fine strike himself to get up and running for the campaign.

Palmer was also on target in Chelsea's MD5 win at West Ham. The Blues triumphed 3-0, with Nicolas Jackson netting twice to continue a productive start to the season for him. The centre-forward added a further goal in the recent 2-1 defeat at Liverpool.

It was Palmer who stole the headlines on Matchday 6. The England star stunningly scored four goals in the first half as Chelsea beat Brighton 4-2 at Stamford Bridge.

That was the second time in 2024 that Palmer has scored four goals in an EPL match, with his star performance meaning Haaland's lead at the top of the scoring standings was briefly cut.

But Palmer was unable to take advantage of Haaland's rare quiet spell when Chelsea hosted Nottingham Forest. He hit the post and set up a goal for Madueke, but the Blues had to settle for a 1-1 draw.

England star Palmer was also unable to score in the blockbuster clash with Liverpool, but he did net the winner, as well as having another goal disallowed, as Chelsea defeated Newcastle 2-1 on MD9.

However, Palmer was unable to find the net in consecutive 1-1 draws the Blues recorded away against Man Utd and at home against Arsenal, nor did he strike in the win at Leicester City.

Jackson and Palmer were both on target in the 3-0 home win over Aston Villa on MD13, though, with the latter's strike being a wonderful long-range effort.

Palmer and Madueke then helped Chelsea to an emphatic 5-1 win at bottom-of-the-table Southampton. And Palmer continued his stunning campaign with two penalties in the win over Spurs on December 8, ensuring he reached double figures.

Jackson was the Chelsea contender who found the target in MD16, with the Blues beating Brentford 2-1 despite a late strike from Mbeumo for the visiting Bees, which took him up to 10 for the season.

Palmer was back on the scoresheet with a wonderful individual goal against Fulham, but he could not prevent Chelsea from falling to a 2-1 home defeat.

Mbeumo may be an unlikely candidate to be named the top Premier League scorer, but he netted an impressive double for Brentford as they beat Southampton and scored another two goals against Ipswich Town.

Mbeumo and Wissa are being relied upon by the Bees after Ivan Toney left the club and they have both combined for 19 league goals. Wissa netted one of those goals against Man City and also had a double in the home win over Bournemouth.

Ollie Watkins had a slow first few matches this season, but he got up and running on MD4 with a double as Aston Villa came from two goals down to defeat Everton 3-2. But it was his fellow forward Jhon Duran who stole the show with a wondergoal to win it for Unai Emery's men.

Watkins and Duran were both on target again in MD5, helping Villa to another comeback victory, this time over local rivals Wolves. Watkins' form continued with another strike against Ipswich on MD6, but neither of Villa's star forwards were able to score in a 0-0 draw with Man Utd.

Resurgent Watkins made it five goals in as many top-flight games by netting in the 3-1 away win over Fulham, but he then went three straight matches without finding the net prior to ending that run against Crystal Palace on MD12. His penalty against former club Brentford took him up to seven league goals, while it was Duran who struck against Southampton, Nottingham Forest and Man City.

Chris Wood is in fantastic form. He has scored 10 goals, including a double in the win at Leicester City on October 25, to help Nottingham Forest make a fine start to the 2024/25 season. His header away to Man Utd on December 7 made him the third player this season to reach double figures, after only Haaland and Salah.

A rare game where Wood did not net was when Forest lost 3-1 to Newcastle on November 10, with Alexander Isak and Harvey Barnes both moving up to four goals this season for Eddie Howe's men in that game. Isak also struck in the dramatic 3-3 draw with Liverpool, the loss at Brentford and win over Leicester City to reach seven.

And Isak surged into Golden Boot contention with a ruthless hat-trick away against Ipswich Town on December 21. He reached his treble inside 54 minutes to hit double figures for the season as Newcastle cruised to a 4-0 win and followed up that fine form with another goal in the 3-0 win over Aston Villa.

Justin Kluivert, who scored a hat-trick of penalties as Bournemouth beat Wolves 4-2, is also among the players to have risen up the standings. His hat-trick came on November 30, which was the same day as Kevin Schade scored a treble for Brentford against Leicester.

After the initial weeks of the season it already looked like a gargantuan task for anyone to catch Haaland, which was an astonishing state of affairs so early in the campaign.

But in-form Salah has gradually reduced the gap and then claimed a dramatic lead. The standings are also tightening up below the two leaders, so as things stand it does now look like we will have an entertaining Golden Boot race after all.

Premier League Golden Boot: Previous Winners

Thierry Henry holds the record for the most Premier League Golden Boot wins, having been named the top scorer in the competition on four occasions for Arsenal.

The France great is one of only four players who have scored the most goals in the EPL across three or more seasons.

READ MORE: Chelsea 2024/25 Top Scorers

Alan Shearer won the Golden Boot three times, once with Newcastle and twice with Blackburn Rovers, while Harry Kane’s win in 2020/21 was also his third, all of them coming with Tottenham.

Mohamed Salah's success for Liverpool in the 2021/22 season meant he joined that list of three-time winners.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez are two of the biggest names to have won the award, scoring 31 goals in 2007/08 and 2013/14 respectively.

READ MORE: Most Assists In Europe 2024/25

It is Liverpool who have had the most Premier League Golden Boot winners as a team with seven.

Arsenal are just behind on six, while Man Utd and Tottenham have had five winners.

Chelsea are on four, with Man City now level with them after Haaland gave the club a fourth win by finishing first in the list of 2023/24 Premier League top scorers.

The Premier League began from the 1992/93 season. Prior to that, Ian Wright was the last highest goalscorer in England when it was the old First Division. Gary Lineker and Alan Smith were also winners in the 1990s before the league was rebranded.

Most goals in a Premier League season

Erling Haaland has the record for the most goals in a single Premier League season, having scored 36 times in just 35 matches during the 2022/23 campaign.

Previously, the record for most goals in an EPL campaign was shared by Alan Shearer (1994/95) and Andy Cole (1993/94).

READ MORE: Premier League Assists Standings

Both players scored an astonishing 34 goals, though the season schedule was longer then – Shearer did it in 42 matches and Cole reached the total from 40 games.

Mohamed Salah came close to that record in 2017/18, scoring 32 times in 36 outings, producing what had been the best Premier League goalscoring season in this century until Haaland's spectacular arrival.

The Golden Boot winner with the best goals per game ratio in a season is also Haaland after his exploits in his record-setting season (1.03 goals per game).

Prior to that it was Kane after the England captain netted 29 times in just 30 games to win the 2016/17 scoring title, averaging 0.97 GPG.

Who are the Premier League top scorers of all time?

Alan Shearer is the highest goalscorer in Premier League history, having ended his career in 2006 with a magnificent 260 goals to his name in England’s top division.

Former Tottenham star Harry Kane (213) and Man Utd legend Wayne Rooney (208) are the only other players who have scored more than 200 EPL goals.

Andy Cole (187), Sergio Aguero (184), Frank Lampard (177) and Thierry Henry (175) are former Premier League players who sit near the top of the all-time list.

READ MORE: Arsenal 2024/25 Top Scorers

Before the 2024/25 season began, Robbie Fowler (163), Jermain Defoe (162), Mohamed Salah (157) and Michael Owen (150) rounded out the 11 players in EPL history who had scored 150 goals or more.

Prior to his transfer from Spurs to Bayern Munich in 2023, Kane was the highest-scoring active player and he had long been cited as one of the rare contenders who has a chance to rival Shearer’s record total.

His departure means Salah is the highest remaining active Premier League player. He has been rising fast in the rankings, moving up to 10th overall with his 18 goals last season, having started the campaign in 14th place.

READ MORE: Real Madrid 2024/25 Top Scorers

Going into this campaign, Salah had scored at least 18 goals in all seven of the Premier League seasons he had played with Liverpool, with Lampard, Henry, Fowler and Defoe now all realistically in his sights if he has a strong year in 2024/25.