Premier League top scorers 2023/24: Haaland wins second straight Golden Boot

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 20 May 2024 12:42 BST
• 17 min read

Erling Haaland came into the 2023/24 season as the man to beat among the Premier League top scorers.

Manchester City striker Haaland made a stunning start to EPL life last season, scoring a record-breaking 36 top-flight goals to claim the Golden Boot in his first campaign.

His goals helped to secure a historic treble for Man City and Pep Guardiola.

Man City came into the new season as favourites to win a sixth EPL title in the space of seven seasons, and similarly Haaland was well backed to win the Golden Boot again. Both team and player ended up triumphing.

Liverpool star Mohamed Salah was the last Premier League attacker to have won the Golden Boot in back-to-back seasons, and he started the campaign as the biggest likely threat to stop Haaland achieving the same feat.

READ MORE: Premier League table - check out the latest standings

Salah and Liverpool were short of their best in 2022/23, but he still managed to score 19 times in the Premier League and net 30 goals in all competitions.

going into the 2023/24 campaign, Egypt forward Salah had scored at least 19 goals in all six of the Premier League seasons he had played with Liverpool, but that streak came to an end.

MORE: Saudi Pro League top scorers - how are ex-EPL stars performing?

The Reds' fellow attacker Darwin Nunez was another strong candidate, according to pre-season betting odds. Nunez only scored nine goals last year but proved capable of getting into good goalscoring positions. He was, however, unable to launch a meaningful challenge.

Harry Kane had an uncertain status going into 2023/24. The striker would have been a key rival to Haaland, having impressively scored 30 goals as part of a poor Tottenham team last season. But his transfer to Bayern Munich boosted the chances of the EPL's other top strikers.

Marcus Rashford was the top Man Utd goalscorer in the Premier League last time out, scoring 17 times, and he was hoping to reach the 20-goal mark for the first time. As it turned out, he endured a forgettable campaign and did not feature in the final standings.

Manchester United: Top scorers in 2023/24 and past Golden Boot winners

Former Golden Boot winner Son Heung-min, Newcastle duo Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson, Arsenal forward Gabriel Jesus and Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins were also seen as candidates when the season started.

And Chelsea's forwards hoped to fare better than last season after Kai Havertz was their top EPL scorer with only seven goals. The Germany forward joined Arsenal for 2023/24.

Who has the most Premier League assists?

This page was updated throughout the season as we took an in-depth look at the standings for the players who had the most EPL goals and the final result can now be viewed below.

2023/24 Premier League top scorers

Erling Haaland finished first in the list of Premier League top scorers for the 2023/24 season, although his main rivals Cole Palmer, Mohamed Salah and Ollie Watkins have also impressed and were among his closest challengers at the top.

Manchester City forward Haaland has 27 EPL goals from 31 matches, meaning he wins the Premier League Golden Boot race.

A four-goal haul from Haaland as Man City won 5-1 against Wolves was a hammer blow to his Golden Boot rivals. Despite not scoring on the final day of the EPL season against West Ham, he has come out on top after scoring twice in the pivotal 2-0 win over Tottenham on Tuesday. He can now celebrate this individual award with a team victory, after Man City won a historic fourth straight crown.

The Golden Boot battle was incredibly close for most of the season. There are 30 players in the rankings who have reached double figures for Premier League goals this season and just six goals separated the top 10 players in the scoring standings before Haaland put Wolves to the sword on May 4.

Haaland triumphed despite having a difficult mid-season spell that included an injury absence and a slight dip in form, at least when compared to his own usual high standards. But he remained the man to beat and became the first player this season to reach 20 goals on April 13, when he netted a penalty in Man City's win over Luton Town. His stunning display against Wolves then meant he was also the first to reach 25.

Palmer, who made a shock bid for Golden Boot glory, scored a staggering four goals in Chelsea's 6-0 win over Everton to also reach the 20-goal mark. That briefly moved him level with Haaland in the scoring standings ahead of their two teams' FA Cup semi-final battle, but Palmer then missed his team's 5-0 loss at Arsenal and did not score in the matches against Aston Villa and Tottenham.

But he did respond to Haaland with a goal as Chelsea defeated West Ham on May 5 and struck again in the May 15 victory at Brighton.

Haaland was also ruled out of a recent match, missing Man City's 4-0 win over Brighton, but he scored on his comeback off the bench against Nottingham Forest before his Wolves heroics and, having netted twice against Spurs, stayed firmly in the front seat despite not netting in the win over Fulham towards the end of the season.

The other Premier League top scorer contenders included Haaland's team mate Phil Foden, Tottenham's Son Heung-min, Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke, West Ham forward Jarrod Bowen, Newcastle's Alexander Isak and Arsenal's Bukayo Saka, who all featured prominently in the final standings after producing some impressive Premier League performances.

Haaland wins by five at the top after the Man City striker scored much-needed goals as his team won 4-2 away against Crystal Palace, 5-1 at home against Luton and 2-0 at Nottingham Forest prior to his Wolves haul.

Palmer ends up in second place, just one goal ahead of in-form Isak, who was in turn just two clear of Watkins, Solanke and Foden towards the summit of the scoring standings.

Watkins has been breathing down Haaland's neck for much of the season and his late goal capped a superb 2-0 away win for Aston Villa over title contenders Arsenal, while Isak embarked on a prolific late season run for Newcastle.

Salah comes next, just one goal behind Watkins. Salah scored in Liverpool's 2-2 draw at Man Utd and in the 4-2 victory over Spurs. But in between those games he had a poor performance in the loss to Crystal Palace, only appeared as a late substitute against Fulham and had a disagreement with Jurgen Klopp against West Ham. He finishes with 18 goals.

Son ends on 17 goals, trailing the leaders. Foden broke away from the Spurs star towards the end of the campaign, netting a double for Man City against Brighton, getting a strike against Fulham and then netting twice against West Ham, as he mounted a late charge for a top-four finish. Bowen and Saka, meanwhile, were 11 goals behind Haaland, as time ran out for their hopes of finishing on top as their progress slowed in the final weeks of the campaign.

Premier League top scorer Haaland made his intentions clear with a magnificent start to his bid to repeat as the Golden Boot winner, netting twice in the first half as his team beat Burnley 3-0 on the opening night of the new season.

Haaland also scored against Sheffield United and West Ham, with Man City initially making a fantastic start to their Premier League title defence.

He netted a hat-trick against Fulham as Man City won 5-1 on September 2 to help give him the most goals in the 2023/24 season.

And Haaland's goal in the MD6 win against Forest capped a fast start to the season as Pep Guardiola’s men won each of their first six matches.

But consecutive EPL defeats against Wolves and Arsenal dramatically halted that run, with the striker not scoring in either game.

He responded by netting against Brighton and adding to his total with a Manchester derby double as Man City cruised to a 3-0 win over Man Utd at Old Trafford.

In that game he became the first Premier League player to reach double figures this season and, after scoring twice more in a dramatic 4-4 away draw over Chelsea, Haaland’s strike in the 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool on November 25 saw him become the fastest player in Premier League history to reach 50 goals, doing so in just 48 matches.

Haaland did not score in the dramatic 3-3 draw against Tottenham or the frustrating 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa, where he was twice denied by goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and also suffered a foot injury, stalling his progress for almost two months.

He missed his first league games of the season against Luton Town and Crystal Palace before Man City's participation in the FIFA Club World Cup and also sat out the clashes against Everton, Sheffield United and Newcastle.

Haaland returned after almost two months out in a substitute appearance as Man City beat Burnley 3-1 on January 31, but it was Julian Alvarez who did the damage for Pep Guardiola's side with a key double.

His first start since the injury came away against Brentford, but it was Foden who scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 comeback win.

Haaland was not to be kept down for long, though, and he scored both goals as Man City beat Everton 2-0 on February 10 and also struck in the home win over Brentford.

But Haaland has also had periods of the season with mixed form. He failed to score in the 1-1 draw for Man City against Chelsea, although he did then get back on track with a late winning goal as Pep Guardiola's men defeated Brentford 1-0 at home.

Foden was the man to net the winner as Man City won 1-0 at Bournemouth and the England international took centre stage again in the home derby against Man Utd, scoring twice including a thunderbolt to level the match. Haaland had missed a huge chance in the first half, but did redeem himself by scoring late on to wrap up a 3-1 win.

Haaland was unable to extend his advantage in two crucial EPL matches against title rivals Liverpool and Arsenal in March.

The game at Anfield finished 1-1 before he was kept quiet in a 0-0 home draw against Arsenal as a close title race and Golden Boot battle continued. Haaland was then rested as Man City thumped Aston Villa 4-1, as Foden scored a second hat-trick of the campaign.

But, just as his Golden Boot rivals were closing in on him, a key goal as Man City won 4-2 away to Crystal Palace on April 6 kept Haaland in the outright lead. He then scored a penalty in the 5-1 home win over Luton to become the first player this season to reach 20 top-flight goals.

After his heroics last season, the other Golden Boot contenders did not need a reminder about how hard it would be to stop Haaland coming out on top once more.

But they have got one nonetheless throughout another Premier League season and the Norway star ended up finishing strongly at the top of the standings.

There were multiple prominent rivals challenging Halaand in the battle to score most goals in the 2023/24 season, with 13 players who joined the Man City striker in scoring a hat-trick this season.

His team-mate Foden has scored two hat-tricks, while Spurs' former Golden Boot winner Son, in-form Chelsea midfielder Palmer, rising Brighton star Evan Ferguson, Aston Villa attacker Watkins, Bournemouth frontman Solanke, Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah, Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood, West Ham's Bowen, Luton's Elijah Adebayo, Wolves attacker Matheus Cunha, Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta and Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson all struck trebles.

Son scored his hat-trick against Burnley and also netted a deadly double in the dramatic 2-2 derby draw against rivals Arsenal to help him to become one of Haaland's closest challengers in the early stages of the season.

Despite missing some time for Tottenham by playing at the Asian Cup this season, the South Korea star stayed near the top of the goalscoring charts in England after scoring in the draw with Man City at the Etihad and adding to his total in the recent matches against Newcastle, Everton, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Luton and Liverpool.

Watkins' treble came as Aston Villa stunned Brighton with a 6-1 win on Matchday 7. He did not net in the first five matches he played this season but displayed superb consistency from then on, scoring doubles in clashes with Fulham, Luton and Brentford.

Solanke made a big move up the standings as the season progressed. He scored twice as Bournemouth earned an impressive 2-0 home win over Newcastle but his treble came in a dramatic 3-2 away win over Nottingham Forest on December 23.

He recently moved up the goal rankings as Bournemouth won an incredible match against Luton 4-3, before striking again in the matches with Everton, Man Utd and Brentford. He racked up 19 EPL goals.

Liverpool forward Salah was also in the running and had 18 goals, 11 of which came in a lethal 13-match run from October 8 until January 1.

He scored a double in the 2-0 Merseyside derby win over Everton at Anfield, one game after he had also netted twice in his side's 2-2 draw with Brighton at the start of that fine run.

Salah also scored doubles in the 3-0 win over Brentford and the entertaining 4-2 triumph over Newcastle before heading to the Africa Cup of Nations, where he suffered an injury that briefly derailed his campaign.

Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez rose up the standings in Salah's absence, as they impressed in the 4-0 win for Liverpool at Bournemouth on MD21. Both forwards scored twice and MD22 saw Jota score again as Liverpool took on Chelsea.

Jota and Nunez then closed in on double figures with strikes the 3-1 home win over Burnley on MD24. Nunez then scored against Brentford and Nottingham Forest too.

Bowen helped West Ham to a solid campaign and showed consistent form, meaning he also features prominently in the scoring standings with 16 goals. One of his recent goals helped to earn a 2-1 London derby win over rivals Tottenham, while he also struck to cap a 3-0 victory over Wolves and netted to secure a 2-0 win over Man Utd. His hat-trick came in the 4-2 home win over Brentford on February 26, before he scored in the dramatic defeat to Newcastle.

Isak enjoyed a prolific year. He scored twice in Newcastle's impressive 5-1 win over Villa on MD1 and, after suffering a brief dip in form early in the campaign, he has since rapidly improved his goal tally to 21 with some superb outings in the second half of the season.

Some of his most recent strikes came in the entertaining 3-2 loss against Man City, the home win over Wolves, the defeat at Chelsea, the 4-3 win over West Ham and a home draw against Everton. His last goals came on April 13, April 27, May 4 and May 19, when he netted a double as Newcastle thumped Tottenham 4-0, two more in the 5-1 win over Sheff Utd and struck in the 4-1 and 4-2 wins at Burnley and Brentford.

The club's other Golden Boot contender was Anthony Gordon, who recently hit double figures for the campaign having usurped team-mate Callum Wilson in the standings.

Saka was the top scorer for Arsenal with 16 strikes. Some of his recent goals came in the 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest on January 30 and the 3-1 triumph over title rivals Liverpool on February 4.

Saka also scored in the loss at Fulham, before netting a double in the emphatic 6-0 win at West Ham on February 11, and another two goals a week later in the 5-0 win at Burnley. A sensational solo goal against Newcastle on February 24 made it seven goals in five games as Saka continued to launch a shock Golden Boot bid.

Saka moved well clear of Nketiah, who moved up to five goals with his hat-trick against Sheffield United on October 28 but did not net in the top flight from then on.

Instead it is Kai Havertz who has risen recently in the scoring standings. His late header saved Arsenal from dropping costly points at home as the Gunners defeated Brentford 2-1 to keep their Premier League title push on track and the Germany forward had netted in four straight EPL matches before the goalless draw with Man City.

He then scored in the victory over Brighton and netted a double as Arsenal thrashed Chelsea 5-0 before continuing his fine run against Tottenham in the north London derby, a match in which Saka also struck.

Palmer was the Chelsea top scorer after he raced up to 22 goals over recent weeks.

The former Man City attacking midfielder produced a standout performance against Everton on April 15, becoming the first player this season to score four times in a game as Chelsea stormed to a 6-0 home victory. However, it only took Haaland a few weeks to match that feat with his Wolves haul.

Palmer had previously scored a double in the 3-2 win at Luton Town, before netting a penalty against Fulham and scoring in the 4-2 defeat at home to Wolves on February 4.

Some of his other strikes came in the 3-2 win over Newcastle on March 11 and against Burnley, when he scored twice in a 2-2 draw on March 30. But the most memorable match prior to his Everton heroics was a hat-trick performance in a staggering 4-3 win over Man Utd at Stamford Bridge on April 4.

His team-mate Jackson, meanwhile, scored three times in Chelsea’s win over nine-man rivals Tottenham early in the season.

Richarlison scored nine goals in eight matches between December and early February to reach 11 overall in 2023/24. He netted in Tottenham's entertaining 2-2 draw at Man Utd and 3-2 win over Brentford.

Cunha scored a hat-trick for Wolves in that game, becoming the 10th player to do so in the EPL this season. He is up to 12 goals, the same total as team-mate Hwang in the scoring standings.

Another contender was Brentford's Yoane Wissa. Bryan Mbeumo impressed in the absence of Ivan Toney in the early part of the season, but it was Wissa who topped the team's EPL scoring rankings with 12 goals.

Bruno Fernandes was the joint-top Man Utd top scorer on 10 EPL goals.

His team-mate Rasmus Hojlund joined the standings for the first time this season after his double helped Man Utd to a key 2-1 win at Luton Town on February 18. The Denmark striker became the youngest player in Premier League history to score in six straight EPL games. A period of poor form followed, but he reached double figures goals with strikes in the recent wins over Sheffield United, Newcastle and Brighton.

Haaland's impressive record means there is once again a familiar face finishing top of the goal rankings, but a repeat Golden Boot win was not always a sure thing, with his rivals in the scoring standings like Palmer not far behind in what turned out to be a thrilling battle for glory that was only settled late in the campaign.

Premier League Golden Boot: Previous Winners

There are only four players who have scored the most goals in the EPL on three or more occasions.

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.

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

Thierry Henry holds the record, though, having been named the top scorer in the Premier League on four occasions for Arsenal.

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.

Champions League: Current top scorers and past Golden Boot winners

Liverpool have had the most Premier League Golden Boot winners with seven.

Arsenal are just behind on six, while Man Utd and Tottenham have had five winners, with Chelsea on four. Haaland gave Man City a third win in 2022/23, with his latest triumph now taking that total to four..

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.

European Golden Shoe: Can Haaland defend his title?

Previously, the record for most goals in an EPL campaign was shared by Alan Shearer (1994/95) and Andy Cole (1993/94). Both players scored an astonishing 34 goals, though the season schedule was longer then – Shearer did it in 42 matches and Cole in 40.

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.

Which player has the most assists in Europe?

The Golden Boot winner with the best goals per game ratio in a season is also Haaland after his exploits last season (1.03 goals per game). Previously it was Kane after England’s captain netted 29 times in just 30 games to win the 2016/17 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.

Before 2023/24 began, Robbie Fowler (163), Jermain Defoe (162) and Michael Owen (150) rounded out the 10 players in EPL history who have scored 150 goals or more.

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

Mohamed Salah is also rising fast in the rankings. He was 14th overall on 139 goals when the season began. Those marks are now 10th and 157 respectively.