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The Indian Football season is at the business end of its season, with the group stage of the sixth edition of the ISL set to reach its climax. The race for a top-four finish is very much alive, with none of the sides confirming their qualification to the knockout stages just yet. Just like the previous seasons, there has been no dearth of goals from all the 10 sides in the country, as the ISL has had some some top talent on display this time around. 214 goals have been scored in 74 games this season, with an average of 2.89 goals per game.
Teams have had glimpses of individual brilliance on display and sheer teamwork to weave their way to scoring goals. With several new faces in the rosters of the 10 teams, the ISL golden-boot race has been very competitive with so many quality strikers on display from overseas and India. However, only a few have managed to stand out among the crowd as the season is in its 11th hour.
The top contenders of the coveted ISL Golden boot trophy are:
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5) Bartholomew Ogbeche (Kerala Blasters) - 11 Goals
Although Kerala Blasters are out of the race for top-four after their unprecedented 6-3 defeat at home to their arch-rivals, Chennaiyin FC, their French-Nigerian marksman Bartholomew Ogbeche is still in the race for the Golden boot title.
Continuing his form from the last season for NorthEast United, he has scored 11 goals in 13 games for the Blasters. His scoring rate has been pivotal to Kerala’s campaign in the on-going season.
Kerala Blasters will take the field against NorthEast United, Bengaluru FC and Odisha FC to end their current season. Bartholomew Ogbeche can end up as the leading goal-scorer of the league despite not being part of the top-four if he scores frequently in the next three games.
4) Sunil Chhetri (Bengaluru FC) - 9 Goals
Bengaluru FC have not been at their best when it comes to scoring goals in this season. With the departure of Venezuelan striker Miku in the middle of last season, Bengaluru FC have not really recovered well from the same.
The Blues had to instil their faith in Indian options with the trio of Ashique Kuruniyan, Udanta Singh and Sunil Chhetri upfront to score goals.
Sunil Chhetri scored 9 goals for the Blues in their 15 games with aide from a very balanced midfield. Chhetri, who can easily be deemed as the best Indian striker has always stepped up for his sides when needed the most and this has been no exception as well.
The Blues have managed to stay third in the race owing to their resolute defensive displays throughout the season.
Sunil Chhetri can very well bridge the three-goal gap at top if he scores a few goals in the next three league-stage and three more potential knock-out games.
3) Ferran Corominas (FC Goa) - 9 Goals
Ferran Corominas won the ISL Golden boot award in the 2018-19 season, scoring 16 goals. The Spaniard has continued his scoring form in the current season by scoring 9 goals in 12 games for his side.
The two-time ISL Golden Boot winner had to miss the first two games in December due to an injury but made an impressive impact immediately upon his return. The Spaniard scored 4 goals and had an assist in the month enabling FC Goa to register an unbeaten streak in all five matches played in December.
With the departure of Head Coach Sergio Lobera and his technical staff due to a rumoured dressing-room ‘feud’, the onus will be on Coro and his teammates on the pitch to step on the occasion and drive his team to their maiden AFC Champions League appearance by finishing top of the league.
Corominas is known for scoring multiple goals in a single game and it would take just a good outing for the Spaniard to bridge the three-goal gap with plenty of games in hand.
2) Roy Krishna (ATK) - 10 Goals
Roy Krishna along with David Williams has been crucial to ATK's current campaign. They have been combining well and scoring the bulk of the goals for ATK.
ATK are top of the league standings with 30 points from 15 games and are on course to finish top of the league and qualify for the AFC Champions League 2021 Group stage.
Roy Krishna has scored 9 goals in his 15 games for the two-time champions and has at least three games with a possible three more in the knockouts to overtake Nerijus Valskis in the race for the Golden boot.
1) Nerijus Valskis (Chennaiyin FC) - 12 Goals
With a disastrous start to the campaign, Chennaiyin FC looked like they would have yet another forgetful campaign after a very calamitous 2018-19 season. The Marina Blues lost three of their first four games of the season. The side then parted ways with their coaching staff headed by John Gregory and brought Owen Coyle from England to revitalise the team’s fortunes.
After an initial shaky start during the transition period, the Blues have won four consecutive games and are suddenly up at 5th in the standings and look serious contenders for a top four finish.
Lithuanian forward Nerijus Valskis who had been misfiring and playing out of position for the initial stage of the season has suddenly caught up in pace and is scoring at tandem. He has scored 12 goals of the 26 goals scored by his side.
Nerijus Valskis can finish top of the scoring charts if Chennaiyin FC manage to keep up their momentum and qualify for the knockouts.
