Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Sergio Aguero, Romelu Lukaku or Riyad Mahrez? Premier League Golden Boot race analysed

After his hat-trick at Chelsea, can Man City's Sergio Aguero clinch the Premier League Golden Boot?

While Leicester and Tottenham focus on English football's top prize, up to five players also have their sights set on another award.

Aguero's treble at Stamford Bridge lifted him to within one goal of leading marksman Harry Kane on Saturday, before Leicester's Jamie Vardy joined the Tottenham man on top of the pile with his 22nd goal of the season against West Ham. Everton's Romelu Lukaku and even Vardy's team-mate Riyad Mahrez also have eyes on the summit. 

So who will join the likes of Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo in lifting the top-goalscorer gong? Here, we take an in-depth look at the contest...

State of play

Tottenham's Kane and Leicester's Vardy lead the way with 22 goals. Kane will have the opportunity to reclaim the outright lead on Monday Night Football when Spurs face Stoke, while Vardy will miss the Foxes' next outing at Swansea due to suspension, following his red card against West Ham. 

Aguero is just one back, while Everton frontman Lukaku is on 18. The latter's goals appear to have dried up following his breath-taking start to the campaign. Mahrez, meanwhile, completes the quintet on 16 goals having handed over the goalscoring mantle to Foxes team-mate Vardy in recent weeks. 

Remaining fixtures

Ahead of Monday Night Football, Kane and Aguero have five matches remaining to add to their respective tallies. However, Mahrez has just four games remaining and Vardy - due to his suspension at Swansea - has a maximum of three fixtures left.

Kane's Tottenham travel away to Stoke, Chelsea and Newcastle in their final five games and welcome West Brom and Southampton to White Hart Lane. That run of games could benefit Kane, with 12 of his 22 goals coming on the road for Mauricio Pochettino's side.

Lukaku also has five games to play - his 18 goals have been evenly split at home and away. Thirteen of Aguero's 21 goals have come at the Etihad Stadium, but he will not have the luxury of home comforts, with three of Manchester City's final five games coming on the road. 

Repeat performance?

Aguero would win the Golden Boot if these five players repeated their goalscoring feats against their remaining opponents from earlier this season. The Man City striker scored five goals against Newcastle and, while he didn't net against his team's other remaining opponents earlier this season, that would take him to 26 goals. 

Vardy would finish second if he repeats the two goals he scored against Manchester United and Chelsea, while Kane and Lukaku would be tied fourth. Kane scored just once against Spurs' five remaining opponents, while Lukaku notched an impressive five goals in Everton's fixtures against Liverpool, Bournemouth, Leicester, Sunderland and Norwich.

Mahrez, meanwhile, would remain fifth despite scoring six goals in the corresponding fixtures first time around. It appears the Algerian may have too big a gap to bridge.

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp's verdict

"Aguero's hat-trick at Chelsea has blown the whole Golden Boot race wide open. It's great to see two English players in the mix and I'd love to see one them do it. 

"Is Aguero going to play every game with the Champions League semi-finals coming up for Man City? Is Manuel Pellegrini going to rest him? He took him off with five minutes to go against Chelsea and he's had muscle injuries in the past.

"As for Lukaku, I think he might just have a bit too much to do."

 Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness' verdict

"There might be an element with Aguero that he needs to play to be at his best. Strikers have to be at their sharpest, at it all the time. Looking at his shape, I think he's someone who needs to be worked all the time and can't be rested too much.

"I'd like to think as well he's someone who wouldn't want to miss a training session or a game, knocking on the manager's door, saying he wants to be part of everything going on." 

Who do you think will hold their nerve and claim this season's Golden Boot? Leave a comment below or tweet us @SkyFootball