Suarez goes top again in European Golden Shoe standings

Feb 3, 2014 1:00:00 PM

The Liverpool striker edges clear once again, while Diego Costa also found the net to end his goal drought

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has moved one goal clear of Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo in the European Golden Shoe standings following his strike in their 4-0 win over Everton in midweek.

The Uruguay international has now netted 23 times in the Premier League, against Ronaldo's 22 goals in La Liga.

Meanwhile, third-placed Diego Costa scored once in Atletico Madrid's 4-0 win over Real Sociedad on Sunday evening to take his tally for 2013-14 to 20.

Heerenveen striker Alfred Finnbogason and Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero both found the net once last week and now sit joint fourth with 30 points.

Daniel Sturridge has stormed into the top 10 after he scored a double against Everton in midweek before adding another one in the 1-1 draw versus West Brom, while Antoine Griezmann also joined Europe's elite strikers with two goals against Elche last week.

Finally, Zlatan Ibrahimovic completes the top 10 as the Paris Saint-Germain star netted his 18th league goal of the season versus Bordeaux.

Rank	Player	Country	Club	League	Weight	Goals	Points
1	Luis Suarez	URU	Liverpool	ENG	2	23 (+1)	46
=	C. Ronaldo	POR	Real Madrid	ESP	2	22	44
3	Diego Costa	ESP	Atletico Madrid	ESP	2	20 (+1)	40
4	Alfred Finnbogason	ISL	Heerenveen	NED	1.5	20 (+1)	30
=	Sergio Aguero	ARG	Manchester City	ENG	2	15 (+1)	30
6	Giuseppe Rossi	ITA	Fiorentina	ITA	2	14	28
=	Daniel Sturridge	ENG	Liverpool	ENG	2	14 (+3)	28
=	Antoine Griezmann	FRA	Real Sociedad	ESP	2	14 (+2)	28
9	Nerijus Valskis *	LTU	Suduva	LTU	1	27	27
=	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	SWE	Paris Saint-Germain	FRA	1.5	18 (+1)	27

* = league season finished

History & How It Works

Players such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry and Diego Forlan have won the European Golden Shoe in the past few seasons, with the Argentina international as the latest winner of the award following his 46 goals in 2012-13.

Other noteworthy winners include the likes of Francesco Totti, Luca Toni, Ronaldo, Marco van Basten, Eusebio and Gerd Muller.

The weightings are determined by the league's ranking on the Uefa coefficients, which in turn depend on the results of each league's clubs in European competition over the previous five seasons. Goals scored in the top five leagues according to the Uefa coefficients are multiplied by a factor of two, and goals scored in the leagues ranked six to 21 are multiplied by 1.5. Goals in all other leagues are worth one single point.

This measure has prevented players from so-called weaker leagues from winning the European Golden Shoe, since a goal scored in, for example, Armenia, Estonia or Azerbaijan, carries less weight than a goal scored in Serie A, La Liga, the Bundesliga or the Premier League. --------------- goal.com