sport news Premier League Golden Boot Race: Who will win with Son and Ronaldo closing in ...

As Mohamed Salah scored his 15th Premier League goal of the season in only mid-December, even with the caveat of a spell away for the Africa Cup of Nations, it felt inconceivable Liverpool's red-hot star wouldn't win a third Golden Boot. 

But despite Liverpool remaining firmly on the hunt for a historic quadruple, the Egyptian has since lost some of his scoring touch and now faces serious competition for the accolade. 

It was Harry Kane who claimed the honour with 23 strikes last season, but this year it's his strike partner Son Heung-min who is carrying the goalscoring burden as Tottenham look to cement a place in the top-four. 

Also making a late surge is a rampant Cristiano Ronaldo, who notched his 18th league goal of the season against Brentford on Monday to match Johnny Hancocks's feat from 1955-56 as the highest scoring top-flight player aged 37 or over in a single season. 

Liverpool pair Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane have also enjoyed prolific campaigns, scoring 15 and 14 goals respectively, but ultimately just three contenders remain as the season approaches it's conclusion. 

With that in mind, Sportsmail breaks down the Golden Boot race as it reaches an exciting crescendo. 

We start with the current leader, Salah, who has won the Premier League Golden Boot on two prior occasions. 

The first came in the 2017-18 campaign - his debut season for Liverpool - where he scored 32 goals in 36 games; the second came the season after where he shared the prize with Mane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, with all three scoring 22.

Salah earlier in the campaign looked certain to win both the Premier League Golden Boot and Player of the Season, with one hand already on the 2022 Ballon d'Or trophy. 

In scoring an emphatic hat-trick as Liverpool demolished Manchester United 5-0 at Old Trafford in only October, Salah had amounted a staggering 10 goals in nine games, scoring in seven successive outings. 

But though missing just two league games while away for AFCON - where his Egypt side were beaten in the final by Senegal - his form, certainly in front of goal, has plummeted somewhat since his return. 

Salah, who had scored 16 goals in 20 games beforehand, has scored just six in 12 since returning. And in the last six games - where he's been given a starting role on just four occasions - the forward has notched only two goals.  

The January acquisition of Luis Diaz has certainly afforded Jurgen Klopp the luxury of rotating his front line, and with six monumental games to play after Liverpool battled past Villarreal to reach the Champions League final, Salah could certainly find himself benched again this season. 

Should the unthinkable happen and Liverpool lose ground to Manchester City in the Premier League title chase, it could be the FA Cup and Champions League finals - on May 14 and 28 respectively - that become the priority. 

In terms of their remaining league fixtures, though, Salah has typically enjoyed himself against their upcoming opposition: Tottenham, Aston Villa, Southampton and Wolves.  

Scoring 22 goals in 38 games against the quartet (0.58 per game), it's only Wolves who Salah has struggled against - and the Egyptian will feel he only needs one or two from the four games to secure the prize. 

Next up we have Son, who is thriving under Antonio Conte, already enjoying his best-ever return in a Premier League campaign with 19 goals.  

Unlike Salah, the South Korean is currently thriving in front of goal, scoring eight times in his last league six outings.  

That's despite Tottenham failing to hit the target in two of those fixtures, coming in a highly disappointing 1-0 home defeat by Brighton and a rather lackluster 0-0 draw away at Brentford. 

Also unlike Salah, Son - unless injured - is guaranteed to start and play the majority of all four of

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