A-League top scorers Adam Le Fondre, Jamie Maclaren in hunt for Golden Boot
A-League fans have never had it so good. Six of the 10 most prolific strikers in the competition’s history are playing in this season in an extraordinary shootout for the Golden Boot.
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They are the most lethal strikers in the history of the A-League – and most of them are primed for a shoot-out to win this year’s Golden Boot.
Six of the 10 most prolific strikers the competition has seen are playing in it this season, according to data produced for The Daily Telegraph by the Fox Sports Lab.
Ranking strikers by goals per game, using 20 goals overall as a minimum qualification, reveals that Brazilian striker Bobo – winner of the Golden Boot in 2017-18 with a record-breaking 27 goals for Sydney FC – tops the list with an extraordinary 0.74 goals per game.
But behind him come six strikers hurting defences across the league this season, led by Bobo’s replacement, Adam Le Fondre.
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With 0.69 goals per game, the Englishman is just ahead of Melbourne Victory’s Ola Toivonen, Perth’s Bruno Fornaroli, Brisbane’s Jamie Maclaren and Western United’s Besart Berisha, plus Roar’s Roy O’Donovan a place further back.
Berisha longevity is extraordinary, having averaged 0.61 goals per game over close to 200 A-League matches, while Maclaren averages a fraction more from just over 100 games.
Between them the six strikers have scored 30 goals this season in the race for the Golden Boot, led by Maclaren’s nine and Le Fondre second on seven.
Each can see the craft and threat of the other, knowing they can’t drop off at any point.
“There’s definitely a crop of really good strikers in the A-League this season,” said Sky Blues striker Le Fondre.
“It’s such a high standard, there’s no chance of resting on your laurels every week. You look at names like Fornaroli and Maclaren, to list just a couple, they’re proven goalscorers.”
Le Fondre’s brace against Western United last weekend achieved another milestone in just his second season – making him the third highest scorer in Sydney’s history, moving ahead of Milos Ninkovic and Alessandro Del Piero on 25 goals.
It also took him to seven goals in seven games, two fixtures fewer than it took him to reach that number last season.
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It’s no wonder the club are keen to extend his contract, and the player himself knows what achievement would look like.
“Team success is the overall goal, and I know the goals will come for me if we’re successful as a club,” he said.
“It was the same with Bobo, his goals were a key part of Sydney’s success in the two years before I came here.
“Maybe I can go on to leave with just as big an impact but there’s a long way to go, and it’s always team accolades that mean he most.”