Can Everton hitman Lukaku maintain consistency to land golden boot?

Following Everton’s entertaining 6-3 win over Bournemouth, Ross Barkley’s pre-goal celebration has become a memorable highlight. Some thought it to be disrespectful to the Cherries, while others believed it to be a light-hearted moment in the dying embers of a match Everton had finally killed off following a second half scare. While victory over Bournemouth was hardly a statement win by the Toffees given the Cherries’ recent defensive frailties, they are at least now unbeaten in their last seven Premier League outings following a disappointing downturn in form. 

There is a renewed sense of optimism at Goodison Park in the wake of their current unbeaten run, which leaves Everton on the coattails of Manchester United, who are just five points above them in sixth. Spearheading the charge once more is star striker Romelu Lukaku. After being strongly linked with a move away from Merseyside over the summer, with Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Napoli all rumoured to be keen on the frontman, Ronald Koeman successfully convinced the 23-year-old to remain at the club and Everton are benefitting, of that there is no doubt. 

His four-goal salvo at the weekend means Lukaku has now scored more goals (16) than any other Premier League player. “He has a world class quality in scoring goals,” Koeman said after the victory, with all four of his shots on target on Saturday finding their way past Artur Boruc in the Bournemouth net. Indeed, Lukaku has developed a statistically calculated WhoScored strength of ‘finishing,’ with the Belgium international well on course to enjoy his most prolific Premier League campaign to date. He needs to net just three more times in the next 14 games to beat last season’s total of 18 league goals and you wouldn’t put it past him to break that return before long. 

What’s all the more important, however, is how Lukaku looks to be carrying his fine form into the second half of the season. The young frontman has been criticised in the past for struggling to replicate his goalscoring exploits from the first half of the campaign after the New Year, yet looks to have turned a corner in terms of his own personal development. No Premier League player has scored more goals in 2017 than Lukaku (6), returning the best WhoScored rating (8.16) of those to make more than one top-flight appearance in England's top tier this calendar year, which shows how he is continuing to improve on his return in the New Year in seasons gone by following his move to Everton. 

In the 2013/14 season, six of Lukaku’s 15 league goals came after New Year’s Day, with that beginning a trend in the 2014/15 campaign (4 of 10 goals after New Year’s Day) and continuing into the 2015/16 season (3 of 18 after New Year’s Day). He is showing signs that he can maintain the goalscoring consistency required to help Everton into Europe and for Lukaku to end the season as the golden boot winner. A conversion rate of 25.8% is also an excellent return for the Belgian, which is vital considering Everton average a middling 13.1 shots per game. 

No player has scored more clear-cut goalscoring opportunities than Lukaku (11) in the Premier League this season, but what’s more is that 14 of his 16 league goals have come from open play. A number of the top strikers rely on set piece situations or penalties to add to their tally, but Lukaku has made a habit of making the appropriate runs in order to be picked out by offensive teammates to put the opposition to the sword. 

That being said, his poor return against the top teams is somewhat cause for concern. Of Lukaku’s 16 league goals, only five have come against teams in the top half of the Premier League, while only two of those five came against a side above Everton in England’s top tier (Manchester City). With the Toffees still to face Tottenham, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal before the end of the season. Lukaku has ample opportunities to prove his goalscoring quality against the Premier League’s best teams in a bid to earn this term’s golden boot.  

However, a striker can only score against any team he’s put up against and Bournemouth were on the receiving end of his goalscoring expertise at the weekend. At this rate, Lukaku will smash the 20-goal barrier in his attempts to establish himself as the best in the Premier League. If he can avoid the inconcsistency in the second half of the season that he as shown during his Everton career, then the young forward will undoubtedly be in the running to land the personal accolade. He's fired his way to the top of the goalscoring charts when much of the focus has been on Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Alexis Sanchez and Diego Costa this term, and flown under the radar in the race for the Golden Boot.