The main change is to do with the positioning of the leagues. The fifth best league in Europe is no longer the Portuguese league, as Ligue 1 in France has taken its place. What does this mean? Basically the goals scored in Ligue 1 now count double, like those in La Liga, the Premier League, Serie A and Bundesliga, while those from the Portuguese league will only be multiplied by 1.5.

The other major change is that there can no longer be ties. If the situation which occurred during the 2013-14 Golden Shoe happens again, in which Ronaldo and Suarez were tied on 31 goals, the person who scored the goals in the fewest minutes played will be given the award.

In that case, the Golden Shoe would have gone to Cristiano Ronaldo, because he played 2,537 minutes, compared to the 2,965 played by Suarez at Liverpool.

That being said, the first official ranking of the season backs up the idea which everyone already suspected. That is that the x2 is a blessing for PSG, or more specifically Edinson Cavani. In one month he has gone from sixth position in the table to leading the charts.

Our favourite Estonians have ended up falling down the rankings, but Igor Angulo has kept his place in the top 10.

European Golden Shoe (12-12-2017)

1. Edinson Cavani (PSG, France) - 17 goals, 34 points.

2. Mauro Icardi (Inter, Italy) - 16 goals, 32 points.

3. Ciro Immobile (Lazio, Italy) - 15 goals, 30 points.

4. Igor Angulo (Górnik Zabrze, Poland) - 19 goals, 28.5 points.

5. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern, Germany) - 14 goals, 28 points (in 1,196 minutes).

6. Radamel Falcao (Monaco, France) - 14 goals, 28 points (in 1,200 minutes).

7. Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Spain) - 14 goals, 28 points (in 1,350 minutes).

8. Albert Prosa (FCI Tallinn, Estonia) - 27 goals, 27 points (in 2,697 minutes).

9. Rauno Sappinen (Flora Tallinn, Estonia) - 27 goals, 27 points (in 3,120 minutes).

10. Mikhail Gordeychuk (BATE, Belarus) - 18 goals, 27 points.

You have to remember that for the Golden Shoe only goals scored in the league count towards the ranking, and goals from the Champions League or cup competitions are ignored.

In order to calculate the points, 'European Sports Media' adds a multiplier to each competition based on its UEFA ranking. So, the goals scored in the five big leagues (England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France) are multiplied by two, and those in the less major leagues, like the Portuguese, Dutch or Turkish, to give three examples, are multiplied by 1.5. The minor leagues don't have a multiplier.

In the case of a tie in points, the first criteria to split the competitors will be the number of minutes played by the players in their respective league championships, with the player who has played fewer minutes coming out on top.

Rauno Sappinen

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