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.