The title race was done a while ago, but there’s still a three-way race on to win the Scottish Premiership Golden Boot.
Celtic star Kyogo Furuhashi leads the way with 25 goals for the champions. But both Lawrence Shankland and Kevin Van Veen are hot on his heels with 24 respectively. Hearts take on Hibs on Saturday lunchtime as Celtic host Aberdeen for trophy day at Parkhead. Van Veen is in action 24 hours later as the bottom six bring the curtain down on the 2022/23 campaign. Motherwell host Dundee United, who need a miracle to avoid relegation. The Dutchman therefore, will know how many he needs to scoop the gong.
Shankland has already broken one Hearts scoring record this season, and that was also in an Edinburgh derby. He became the first marksman in maroon to bag 20 goals in a single season since John Robertson when he fired Hearts 2-0 up at Easter during their 3-0 Scottish Cup fourth round triumph back in January.
Van Veen is also on course to create history in claret and amber. He equalled a 103-year-old club record in midweek. His goal against Livingston meant he's now scored in ten consecutive games, and will break it by finding the net on the final day.
Celtic of course, have a Scottish Cup final to worry about next week. They are overwhelming favourites to beat Inverness CT at Hampden and clinch the Treble. With that in mind, Ange Postecoglou may be tempted to rest his talisman and give Hyeongyu Oh an opportunity in what is a dead rubber against the Dons. That would be music to Shankland’s ears, who had scored every time he’d faced Hibs this season prior to Aprils 1-0 loss in Leith.
But what happens if they finish level? A goal for Shankland and Kyogo firing a blank would mean Van Veen getting on the scoresheet leaves the trip all tied on 25. In that situation, the stand-in Hearts skipper would take top spot based on his greater number of assists. That’s the kicker in the event of a tie and with double the amount of Kyogo (who has two to Shankland’s four) and Van Veen claiming just a solitary set up, the former Dundee United hitman will fancy his chances.
Hearts hoped for goals when they brought him back to Scotland fro Belgium last August. But to finish top of the pile would certainly exceed even theirs and Shankland's expectations. That goes even more so for Motherwell and Van Veen. The priority for both will be keeping their hotshots for next season.
Golden boot standings
1. Kyogo (25 goals, 2 assists)
2. Lawrence Shankland (24 goals, 4 assists)
3. Kevin van Veen (24 goals, 1 assist)
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