Soccer AM

Lee Hughes: 20 league goals

The Golden Shoe and Espadrille are fast becoming two of the most prestigious awards in the game, with past winners including Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo and Jermaine Beckford.

The fact is we all love goals and those who know how to find the back of the net, but who is really the best at it?

Is it the player who scores the most, or the striker that always seems to pop up and score in the important matches?

Well here at Soccer AM we think the players with the best goals-to-games ratio should be recognised, which is why every week for the remainder of the season we will be revealing who, in our opinion, are the best strikers in Europe with a bit of help from our friends at Opta.

The Golden Shoe takes into account all the players in the top four tiers of the English game while The Espadrille will be focusing on the top forwards from Italy's Serie A, Spain's Primera Division and of course our very own Premier League.

To qualify, players must have played in at least half of their side's matches this season and only league goals count.

The Golden Shoe

With none of the top three strikers in action over the last week the Football League's finest has been busy closing the gap on their illustrious counterparts.

The top two of Wayne Rooney and Didier Drogba had their minds on cup competitions while Liverpool's Fernando Torres remains sidelined with a troublesome knee problem. The Spaniard is nearing a return though having got the green light to resume running earlier this week.

Notts County hotshot Lee Hughes remains in close pursuit of a top-three spot. The striker grabbed his 20th league goal of the season in the Magpies' 1-1 draw at home to Grimsby. The game ended on a sour note for Hughes however, the 33-year-old receiving his marching orders for a second bookable offence.

Charlie Austin remains hot on Hughes' tail thanks to his strike in Swindon's draw away to Huddersfield, his 12th strike in 16 appearances.

Like his clubs Leeds United, Jermaine Beckford has struggled for form of late. He drops two places to eighth and is without a goal in three league games.

Beckford is overtaken by Rickie Lambert and Adam LeFondre, who has hit three goals in his last two games for promotion-chasers Rotherham United.

Grant Holt marked his return from suspension with a goal 10 minutes from time as Norwich City came from behind to snatch a 2-1 win at Brighton, while Jermain Defoe returns to league action following his FA Cup exploits. Spurs travel to Wigan on Sunday.

*Accurate as of 18/02/2010

The Golden Espadrille

There is a new leader of the Golden Espadrille as Antonio Di Natale maintained his hot goal-scoring streak with his 17th goal in 20 games.

Unfortunately for the 32-year-old striker, his 86th-minute effort against Milan wasn't enough to secure any points for Udinese as the home side held on for a 3-2 victory, a result which leaves the Bianconeri still without an away win this season and just one point above the relegation zone.

Fresh off his latest suspension, Cristiano Ronaldo has rocketed up into joint-first after hitting two goals in as many minutes during Real Madrid's 3-0 away win over Xerez, bringing his tally to 11 in 13 games.

That means Ronaldo has knocked Primera Division rival Lionel Messi down into third place after he failed to score during Barcelona's shock 2-1 loss at Atletico Madrid.

Messi is level with Wayne Rooney, with two other Premiership players in fifth and sixth places respectively.

Gonzalo Higuain failed to add to his tally, as did David Villa during Valencia's draw with Sporting Gijon and both drop down two places in the table.

Meanwhile, Luis Fabiano has re-entered the top 10 after bagging the winner for Sevilla against Osasuna. Francesco Totti hangs in the top-10 despite failing to score in three games.

*Accurate as of 18/02/2010