Golden Shoe 2016-17: Top Goalscorers in Europe, Latest Rankings on September 19

There's a three-way tie in the race for the Golden Shoe, but with Europe's top leagues still in their early stages, the standings are populated with less familiar names.

Rosenborg's Christian Gytkjaer, Kairat's Gerard Gohou and Paide's Vjatseslav Zahovaiko lead the way with 17 goals apiece in the top flights of Norway, Kazakhstan and Estonia, respectively.

A number of players who are more likely to contest the award come the end of the season have made progress, though, with Robert Lewandowski, Diego Costa and Barcelona duo Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez all getting on the scoresheet over the weekend.

Here are the standings, complete with a selection of scorers from Europe's top leagues:

#	Player	Club	Goals x Factor	Overall
T1	Christian Gytkjaer	Rosenborg	17 x 1.0	17.0
T1	Gerard Gohou	Kairat	17 x 1.0	17.0
T1	Vjatseslav Zahovaiko	Paide	17 x 1.0	17.0
T4	Mikhail Gordeichuk	BATE	10 x 1.5	15.0
T5	Roope Riski	SJK Seinajoki	14 x 1.0	14.0
T5	Vidar Kjartansson	Malmo	14 x 1.0	14.0
T5	Gardar Gunnlaugsson	Akranes	14 x 1.0	14.0
Selected Others
-	Diego Costa	Chelsea	5 x 2.0	10.0
-	Michail Antonio	West Ham United	5 x 2.0	10.0
-	Jose Callejon	Napoli	5 x 2.0	10.0
-	Robert Lewandowski	Bayern Munich	5 x 2.0	10.0
-	Alexandre Lacazette	Lyon	6 x 1.5	9.0
-	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	4 x 2.0	8.0
-	Luis Suarez	Barcelona	4 x 2.0	8.0

Rules: To calculate a player's points tally, their goals are multiplied by a difficulty factor based upon which league they're scored in.

For example, in the Premier League or Serie A, goals are worth two points, while in Ligue 1, goals are multiplied by 1.5. For the likes of Gytkjaer, Gohou or Zahovaiko, their leagues have a difficulty factor of one, so their goals and points tallies are the same.

Michail Antonio and Jose Callejon Maintain Early-Season Form

While neither Michail Antonio nor Jose Callejon is likely to be in contention for the Golden Shoe come May, it's worth paying tribute to their outstanding form. The latter is the top scorer in Serie A, and the former is the joint-top scorer in the Premier League.

Antonio turned in a Dimitri Payet cross with his West Ham United side 4-0 down to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, with OptaJoe paying tribute to his aerial prowess:

Antonio almost sparked a Hammers comeback, with the visitors clawing back a second goal minutes later, but West Brom were able to hang on for the three points.

Meanwhile, after the sale of Gonzalo Higuain in the summer, Napoli's Callejon has taken it upon himself to help replace the Argentinian's goalscoring contribution, and he nodded home Lorenzo Insigne's sublime delivery to give the Partenopei the lead over Bologna in the 14th minute on Saturday.

Football commentator Adam Summerton hailed the Spaniard's movement as he netted his 50th goal for the club:

Napoli went on to win 3-1, and they top the table after four games. While it seems almost inevitable Juventus will lift the Scudetto at the end of the season, if the likes of Callejon can continue their form, the title race will be far more exciting.

Costa Continues His Revival

For a significant chunk of last season, Costa struggled to live up to his own high standards in front of goal.

However, after picking up in the latter half of the campaign, the Chelsea striker has firmly continued his resurgence into this season.

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

The forward bagged his fifth goal of the season on Friday, against Liverpool. The Blues failed to get him into the game for the first hour, but when presented with his first real opportunity, Costa made no mistake in converting Nemanja Matic's ball from close range, per football journalist Dan Levene:

Squawka Football made a note of his excellent start to the season:

Chelsea were unable to find a second as Liverpool deservedly claimed a 2-1 victory, but Costa's form has undoubtedly been one of the highlights of Antonio Conte's reign as Blues manager thus far.

MSN Run Rampant

Barcelona's front three of Messi, Suarez and Neymar celebrated their first start of the season together with a 7-0 win over Celtic in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, and the trio put in a similarly dominant showing on Saturday as they demolished Leganes 5-1 in LaLiga.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Messi opened the scoring after 15 minutes, when he finished off a neat passage of play between himself and Suarez. He returned the favour by assisting for the Uruguayan to add the second.

Neymar got involved shortly before half-time, when Suarez left him with the simplest of tap-ins, and Messi bagged the fourth from the penalty spot.

Football writers Rafael Hernandez and Tony Barrett hailed their chemistry:

Indeed, as Squawka Football demonstrated, the trio are an incredibly potent attacking force:

With all three scoring and assisting for fun, it won't be long before they find themselves closing in on the top spots in the race to be European football's leading scorer.

Individual awards seem to matter relatively little to the unselfish trio, and there will be plenty of others who will have a say, but it would not be surprising if one of the MSN were to lift the Golden Shoe at the end of the season.