Golden Shoe 2016-17: Top Goalscorers in Europe, Latest Standings on August 22

As Europe's major leagues continue to kick off their campaigns over the course of August, the race for the European Golden Shoe is currently dominated by those whose seasons are already well under way.

Indeed, Christian Gytkjaer of Norwegian club Rosenborg is the leader with 14 goals.

However, the winner will almost inevitably come from one of Europe's top leagues, so it's worth noting that Golden Shoe holder Luis Suarez kicked off his campaign with a hat-trick, while Alexandre Lacazette took his tally to five with a brace against Caen.

Here are the current standings, including a selection of players more likely to be contesting the prize come the end of the season:

Position	Player	Team	Goals x Factor	Overall
1	Christian Gytkjaer	Rosenborg	14 x 1.0	14.0
T2	Roope Riski	SJK Seinajoki	13 x 1.0	13.0
T2	Sakari Tukiainen	FC Flora Talinn	13 x 1.0	13.0
T4	Vladimir Voskoboinikov	FC Infonet	12 x 1.0	12.0
T4	Gardar Gunlaugsson	IA Akranes	12 x 1.0	12.0
T4	Vjatseslav Zahovaiko	Paide Linnameeskond	12 x 1.0	12.0
T4	David McMillan	Dundalk	12 x 1.0	12.0
T4	Vidar Orn Kjartansson	Malmo FF	12 x 1.0	12.0
T4	Evgeni Kabaev	JK Sillamae Kalev	12 x 1.0	12.0
10	Njazi Kuqi	Pallokerho-35	11 x 1.0	11.0
T57	Alexandre Lacazette	Lyon	5 x 1.5	7.5
T81	Luis Suarez	Barcelona	3 x 2.0	6.0
T81	Sergio Aguero	Manchester City	3 x 2.0	6.0
T81	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	Manchester United	3 x 2.0	6.0
T81	Carlos Bacca	AC Milan	3 x 2.0	6.0
T183	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	2 x 2.0	4.0

Rules: To calculate a player's points tally, their goals are multiplied by a difficulty constant between one and two depending on which league the goals are scored in.

For example, the Premier League has a rating of two so the goals are doubled, Ligue 1 has a rating of 1.5 and the Norweigen top flight has a rating of one.

Lacazette Continues to Shine

Lyon continued their winning start to the season on Friday as they dispatched Caen 2-0.

Once again, Lacazette showed his importance to the French club—and his talents to any prospective suitors—by netting both goals. 

After bagging a hat-trick in Lyon's opening game against Nancy, Lacazette has enjoyed an outstanding start to his campaign, per Squawka Football:

This time, he showed his ruthlessness from the penalty spot, converting two spot-kicks after half an hour and in the 96th minute.

Indeed, as OptaJean revealed, the 25-year-old is clinical from 12 yards:

If he stays in Ligue 1 for the remainder of the season, he'll likely need to score a phenomenal number of goals to make up for the lower-difficulty multiplier in order to make the Golden Shoe his own.

Nevertheless, he's already showing his class—he looks set to enjoy an excellent campaign.

Suarez and Messi Start Season with a Bang

With Neymar missing the start of the season due to his Olympic Games commitments with Brazil, it was left to Lionel Messi and Suarez to fire Barcelona to a 6-2 win over Real Betis in their league opener on Saturday.

The former opened his Liga account for the year with a sublime effort from outside the area, per Sky Sports La Liga:

Another strike from 18 yards capped a magnificent performance from the Argentinian—the fifth time Messi has kicked off a league campaign with a brace.

Meanwhile, Suarez picked out the bottom corner from Sergi Roberto's cross and tapped home when Messi squared the ball to him at the far post.

The Uruguayan completed his hat-trick with a well-taken free-kick. As revealed by BBC Sport, Suarez has started this season as he finished the last:

Football journalist Rafael Hernandez hailed the pair's magnificent outing:

Barring injury or suspension, the duo—and perhaps Neymar as well—are sure to be contenders for the Golden Shoe again this year.