Golden Shoe 2017-18: Top Goalscorers in Europe, Updated Points Table on April 2

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah continues to lead the race for the Golden Shoe after the Reds' win over Crystal Palace on Saturday, bagging the winner in the Premier League contest.

Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski closed a lot of ground near the top of the standings, however, courtesy of a hat-trick in the demolition of Borussia Dortmund.

Lazio's Ciro Immobile scored twice in his side's 6-2 win over Benevento, and Barcelona's Lionel Messi added one goal to his tally in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Sevilla. As a result, there is a three-way tie for second place.

Standings

1: Mohamed Salah, Liverpool: 29 goals x 2.0 difficulty factor = 58.0 points

T2: Lionel Messi, Barcelona: 26 x 2.0 = 52.0

T2: Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich: 26 x 2.0 = 52.0

T2: Ciro Immobile, Lazio: 26 x 2.0 = 52.0

5: Jonas, Benfica: 33 x 1.5 = 49.5

T6: Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur: 24 x 2.0 = 48.0

T6: Edinson Cavani, Paris Saint-Germain: 24 x 2.0 = 48.0

T6: Mauro Icardi, Inter Milan: 24 x 2.0 = 48.0

T9: Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid: 22 x 2.0 = 44.0

T9: Luis Suarez, Barcelona: 22 x 2.0 = 44.0

Rules: UEFA assign a difficulty rating between one and two to all European leagues. This rating multiplied by the amount of goals results in a point total.

For example, goals scored in any of Europe's top five leagues are worth two points, whereas a goal in the Portugal's Liga NOS will only count for 1.5 points. A player who scored six goals in the Premier League will have 12 points. The same number of goals will only result in nine points in Portugal.

Bayern made a huge statement with their 6-0 win over Borussia Dortmund, and Lewandowski stole the show with a hat-trick that underlined his dominance in the Bundesliga scoring charts.

The Poland international isn't just beating his rivals―he's making them look silly:

While fans will rightly question the parity levels in the German top division―Bayern's lead at the top of the standings is 17 points―Lewandowski deserves a ton of credit for his remarkable consistency. Since moving to Bavaria in 2014, he has failed to score at least 25 goals in a Bundesliga season only once, and he could still pass the 30-goal mark for the third successive season.

Salah and Messi were both decisive late in their respective outings, with the Egyptian earning his side all three points and the Argentinian keeping Barcelona's unbeaten streak in La Liga alive.

Messi started on the bench against Sevilla but turned the match around in the final minutes. Former England international Gary Lineker was impressed:

The outright scoring leader remains Jonas, who scored both of Benfica's goals in the win over Vitoria de Guimaraes. Benfica have dominated the Portuguese league this season, with just a single defeat, and they have won eight games in a row.