Top 5 candidates to win the Capocannoniere this season

Krzysztof Piatek #19 of AC Milan celebrates after scoring the his goal during the serie A match between AC Milan and Empoli FC at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on February 22, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Giuseppe Cottini/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Krzysztof Piatek #19 of AC Milan celebrates after scoring the his goal during the serie A match between AC Milan and Empoli FC at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on February 22, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Giuseppe Cottini/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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STADIO ALBERTO PICCO, LA SPEZIA, ITALY – 2019/08/07: Fabio Quagliarella of UC Sampdoria reacts during the pre-season friendly football match between Spezia Calcio and UC Sampdoria. UC Sampdoria won 5-3 over Spezia Calcio. (Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images)
STADIO ALBERTO PICCO, LA SPEZIA, ITALY – 2019/08/07: Fabio Quagliarella of UC Sampdoria reacts during the pre-season friendly football match between Spezia Calcio and UC Sampdoria. UC Sampdoria won 5-3 over Spezia Calcio. (Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Last season’s Capocannoniere race was one of the more interesting we’ve seen in recent years and this season should follow it up with another exciting race.

This time of year is a lot of fun for people like me. This is the time of year where I get to sit down and make my predictions for what will happen in Serie A, knowing all too well that most of it will end up being wrong.

Last year, 4 of my 5 candidates to win this award finished outside the top 5, 3 of them weren’t even close, and 1 of those 3 wasn’t even in the league for the second half of the season. The only player I actually got right in last year’s top 5 was the most obvious choice, Cristiano Ronaldo. There were 3 surprising entrants into the race and I didn’t see any of them coming ( but I have 2 of them making another run at the title again this year).

Let’s hope this year turns out better for me or it is at least as thrilling as last year’s race.

Honorable Mentions:

Gonzalo Higauin

Juventus didn’t want him this summer, but it looks like they’re stuck with him now. I he wins the starting spot then he could be setup perfectly to make people forget about his disastrous last season.

Maurizio Sarri was his manager for his record-breaking year at Napoli and we have already seen that he can coexist with Ronaldo during their time at Real Madrid. It’s a long shot, but if a couple of things fall into place for him, then Higuain just could lead the league in scoring for his second time.

Fabio Quagliarella

What Fabio Quagliarella has done over the last 2 seasons is nothing short of miraculous. After never scoring more than 13 goals in a Serie A season for his first 13 seasons in the league, he has managed to score 19 and 26 in his age 35 and 36 seasons.

I’ll be honest, last year he wasn’t anywhere near my list. I’m not really convinced he should be near this one, but he at least deserves a mention for what he accomplished last year. His age coupled with a manager change should be enough to knock him off the top spot and out of the top 5.