Who will win the MLS Golden Boot? Denis Bouanga, Luciano Acosta, Georgios Giakoumakis

The race for the MLS Golden Boot is really heating up as we head into the final fixtures of a thrilling 2023 regular season.

Most teams now have just two games remaining and Cincinnati FC have already lifted the Supporters’ Shield for the first time in franchise history. Unsurprisingly their star player, Luciano Acosta, is in the running to lift the Golden Boot.

The diminutive Argentine has scored 16 goals this season, just one off the pace of current leader Denis Bouanga. The LAFC forward scored a hat trick in Wednesday’s 5-1 victory over Minnesota United.

Behind those two frontrunners, who are also in contention to be named Landon Donovan MVP, are a trio of players on 15 goals. Hany Mukhtar, Georgios Giakoumakis and Brian White have each scored 15 MLS goals this season.

We take a look at the favourites for the 2023 MLS Golden Boot...

Denis Bouanga, LAFC - 17 goals

Despite being in his first full season in MLS Bouanga now looks like one of the league’s established stars and is one of the most devastating attacking talents in MLS. He initially struggled for goals after joining LAFC last year but his direct running caused defences problems and his finishing looks much improved in 2023.

The 28-year-old began this season with ten goals in his first 12 games, before going through a dry spell in front of goal. He can be a patchy player in front of goal but his quality when in form can be a real game-changer for Steve Cherundolo’s side. On Wednesday he was back to he best, recording a lethal first half hat trick against Minnesota.

Luciano Acosta, Cincinnati FC - 16 goals

Having already lifted the Supporters’ Shield with games to spare this looks like being a historic season for Cincinnati. Their captain and talisman Luciano Acosta has been on red-hot form for Cincy and is now just one goal off the pace at the top of the the scoring charts. What makes his performances all the more impressive is his creative contribution, recording 13 assists to go with his 16 MLS strikes. Assuming that Cincinnati do not choose to rest him ahead of the playoffs, he is one of the favourites to end the season with the Golden Boot.

Hany Mukhtar, Nashville SC - 15 goals

Last year’s MLS Golden Boot winner and MVP Hany Mukhtar has continued his incredible output in 2023. The attacking midfielder arrived from Brøndby in 2020 and has become a star with Nashville, scoring 67 goals in 127 games in all competitions.

If Mukhtar can clinch the Golden Boot again this year he will become just the sixth player in MLS history to win the league’s scoring award twice, and the first player to win it in consecutive seasons. His chances are boosted by the fact that Nashville are one of few teams in MLS with three games remaining, rather than two.

Giorgos Giakoumakis, Atlanta United - 15 goals

Giakoumakis was the big-money signing brought in to replace the departing Josef Martinez and he has proved a solid replacement for the 2018 MVP. The Greek forward scored 29 goals for VVV-Venlo in the Dutch top flight in 2020/21 and followed that up with a productive spell in Scotland with Celtic.

He has continued that fine form in MLS and boasts the best goals-per-90 minutes record in the league (0.83). Giakoumakis is a real threat in the air for Atlanta and has scored six of his 15 goals with his head.

Current MLS top goalscorers

After the midweek round of fixtures, here are the top goalscorers in this season’s MLS...