This article is part of our Fantasy Premier League Rankings series.
While he didn't win the Premier League Golden Boot, despite being given a phantom goal to help him get there, Tottenham's Harry Kane was the highest-scoring forward in fantasy Premier League last season. He followed that up by winning the World Cup Golden Boot, and he comes in with the best odds (+250) to be the league's highest goal-scorer this term.
However, what if I told you there was a player who averaged just as many goals per 90 minutes (0.85) as Kane last season while also averaging more assists per 90 (0.34 v. 0.06)? You'd obviously push to see how many minutes each played, which is certainly a viable retort since Kane played 2,025 more minutes. The mystery player is Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who scored 10 goals in 13 appearances (12 starts) after joining the club in January, though it's not like his goal-scoring run was an anomaly, as he averaged 0.83 goals and 0.19 assists per 90 minutes in the first half of the season for Borussia Dortmund. His goal-scoring pedigree is actually similar to Kane's, as he bagged 25 and 31 goals in the two preceding seasons, respectively, and he's fully expected to lead the line for the Gunners for new manager Unai Emery.
Something else to remember: Kane played for England all the way through their third-place game loss to Belgium while Aubameyang's Gabon didn't qualify for the World Cup, which means he not only got to rest during the offseason but he's also had a full preseason with the team. On minutes alone, Aubameyang has a great opportunity to win the Golden Boot himself (he currently has the third-best odds at +650).
One of the big changes in the Premier League's official game is the addition of Marko Arnautovic and Wilfried Zaha to the forward pool. Both showed solid goal-scoring prowess while starting in the 9 last season, but it's also worth noting that while they are highly owned in the league's salary-cap format, Zaha has never scored double-digit goals in a season, while Arnautovic has never topped 11. Their moves help make the forward position a little deeper, but it doesn't necessarily make them better fantasy options than they were as midfielders; in fact, you could make the argument they are worse because their goals aren't worth as many points and they don't get credit for clean sheets.
Note: rankings are based on the Premier League's official fantasy game.
