Can Salah, Aguero stop Kane's Golden Boot streak?

Since the Premier League kicked off in 1992, only three players have captured a treble of Golden Boots in succession.

Harry Kane's late leveller from the spot in Sunday's 2-2 thriller with Liverpool gave the Tottenham talisman a league-best 22 goals on the campaign with a dozen matches to go, putting the England international in pole position to match the three-peat feat shared by Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry.

Another accolade for the second-fastest player to 100 Premier League goals and Europe's top scorer in 2017 is within reach, though Mohamed Salah might have something to say about that after his brace in the Anfield deadlock put the Egyptian international on 21 goals, one back of Kane.

Threatening what appears to be a two-horse race is Manchester City's Sergio Aguero. The 2014-15 Golden Boot winner is on 17 goals with 12 to play, but with Gabriel Jesus nursing a knee injury, the Argentine is Pep Guardiola's sole first-team strike option for a side averaging 2.8 goals-per-match, second only to Paris Saint-Germain (3.1) among Europe's top-five leagues.

Since the Premier League shifted from 42 to 38 matches ahead of the 1995-96 season, never before have two players bagged 30 goals in a campaign, putting Kane and Salah on a path toward history. Considering Aguero has scored 139 league goals since joining City in 2011, it may be unwise to rule out the player who scores in bunches, with his seven league hat-tricks behind only Shearer (11), Robbie Fowler (nine), Henry (eight), Michael Owen (eight), and Kane (eight).

With the Premier League's Golden Boot chase set for a frenzied 12-match run-in, here's a look at the factors that could determine if Kane crosses the line first, or if he's nicked at the finish by Salah or Aguero:

Goals per 90 minutes

Forget goals per match, the surest way of forecasting a player's end-of-season tally is by examining goals per 90 minutes. Kane and Salah have both appeared in 25 matches, but with Aguero missing time with a fractured rib, how does the Argentine match up over 90 minutes? Aguero's average of 0.9 goals per 90 minutes is the same as Kane's, with both trailing Salah, who averages one goal per 90 minutes.

As unrealistic as it may be, assuming each player appears in all 12 of their remaining fixtures, playing 90 minutes in each match, Salah leads the way with 12 expected goals to Kane's and Aguero's 10.8.

Advantage: Salah

Opposition's defensive record

With 12 matches to play for each, there's plenty of crossover between opponents. That said, looking at the goals conceded and point totals of each foe in comparison to the median sums for each factor, a strength of remaining schedule for each player can be determined.

For Kane, Tottenham's remaining matches come against sides with an average of 34.9 goals conceded and a numerical mean of 32.5 points. For Salah and Liverpool, it's 35.8 goals conceded and 34 points average, and for Aguero and Manchester City, 37.1 and 30.9. Simply put, the advantage goes to Aguero, who will face defensively inferior opposition with the lowest average points total, and with both Tottenham and Liverpool having played their matches against City, this outcome isn't as skewed as it would be if they still had a date with the Premier League's runaway leader.

Advantage: Aguero

Goals scored vs. opponents in 2017-18

While a lot can change over a Premier League season, a player's displays against a side can be a good indicator of how he'll fare in the reverse fixture.

Of the three attackers in question, Kane and Salah both played in the previous 12 fixtures against the dozen remaining teams, while Aguero missed out on four. In those eight matches, Aguero registered four one-goal performances against Arsenal, Brighton, Swansea, and Huddersfield. Kane scored six times, with braces against Stoke City and Huddersfield, and one-goal outings versus West Brom and Leicester City. Those totals pale in comparison to Salah, who tallied 10 goals in 12 matches, and only failed to score in five of the matches, including against the Baggies, who he scored against in the FA Cup.

Advantage: Salah