The race for the Premier League Golden Boot could go down to the wire.

Adding the latest strike to his tally during the win over West Ham United, Sergio Aguero currently leads the way on 18 goals and will be looking to reclaim the trophy he collected in 2015.

The reigning champion Mohamed Salah is next in line. Although he's miles behind his record-breaking total of last season, the Liverpool man is still right in the mix with three months remaining.

As for the rest of the pack, Harry Kane is in prime position on sixteen goals and won the Golden Boot back-to-back in 2015-16 and 2016-17 respectively.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sadio Mane and Eden Hazard all have a chance of claiming the coveted award, too.

Premier League Golden Boot

However, as bizarre at it might sound, the winner of the Golden Boot doesn't necessarily crown the most lethal striker in that respective Premier League season.

Injuries, time on the substitutes bench and rotation can leave certain forwards with limited game-time, still scoring the majority of their chances but unable to produce the raw numbers.

For that, the minutes-per-goal statistic has always been used and Aguero held the overall Premier League record in this department for many years.

Minutes-per-goal

Although Kelechi Iheanacho and Gabriel Jesus have both usurped him at different points, the Manchester City man is still top dog when it comes to this season.

So, despite there only being one goal between Aguero and Salah, the former takes 42 minutes less than his Liverpool rival to score on average.

Using Opta Statistics via the Daily Mail, check out how the league's 17 most prolific strikers rank by minutes-per-goal:

1. Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) - 98 

2. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) - 131 

=3. Harry Kane (Tottenham) - 138

=3. Heung-min Son (Tottenham) - 138

5. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) - 140

6. Alexandre Lacazette (Arsenal) - 153

7. Sadio Mane (Liverpool) - 157

8. Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United) - 160

9. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) - 166

=10. Eden Hazard (Chelsea) - 173

=10. Callum Wilson (Bournemouth) - 173

Incredible, Aguero leads the away by over half an hour.

It's definitely interesting to note that players like Son and Lukaku dramatically rise up the ranks, while Hazard and Sterling tumble because of their regular starts.

Sergio Aguero vs Mo Salah

However, the Daily Mail also used these statistics as inspiration for comparing Salah and Aguero on a more detailed basis.

They put everything from shots on target, dribbles completed, shooting accuracy and many more data sets under the microscope. Take a look at their table of numbers below:

When it comes to the raw shooting stats, Aguero is simply unstoppable but there can be no questioning Salah's superiority when we look at different aspects of their game.

Obviously, only the simple matter of total goals will decide the Golden Boot race and Aguero will be hoping that Pep Guardiola plays him on a regular basis as May approaches.

He's currently managing to keep pace with Salah with fewer minutes on the pitch, so just imagine what he could achieve with a solid run-in.

Who do you think will win the Premier League Golden Boot this season? Have your say in the comments section below.