Cole Palmer Closes In on Erling Haaland’s Premier League Golden Boot Lead After Hat Trick vs Man Utd

• Erling Haaland maintained his Premier League Golden Boot lead after the midweek games
• Cole Palmer moved up to second in the scoring charts with his hat-trick against Man United
• The Chelsea star joined Mohamed Salah, Dominic Solanke, and Ollie Watkins in second place

Cole Palmer has officially entered the Premier League Golden Boot discussion.

Only two goals separate leader Erling Haaland and Palmer at the top of the scoring charts after the Chelsea star bagged a hat-trick in Thursday's game against Manchester United.

Sports Brief looks at the rest of the top 5 as we head into this weekend's matches.

Premier League Top Scorers

1. Erling Haaland (18 goals, Manchester City)

The Norwegian striker failed to extend his lead in the Premier League Golden Boot race after sitting out Wednesday's game against Aston Villa.

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He was named one of the substitutes in City's 4-1 win at the Etihad Stadium but was not brought in by manager Pep Guardiola.

He remained on course to defend the scoring title he won last season, with the 23-year-old forward holding a two-goal advantage over four players at the top of the table.

2. Cole Palmer (16 goals, Chelsea)

Palmer is Chelsea's man of the moment. On Thursday, he recorded his first career hat-trick against Manchester United, scoring two of those goals deep into second-half stoppage time to hand the Blues a dramatic 4-3 win.

He calmly buried a penalty in the 10th minute of added time to tie the game at 3-3 before firing a deflected shot past Andre Onana to score the match-winner in the dying seconds of the contest.

Palmer moved up to second with his treble against the Red Devils, scoring a total of 16 goals thus far this season. Half of those have come from the penalty spot, with Palmer converting all of his spot kicks.

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2. Mohamed Salah (16 goals, Liverpool)

Salah failed to score in Liverpool's win over Sheffield United on Thursday. The Egyptian forward was replaced in the 60th minute by Harvey Elliott due to his ineffectiveness, per The Mirror.

Jurgen Klopp's substitution worked wonders for the Reds as they scored two late goals to grab the important 3-1 win.

Salah wouldn't mind not finding the back of the net against the Blades as they returned to the top of the Premier League table following the victory.

2. Dominic Solanke (16 goals, Bournemouth)

Solanke failed to score in Bournemouth's 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Tuesday, leaving him still two goals behind Haaland in the Premier League Golden Boot race.

The Cherries star remained in second place with 16 goals, with his last strike coming against Everton on March 30.

2. Ollie Watkins (16 goals, Aston Villa)

Watkins failed to add to his goal tally on Wednesday. He sat out Aston Villa's 4-1 loss to Manchester City due to a hamstring issue.

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He picked up the injury in their win over Wolves last Saturday, with the 28-year-old taken off at half-time as a precaution.

Pochettino's words to Palmer before winning goal

Palmer sent Chelsea fans into a frenzy when he scored a hat-trick against Manchester United.

Sports Brief recently reported that Mauricio Pochettino played a part in the Englishman's offensive explosion.

Palmer said the Chelsea manager motivated them to go for the match-winner after he scored the equalising penalty.