The 2019-’20 Indian Super League final will see the two most successful teams in the competition go head-to-head in Goa on Saturday. Both two-time winners of the ISL, ATK and Chennaiyin would aim to be the first team to win three titles.
However, there are smaller battles to be fought as well at the Fatorda and none of those get bigger than the race for the golden boot.
ATK’s Roy Krishna and Chennaiyin’s Nerijus Valskis will not just fight to help their team win on Saturday, but also to achieve some personal glory. Krishna currently leads the race for the golden boot with 15 goals along with Kerala Blasters’ Bartholomew Ogbeche who too has betted 15 times this season.
Valskis is just one shy of the duo with 14 goals this season. However, there’s no way Ogbeche can claim the honour this season as Krishna is already ahead of him in the number of assists made, the parameter used to separate two players with the same number of goals.
Ahead of the final, here are the different possibilities as the race for the golden boot enters its final lap, according to the official ISL website.
Scenario 1: Neither Krishna or Valskis score
If neither of Krishna or Valskis score for their respective teams in the final on Saturday, the ATK forward will win the golden boot by virtue of having more assists that Ogbeche, while Valskis will finish third.
Scenario 2: Both players score the same number of goals
If Krishna and Valskis score the same number of goals in the match, the Fijian will retain his one-goal lead and claim the golden boot. However, Valskis will overtake Ogbeche in second place since he has more assists than the Kerala Blasters forward.
Scenario 3: If Krishna outscores Valskis
If the Krishna scores and Valskis doesn’t, or even if Krishna outscores his rival in the match, the Fijian will automatically win the golden boot by the virtue of more goals scored.
Scenario 4: Valskis outscores Krishna by one goal
If Valskis scores one goal and Krishna fails to register, or Valskis outscores Krishna by a single goal in the match, both players will be tied on goals scored. In such a scenario, assists will come into play. With Valskis having six assists and Krishna five currently, the Lithuanian will leapfrog the Fijian, provided neither registers an assist in the match.
If Krishna manages to grab one assist more than the Lithuanian while scoring one less, both will end up with the same goals and assists tally. In case of such a stalemate, the player who has played the lesser number of minutes will bag the award. With Valskis having played 264 minutes lesser than Krishna this season heading into the final, this scenario, too, will swing in favour of the Lithuanian.
However, if Krishna manages at least two more assists than Valskis even if he scores one less in the final, the Fijian will bag the Golden Boot since he will be level on goals but will have more assists to his name.
Scenario 5: If Valskis outscores Krishna by two or more goals
In such a scenario, the Chennaiyin striker will bag the Golden Boot because he will overtake Krishna’s goal tally for the season.
— Indian Super League website
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