Harry Kane will have the chance on Boxing Day to break Alan Shearer’s 22-year-old record of 36 Premier League goals in a calendar year, when Tottenham Hotspur face Southampton in their final fixture of 2017.
Kane’s hat-trick against Burnley took him level with the record, earning widespread praise from team-mates and opponents alike, and his manager was momentarily stumped when asked if he would dare substitute his centre-forward at Wembley if the 37th goal proved elusive.
“We will do whatever is necessary to try to win the game,” Mauricio Pochettino said eventually, probably wondering why anyone would think of withdrawing a striker who is performing so consistently.
This is a player who has managed seven hat-tricks – five in the Premier League – in 2017; a striker who had just given his team-mates a lesson in finishing – Spurs might have beaten Burnley by double the eventual 3-0 margin had Son Heung-min, Christian Eriksen and Moussa Sissoko proved as deadly in front of goal – and one described by Sean Dyche as possibly the most in-form in Europe at the moment.
“There isn’t a team anywhere who wouldn’t want Harry Kane,” the Burnley manager said. “When you’ve got a figurehead like that at the top of your team you know goals are going to come. He’s the sort of player who can smell a chance. Every time you make a mistake or lose the ball he’s right on it.”
Goals tend to dominate any discussion of Kane, but his all-round game is almost as impressive. He helped to set up a couple of chances for team-mates at Burnley and his tackle on Johann Berg Gudmundsson led directly to his third goal.
The calendar year record is arbitrary in a sense because it represents the disjointed halves of two seasons, though it is perhaps worth noting that Shearer scored 36 goals in 42 games in 1995 whereas Kane has reached the same total in 35. The more interesting consideration is where Kane is going to end up, because at 24 he appears to have many more goals, hat-tricks and scoring records ahead of him.
“We might not have seen the best of Harry yet, I think he can still improve,” Pochettino said. “You would normally expect a striker to reach his peak around the age of 27 or 28, so he still has plenty of time on his side.
“How long a player can carry on after that depends on how professional he is, how well he looks after himself, and I have no worries on that score either. Harry is extremely professional and mature in his approach. His mentality is excellent.”
Tottenham moved above Arsenal and Burnley to fifth in the table at the halfway stage as a result of their victory at Turf Moor, with Pochettino expressing relief that the 4-1 hiding on their previous visit to the north-west was now out of their system.
“We can smile again after Manchester City,” he said. “It is important to keep up a momentum if you want to fight for big things and we need to stay focused for the games over the festive period. City might be a long way ahead but there’s no point looking from here to the end of the season – there are games coming up that need to be won.”
Southampton’s striker Charlie Austin has been suspended for three matches after accepting a Football Association charge for violent conduct over a kick at Jonas Lössl that left Huddersfield’s goalkeeper with a cut face. Austin argued the ban was excessive but that was rejected.