premier league golden boot

The Premier League fixture lists are released later in June and the excitement will once again start to mount as we approach a brand new season full of ripe betting opportunities!

While the Premier League outright market will feature just a handful of contenders, the Premier League Golden Boot betting is far more varied in terms of potential winners, especially as there are often big-priced players that grab the each-way value for customers.

The 1999/2000 season was the last time that the Premier League Top Goalscorer did not come from a Champions League club, with Kevin Phillips managing an amazing 30 goals for Sunderland that season. However, one player that might buck that trend this season is former Black Cats striker Darren Bent.

There are several advantages to backing Bent each-way, including the fact that he has finished in the top four of the scoring charts in the last two seasons. The England striker quickly adjusted to life at Aston Villa last season and the 16/1 with Paddy Power is clearly where the each-way value lies.

Paddy have installed Fernando Torres as their market leader and it is hard to make a case for the Chelsea striker at odds of 7/1, with Skybet offering  marginally better odds at 8/1. Torres managed just one goal for the Blues last season and if Guus Hiddink is re-appointed at Stamford Bridge, then the Spaniard could be out of favour.

In addition, there is a likelihood that Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka, Daniel Sturridge and Salomon Kalou will be played in rotation with Torres, so it could be worth swerving the Chelsea contingent, especially as Florent Malouda was the top scorer for the club last term.

Even so, Drogba has won the Golden Boot twice and can be backed at 12/1 (Skybet), while Nicolas Anelka is available at 33/1 (Skybet) to repeat his success of the 2008/9 season.

Naturally, Manchester United players have featured at the top of the scoring charts over the past few seasons and Dimitar Berbatov was the joint-winner last term, although Skybet are happy to offer 28/1 about the Bulgarian this time around.

Instead, the bookmakers feel that Wayne Rooney (8/1 Paddy Power) and Javier Hernandez (9/1 Skybet) are the players that will be among the goals, with Rooney likely to have the advantage of being on penalty duties. Even so, his Mexican team-mate chipped in with 13 goals in his debut season and is open to improvement.

The other winner of last season’s Golden Boot was Carlos Tevez, a player that may or may not be at Manchester City next term and it’s probably worth waiting before ploughing into the 9/1 (Paddy Power) that the Argentine takes the scoring charts by storm.

In addition to Bent, I feel that Robin van Persie is probably also the best value at 12/1 (Paddy Power) on the basis that he scored 18 goals last season despite missing a lot of game with injury.

At the start of the season, I stated that the Golden Boot winner was likely to come from a select group of three players – Didier Drogba, Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney.

There seems no reason to revise that opinion at the moment, although Rooney would need something pretty special between now and May to haul himself back into contention after making headlines for matters off the field this season rather than in a Manchester United shirt.

The Red Devils striker has just one goal to his name in the Premier League and is 25/1 with Sporting Bet to finish top of the pile and we all know that the England striker has the ability to score bucket loads of goals.

However, it’s his former United team-mate Carlos Tevez who is blazing a trail at the top of the charts and the Argentinean’s brace against Fulham last Sunday means he has nine Premier League goals to his name this term.

Tevez is favourite with most firms and bet365 offer 10/3 that he remains ahead of his rivals when the season finishes. It could be a great price if Manchester City continue to create chances like they did at Craven Cottage, although Roberto Mancini does seem to employ defensive tactics quite a lot of the time.

There are some surprise names breathing down the neck of the City striker at the moment, with Andy Carroll and Johan Elmander both on eight goals at this stage of the season. Carroll was a bit of an unknown package before this season, especially with Newcastle playing in the Championship last term. However, the Geordie was recently called up by England and he’s 16/1 (Paddy Power) to be top scorer.

Elmander is even bigger at 25/1 (Skybet) although the Swede has been excellent in recent weeks and he tore apart the Magpies defence last weekend. Whether he can continue his scoring rate is another matter, especially as Bolton are arguably over-achieving at the moment.

Didier Drogba was the Golden Boot winner last season, although the striker is currently having a lean patch in front of goal for Chelsea that is lasting a few games. Some might argue that he’s therefore due to get back on the scoresheet pretty soon and three goals is not a big gap between the Blues front man and Tevez. Skybet have 7/2 that the Ivorian retains his crown as goal king.

Fernando Torres is another player available at single figure odds (7/1 Blue Square) which is worthy of consideration considering that he has five Premier League goals to his name at the moment. However, with Steven Gerrard missing for a few matches, Liverpool might create fewer chances as a result.

Darren Bent (14/1 bet365) is back for Sunderland and is pretty reliable in front of goal, while Marouane Chamakh (16/1 bet365) is part of an Arsenal team that create and score plenty of goals. It’s hard to see outside of these players, although that 25/1 about Rooney does attract.

We’re approaching the halfway stage of the English football campaign, with most top flight teams having played at least fifteen matches. As usual, the Premier League can only be won by champions Manchester United or Chelsea, with both showing the sort of consistency required to land the title. However, it’s a different story when we look at the Top Goalscorer market, with no less than five players being quoted at single figure odds by the bookmakers.

This market traditionally goes down to the wire, with Nicolas Anelka winning the Golden Boot on the final day of last season. However, it’s his Chelsea strike partner who is proving to be prolific this term, managing 11 in the Premier League to date. Didier Drogba might be a great bet at 3/1 (Sporting Bet) if it wasn’t for the fact that he’ll be jetting out to Angola for the African Cup of Nations in January. This will see him miss at least four matches for the Blues and it could knock the player out of his stride.

It’s Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe who leads the way at the moment, with the pocket-sized Spurs striker managing 12 goals this season. He looks to be in great form as he looks to cement a place in Fabio Capello’s England squad, although it’s worth noting that five of his dozen goals came in one match. I often think that it’s better to back players who score on a game-to-game basis rather than lots of goals in one go. Ladbrokes share the same view and go 4/1 that he finishes at the top.

It’s possible that Fernando Torres would be top of the tree had injury not played a part this season. The Spaniard has missed the last few games for Liverpool, although he has a tremendous scoring record when he has played in a red shirt this season. A tally of ten league goals sees him just two off the pace and it appears he’ll be back for the visit of Arsenal on Sunday. El Nino has pretty much returned to the odds (4/1 Sky Bet) that were given to him at the start of the season but can he now stay fit and kick on?

The other player to have hit double figures in the Premier League this term is Wayne Rooney, who is certainly what you’d describe as streaky in front of goal. Before United’s game at Portsmouth on 28th November, the England striker had scored just one goal in six games, although class is permanent and he’s now up to eleven goals this season after a hat-trick at Fratton Park. If he stays free of injury, he should easily reach the 20 goals mark, a tally which has been enough to win this contest on two of the past three seasons. Victor Chandler go 3/1 that he goes into the World Cup looking for a Golden Boot double.

Will the top goalscorer come from this group of four? You have to go back to the 1999/2000 season to find the last time a player from outside the ‘Big Four’ won this market, with Kevin Phillips banging in 30 for Sunderland. The Black Cats have a new prolific striker this term, with Darren Bent on the tails of the leaders with nine goals. Although the England hopeful has failed to score for the last three matches, he is the penalty taker for the Wearside club and won’t have the distraction of Europe in the New Year. Ladbrokes offer 10/1 that the former Spurs striker lands the spoils.