SERGIO Aguero was top of the scoring charts last season with 26 goals but who does Chris Graham (@chrisgraham79) fancy in this year’s betting?
WLB 2015/16 Preview | Premier League Top Goalscorer
Confession time. I don’t think I’ve ever placed a First Goalscorer bet in my life. It’s just not something that excites me. But playing on this market does, if you get a run for your money it’s great fun watching your player hit the back of the net.
Last year’s top two head the betting again with Sergio Aguero (3/1) and Diego Costa (11/2) well fancied to repeat their 26 and 20 goal seasons respectively in this follow-up campaign. Both players have shown weaknesses in the injury department and getting involved at those prices just seems a risky move.
Wayne Rooney is intriguing at 12/1 if he gets to play further up the pitch this season. 26 goals in 2009-10 and 27 in 2011-12, he finished with the silver medal on both those occasions. I still get the feeling Louis Van Gaal might splash out on another striker though so I’ll give him a miss at those odds.
One player I do like at 16/1 is Christian Benteke. Yes, he’s also had his fair share of injury problems in recent seasons but if he gets a clean run he should be right up there.
In the last three Premier League seasons he’s been hitting a goalscoring ratio of between 45-55% goals per game during each season. And crucially that is for one of the most turgid teams in Premier League history.
His first season (2012/13) saw him hit 19 of Aston Villa’s 47 Premier League goals. The following season Villa scored just 39 goals and he accounted for 10 of those (from just 26 games) and then last season he scored 13 of their meek 31 goals.
Benteke was similarly prolific in Belgium when he played there before moving to England and he’s the kind of player that defines the term natural goalscorer.
Now in a much better team at Liverpool he should get a lot more chances and opportunities and will be looking to break the 20+ goal barrier. He’s already got started in pre-season and if he can steer clear of injury I think he’ll have an excellent season.
Those of you that follow me on Twitter will know that I successfully backed Charlie Austin each way last season at 100/1. A couple of season’s before that I backed Rickie Lambert at newly-promoted Southampton. You see, I love backing players already in the goalscoring habit at massive prices.
At 66/1 I’ll have an each way interest Patrick Bamford. The Chelsea player is on loan at Crystal Palace this season, a team I expect to thrive in 2015/16.
Two seasons ago Bamford smashed his way through League One for MK Dons with 17 goals in 30 appearances. Mid-season he was then jettisoned to Derby in the Championship where he notched eight goals in 23.
Last season he was at Middlesbrough and played a huge part in them getting all the way to the Play-Off Final scoring 19 goals in 43 appearances.
Boro were not the easiest team to score for, they only notched 68 times in the league last season. That was 30 less than champions Bournemouth and three less than 14th place Nottingham Forest.
Now in a thriving Palace side hopefully Bamford can continue to progress up the ranks and post a big effort here for those who have backed him at large odds.
My final selection is priced at 100/1. I can’t really get my head around Aston Villa this season. They looked certs for the drop a couple of weeks ago when Benteke and Fabian Delph walked out the door but since then Tim Sherwood has brought in a slew of new signings. He might just have conjured up the right blend.
The most intriguing of his purchases is the 23 year old Jordan Ayew. The Ghanaian (son of the legendary Abedi Pele) was utterly vital for Lorient last season as his 12 Ligue 1 goals helped them stay in the league.
He ended up in the Top 10 Top Goalscorers in Ligue 1 despite playing for one of the weaker sides in the division. Perhaps history can repeat itself here?
Villa have spent £8 million on him and tied him to a five year deal so he’s clearly going to get a lot of game time. Hopefully with the positivity of Tim Sherwood ringing in his ears he can make a real impact.
Best Bets
Premier League Top Goalscorer – Christian Benteke (16/1 Bet 365)
Premier League Top Goalscorer – Patrick Bamford (66/1 each-way Bet365)
Premier League Top Goalscorer – Jordan Ayew (100/1 each-way Bet365)
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TOPICS English Football Tips Football Premier League Tips
