Euro 2020 is almost here but before Italy and Turkey get the tournament started on Friday evening there is still a chance to have a look at one of the most popular ante-post markets, namely the top goalscorer one where we are looking for the man who will score the most goals in the competition.
Antoine Griezmann top scored in the previous European Championship and he is one of the men who will be expected to score plenty in this tournament as well. A look down the market though gives us a who’s who of European football.
Recent Top Goalscorers
2016 – Antoine Griezmann (6 goals)
2012 – 6 players tied on 3 goals
2008 – David Villa (4 goals)
2004 – Milan Baros (5 goals)
2000 – Patrick Kluivert & Savo Milosevic (5 goals)
1996 – Alan Shearer (5 goals)
Market Leaders
Harry Kane was the leading scorer at the 2018 World Cup and he is the 6/1 favourite to follow that up with the Golden Boot at this tournament as well. He ticks plenty of boxes it has to be said. England aren’t in a bad group in terms of defences they take on and he is on penalties which can often be the deciding factor. He is blessed with a wealth of creative talents behind him as well so he looks a worthy favourite, although that dangerous Last 16 tie is a concern.
Romelu Lukaku is the idea of the likely winner for many judges and at 13/2 he is proving popular. The consensus is that he could fill his boots in the group stages but Denmark and Finland don’t concede many goals as a rule so I’m not completely sure I agree with that logic if I’m honest. He was expected to go well at the last World Cup when Belgium had genuine cannon fodder in their group in Panama and that never really materialised. The longer Belgium are in the competition the better his chances will be but he’s still not for me.
Kylian Mbappe can be backed at 10/1 to be the leading scorer at this tournament. I have nothing against him other than there are a lot of players who can score goals for France at this tournament. He will rival Antoine Griezmann, Karim Benzema, Olivier Giroud and the likes of Adrien Rabiot for the goals in this side. The other potentially telling thing is he isn’t going to get his hands on the penalties so he’s an immediate swerve for me, as good as he is.
Cristiano Ronaldo was my selection for this market five years ago and although Portugal won the tournament, amazingly their talisman never top scored in the tournament. In fact, he only found the net on three occasions in seven matches which would be a concern for his backers here. He has greater competition in the box this year as well but he will be on set-pieces which is a positive. There is no walkover game for Portugal for him to fill his boots in either so that is a concern. He isn’t for me.
Memphis Depay has had a good season in France but whether that equates to the likely leading Dutch marksman to be 16/1 to land the Golden Boot here I’m not so sure. I can’t get over the fact that I don’t expect the Netherlands to do anything under Frank de Boer and while it isn’t an automatic that you must go deep to win this thing, logic will dictate that it would help, especially with only eight sides leaving after the first stage. I don’t see the Dutch being good enough to go deep and that has to hurt his chances.
There are plenty of people who expect Italy to go well in this tournament and if they do you would imagine Ciro Immobile will have left his mark on the event. He is a 20/1 shot to top score in the tournament but while this isn’t the all out defensive masterclass Italian side of old I’m still not convinced that are dynamic enough to be free scoring. Group matches against dour sides like Switzerland and Wales don’t offer up much inspiration either and while Jorginho is on the pitch, Immobile won’t be seeing penalties so he isn’t for me either.
Special Offer
Open up a BetVictor account during Euro 2020 and get your money back on your first bet if it loses up to £30!! That is a RISK FREE £30 bet on the Euros! Click the image below for this outstanding offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Responsibly.
18+ New customers only. Deposit, opt-in and place your first bet on any football market within 7 days of opening your account. We’ll refund up to £30 in cash if your 1st bet loses. T&Cs Apply. begambleaware.org | Please gamble responsibly.
Betting
This isn’t a market I’m rushing to get involved in to be honest. I think the market is about right and it probably is between the front two but that possible England round of 16 game has me against Kane an there is just something about Lukaku that I don’t like. I can’t really find genuinely top class alternatives to them though so I’m just going to nibble at big prices in the hope of striking the jackpot and getting something out of the six places on offer at Betfair.
The first of those is Artem Dzyuba, the Russia centre-forward who has proven to be a handful recently. Only five men outscored him in qualifying and Russia weren’t exactly in a free scoring group when you consider that they had Belgium and Scotland who didn’t concede many. He still managed nine strikes which I thought was impressive and there is every chance with Finland in Russia’s group here that the 2018 World Cup hosts escape the group and get a knockout tie. Were they to upset someone in that then all of a sudden Dzyuba is in the mix. He’s a good target man, he’ll be on penalties and bagged three goals in that World Cup run when he wasn’t the starter to begin with. At 66/1 to six places I think he is worth a chance here.
A player at a bigger price who is worth a go is Christian Eriksen. The former Spurs midfielder is in a Denmark side which if you have read my outright preview I expect to go very well here indeed and if they do he’ll be a key fixture. He’s on all set-pieces and penalties which is an excellent place to start from and he has a goal in him from around the box too. I really expect Denmark to make the semi-finals of this tournament at least and if I’m right with that Eriksen will get six matches at least to build his total. Eriksen bagged five in qualifying, four in the Nations League this past season and is still the talisman of this Denmark side. The other thing to consider is any ties are sorted on assists and Eriksen could fill his boots with those too. At 80/1 he looks overpriced to me.
Tips
Back A.Dzyuba Top Goalscorer (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-6)
Back C.Eriksen Top Goalscorer (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-6)
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2021
