The FIFA Club World Cup tournament gets underway on Saturday night and before the opening game kicks off there is just enough time to look at a market which is popular for any event of this kind, the top goalscorer one.
With the expanded format of the competition this year we have some of the very best strikers in the world on show over the course of the tournament, plenty of whom will be looking to fill their boots over the month or so.
Market Leaders
Kylian Mbappe is the man who is on the lips of everyone when attackers are spoken about in world football at the minute and with a powerful creative force behind him at Real Madrid it is probably no surprise that he is an 11/2 favourite to top the scoring charts in the competition. There are a few questions about him though. Real Madrid have played a lot of football this season so it might be that Xabi Alonso rotates his forward options which wouldn’t be ideal. The other question mark is where he will play across the front line for them. At the prices I can leave the Frenchman alone.
Erling Haaland is a 6/1 second favourite to land the Golden Boot in the tournament this year. That price immediately stands out because a goalscorer of his quality is rarely that price for a competition where his side are fancied to go well. His injury in the second part of the season means that he will come here fresher than some which should help and unlike others there won’t be the same requirement for him to be rested and rotated. If City go well he is sure to fill his boots but being on City outright I’m happy for him to score freely to help that bet rather than invest on this one.
Harry Kane has had another excellent season for Bayern Munich and he is a 7/1 third favourite to collect the top scoring honours in this tournament. He has the added bonus of having Auckland City in his group and if he plays from the start against the Kiwis you would imagine the England international will be keen to fill his boots and shouldn’t lack for the chances of doing so. He could be hard to catch after that game but if he doesn’t plough in there the opportunities for him to do so could dry up, especially if he has to be rotated out of the side at times.
Just one man is shorter than 16/1 in this market and that is the Borussia Dortmund forward Serhou Guirassy who is being touted by many to have a decent tournament. He is in a team who should go far in the competition which is never a bad thing and he has all the other benefits such as a nice group where he could get up and running for goals early and the fact he is on penalties. His Champions League record makes him a frontrunner so he’ll be extremely popular at 12/1 here.
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Profile
I always go in search of a bit of value in this market because an injury or your player being rested for a game, which after a long season could happen to the main protagonists in this market should their team win their opening two matches, and you are either out of the equation or behind the eight ball. You would think the winner would come from someone who goes deep in the event but actually in these events that isn’t necessarily the case. You usually have to fill your boots in the group stage before teams shut up shop in the latter stages.
Betting
I can’t see past Serhou Guirassy in this market. He ticks absolutely every box. I get the idea of picking someone in Group C where Auckland City are housed but if you look at the Borussia Dortmund group, they should outclass two opponents rather than the one with the Korean side Ulsan HD and the African team Mamelodi Sundowns in that section. Guirassy doesn’t need weak foe to feast on, as we’ve seen in the Bundesliga and Champions League this term. The added bonus with him is the backups aren’t as reliable so Guirassy should see plenty of game time in the moments that matter. He is on penalties too and looks a great bet at 12/1 in a side that should cruise to the quarter finals at least.
I’ll also have a little dabble on Aleksandar Mitrovic. Admittedly he has Real Madrid in his group but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he can’t score goals but the other two matches look open. Red Bull Salzburg are more a reputation side at the minute than anything they have delivered while Pachuca have been conceding goals in Liga MX all season and would be vulnerable to the Saudi attacking machine. A potential last 16 match with Manchester City could see the Serbian exit the competition but he could take a goal or two with him in that so at 50/1 I’ll pay to see how well the man who bagged 19 goals in the Saudi league this season goes.
Tips
Back S.Guirassy Top Goalscorer (e/w) for a 2/10 stake at 13.00 with William Hill (1/4 1-3)
Back him here:
Back A.Mitrovic Top Goalscorer (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 51.00 with Spreadex (1/4 1-3)
