Ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup getting going on Saturday night there is just one more outright market that I want to have a look at and it is the one for the Golden Ball, given to the Player of the Tournament.
There are some superstars of football on show in this competition and many of them will battle it out for what could turn into a prestigious award when you consider the calibre of player that is competing in this event.
Market Leaders
Kylian Mbappe will go into the tournament as the 7/2 favourite to come out on top in this market. That is understandable when he is expected to be one of the leading lights for Real Madrid, a team who are well fancied to win the competition. That is plenty short enough in a team laced with superstars who are embarking on an era under a new manager. I don’t think anyone would be surprised if the French ace lofts this award at the end of the competition but in terms of value I’m not sure he is it.
I guess in many ways the same could be said of the player who is second in the betting in the form of Vinicius Jr. He is another in the powerhouse of Madrid who could shine but you just wonder if the star-studded outfit will take the limelight off each other. If you like the Brazilian then you can get him a couple of points bigger than his teammate at 11/2. Of the Real Madrid pair he might be the better bet but it is unlikely anyone stands out in this side so unless his statistics are ridiculous you wonder if he will come out on top.
Ousmane Dembele has had an excellent time of it in recent times for Paris Saint-Germain but he is expected to miss the opening stages of the tournament so there probably isn’t too much value in the 6/1 on the French attacker. Admittedly much of the leg work in this award will be done when it really matters in the tournament but others get the chance to steal a bit of a march on the PSG forward so that puts me off him immediately.
Desire Doue is getting a lot of attention at the minute and the young superstar is 8/1 to win this market. That might well be value because he is being talked about in the same way that people are talking about Lamine Yamal and if the Barcelona ace was in this tournament he wouldn’t be any bigger than 3/1 for this market. The only question mark over him is whether he gets rotated a lot after a busy season. That would be my concern.
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Betting
It is a pair of 25/1 shots who catch my eye here in teams that are well fancied and should go well but who were too short for me in the outright market. I’ve always been a huge fan of Michael Olise dating back to his Reading days when I saw him rip my team a new one and he has only improved year-on-year since then. He will be part of a Bayern Munich attack which could set a serious pace with Auckland City in their ranks. He is creative but he can get into position to score too and goes into the tournament off the back of a season with 36 goal contributions for the German. He could really light up this event.
Another player who could do that is the Paris Saint-Germain winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. The Georgian was a massive part of Paris winning the Champions League and with a lot of teams in world football struggling with right-backs at the minute, the Georgian could be in the perfect position to capitalise. The Georgian had 12 goal contributions in 25 matches for PSG this term but his workrate is something else and he could certainly catch the eye in this tournament. He has had a lighter campaign than some in this Paris outfit so he could be called upon a lot and I think he is the sort of profile who could go very well here.
Tips
Back Michael Olise to win Golden Ball for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with William Hill
Back him here:
Back K.Kvaratskhelia to win Golden Ball for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Bet365
