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Van Persie and Suarez to duel to be Premier League top scorer

| 03.01.2013

Luis Suarez’s brace against Sunderland last time out has kept him in touch with frontrunner Robin van Persie as the pair bid to be crowned the Premier League’s top scorer.

The Uruguayan netted his 14th and 15th league goals of the season as the Reds cruised to a 3-0 win and he remains a generously priced at 7/4 to outscore his Dutch adversary, whose current tally stands at 16.

Van Persie is an 11/10 shot to claim the award for the second successive season and the Manchester United star brought up his eighth goal in as many games against Wigan on New Year’s Day.

It’s fitting that these two players are the standout contenders for the prize at this stage of the season as they have undoubtedly been the two top performers in the Premier League to date, yet it is Suarez whose price represents the best value for money at present.

With United likely to use van Persie more sparingly in the latter stages of the campaign, especially if their participation in the Champions League progresses beyond the last-16, Suarez holds a key advantage.

He will figure in every league game which he is fit for selection and, averaging a shot at goal approximately every 20 minutes, no player in the Premier League has asked as many questions of opposition goalkeepers as Liverpool’s Uruguayan hitman.
New Chelsea signing Demba Ba is third in the running having bagged 13 goals in a struggling Newcastle side.

Theoretically, that number should be in for a sharp increase given the improvement in quality of service he’s likely to receive playing alongside Juan Mata and co.

Ladbrokes anticipate he will notch between 8 and 11 Premier League goals in his first half-season with Chelsea – which can be backed at 11/10 – but, with van Persie and Suarez in such scintillating form, even if he hits the top end of this bracket his tally would stand at 24 goals and this probably wouldn’t be enough to finish the season as the division’s top marksman.

Were his current price of 7/1 a bit longer he could be worth a few quid as an outside punt, as it stands though, this bet should be avoided as the race to claim the Premier League top scorer award consists of just the two horses at the moment.

All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date

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Author

James Middleton