Premier League Top Goalscorer: Five prolific pre-seasoners to track
Published:Most agree that pre-season results shouldn’t be taken too seriously in assessing how a team will fare in competitive action. However, they are a slightly stronger player gauge. These five forwards have been consistent summer scorers, but would you back them to carry that form into proper fixtures?
Olivier Giroud
Ollie G has responded to talk of Luis Suarez signing exactly as Arsene Wenger would hope, with six strikes in four appearances during Arsenal’s tour of Asia. The Frenchman scored three goals less than Theo Walcott in his debut Premier League campaign and is evens to be top Gunners scorer.
Romelu Lukaku
Chelsea’s firm pursuit of Wayne Rooney hints that Lukaku won’t be Jose Mourinho’s first choice but he is doing his damnedest to ensure otherwise, netting four times in their first three friendlies. As a result, he is 2/1 frontrunner to be the Blues’ leading marksman, and 28/1 to take the overall crown.
Michu
Michu is 6/5 second favourite to be Swansea’s top league scorer despite his greedy 18-goal spree in 2012/13 due to the League Cup winner’s £12 million investment in Wilfried Bony to lead the line. The Spaniard is eager to show that he was no one-season wonder, firing four times in six friendlies.
Iago Aspas
The fretting over a Suarez-less future at Anfield has been calmed ever so slightly by the early efforts of a forward swiped from Celta Vigo for £7 million. Three goals in four pre-season outings suggest that Aspas can fight to be head Reds scorer at 5/1, a price that will thin if 1/2 favourite Suarez goes.
Bryan Ruiz
After notching three times as many goals as any other Cottager last term, Dimitar Berbatov was installed as 1/7 market leader to top the chart again. Bryan Ruiz – a 10/1 shot – is using the summer schedule to argue that it won’t be such a stroll in 2013/14, striking on three separate occasions.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
