Punters wise to hazard a guess on Chelsea ace scoring first

Chelsea’s quest for a third successive European trophy heads to the cauldron-like surrounds of Galatasaray in the Champions League last-16 and who better to silence the din with the opener than Eden Hazard.

With a dozen goals in all competitions under his belt already this campaign, making him the Blues leading scorer by a clear half dozen, punters angling for a first goalscorer bet may well have found their way to Hazard’s door anyhow.

But now the fleet-footed Belgian has seen his odds to break the deadlock boosted by Ladbrokes from 6/1 to a sumptuous 8/1, there really is no better choice for the match.

Hazard’s wing wizardry has reached such heights this season that his manager Jose Mourinho has forecast a possible Ballon d’Or-winning future for his star asset.

Whether or not that prophecy comes in to being remains to be seen, though his ability to score goals as well as skip past players as if they were cardboard cut-outs has certainly elevated his standing to one of the Premier League’s best players of the season.

After scoring a hat-trick against Newcastle at the beginning of February, Hazard has now gone three games without a goal, so he seems due one in Istanbul.

The former Lille winger has already scored away in Europe at Schalke this season and Chelsea will no doubt look to him for inspiration again in Turkey.

Hazard is also the 6/1 market favourite to be Chelsea’s highest-rated player by Ladbrokes’ friends over at WhoScored.com, while punters can triple their stake if they back Hazard to notch as part of a Chelsea victory.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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