Adebayor the Spurs marksman to back ahead of hapless Soldado

The race to become Tottenham’s leading Premier League scorer starts in earnest at West Ham and we’re expecting one of the two main Lilywhites strikers to enjoy far better fortunes in front of goal this season.

When Roberto Soldado arrived for the not-insignificant fee of £26m in the summer of 2013 it’s fair to say expectations at White Hart Lane were sufficiently hoisted.

However, what followed was a season defined by frustration, the odd converted penalty and an on-pitch demeanour which beggared belief given the sum attached to the Spaniard’s move from Valencia.

In the end, of his extremely modest total of six Premier League goals, only two arrived from open play.

While everyone deserves a second bite of the cherry, there just wasn’t sufficient evidence in Soldado’s all-round game last season to suggest the former Valencia hitman is worth putting faith in at odds of 11/4 to top Spurs’ league scoring charts.

Instead, that honour is far more likely to befall the man in direct competition for his line-leading role and market favourite Emmanuel Adebayor, at 15/8.

Divisive he may be, but in front of goal the lanky Togolese proved once again last season that he is more than capable of amassing double figures at the highest level.

After Tim Sherwood brought the former Manchester City striker back from exile in November time last term he was rewarded with a very impressive return of 11 top-flight goals and 14 in 25 total appearances.

Outside of Mauricio Pochettino’s leading strikers, the Argentine can expect a healthy challenge constructed by 5/1 shot Christian Eriksen, scorer of seven league goals in 25 appearances during a wonderful debut campaign.

If the silky playmaker can up his appearances well into the 30s this season, then this might end up being a gem of a price as the strikers are rotated.

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

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