The season is shortly arriving. Pre-season is just about over and our favourite league is about to get under way yet again. The most important part of the new season getting under way is that the best competition in the world is back and for all the strikers lacing their boots to get ready for the new season there will surely only be one thing on each of their minds. Not winning the league or even the Champions League; they are obviously focused on claiming the Golden Boot.
With the start of the season comes the start of the Golden Boot race. Last year ended with not one but two winners as both Carlos Tevez (who I haven’t profiled as I assume he’s off) and Dimitar Berbatov lead the scoring charts with 20 Premier League goals apiece.
With the new season just days away, we’re going to profile the runners and riders in another race to the prized shoe.
Sergio Aguero, Manchester City
Odds – 16/1
Fun fact – His father-in-law is Diego Maradona
Starting off with the Premier League new boy Sergio Aguero who’s just recently moved over from Spanish side Atletico Madrid to join the big spenders Manchester City. In Spain he had an eye for goal, netting 101 goals in just 234 games; a ratio of 1 in 2.32. He’ll need to adapt to the English game quickly and gel with team-mates almost immediately but with the right partner he’s a dark horse to claim a debut season Golden Boot.
Darren Bent, Aston Villa
Odds – 12/1
Fun fact – He runs the 100m in 10.5 seconds (Usain Bolt’s World Record is 9.58)
A top scoring profile wouldn’t be a top scoring profile without the inclusion of Darren Bent; now would it? The man just loves scoring goals and he also loves just losing out on the Golden Boot. Last season he was three goals away. In the 2009/10 season he was only five goals behind the leader and the year before it was seven. I see a pattern in Bent getting closer to the prize every year. Aston Villa could be just the club for Darren to finally scope it.
Andrew Carroll, Liverpool
Odds – 22/1
Fun Fact – In 2007, Carroll received the ‘Wor’ Jackie Milburn Trophy; which is awarded to the most promising young player in the North East
£35 million striker Andy Carroll will be raring to go in his first full season as the Liverpool number nine. After 30 plus goals for Newcastle, Liverpool bought ‘the best striker in the Premier League’ (Ian Holloway’s words not mine) and he’ll be desperate to live up to his expensive price tag. Despite a lengthy lay-off, he was sixth in the scoring charts last season. His odds are generous at 22/1 but that could make him a steal if he walks away as the victor.
Didier Drogba, Chelsea
Odds – 20/1
Fun Fact– He doesn’t like to wear anything underneath his shorts when playing in a match
Having won the Golden Boot in 2007 and then in 2010, Didier Drogba is no stranger to winning and is seemingly vastly under-rated by the bookie. He did only score eleven times in the league last season; which really isn’t Golden Boot winning form. His age is an issue; as is the competition he faces from Nicolas Anelka, Daniel Sturridge and Fernando Torres for a starting berth in the Chelsea team. With a run in the side, he could claim a Golden Boot hat-trick.
Javier Hernandez, Manchester United
Odds 17/2
Fun Fact – Hernandez was the fastest player at the 2010 World Cup
A player’s first season in the Premier League is supposed to be a season when he gets used to his team mates, their style of play and the pace of the English game. For the ‘little-pea’ it was a season to bang in thirteen goals and become a nightmare for every defender in the league. There is no doubt what so ever that injury free this little gem can get at least twenty goals during this term. It could be enough for him to grab his first Golden Boot.
Fernando Torres, Chelsea
Odds – 10/1
Fun Fact – Fernando Torres describes himself as an “accessible person” and says that signing autographs after a training season is “almost a duty”
‘Form is temporary. Class is permanent’ and that’s the best way to sum up Fernando Torres. He’ll be chopping at the bit for the season to start again as he’ll have a point to prove. With only ten goals last season and every single person in the world on his back, we should see a totally different player in the Spaniard. His short odds signify he is a fine shout to be the Golden Boot winner.
Robin van Persie, Arsenal
Odds – 10/1
Fun Fact – Last season, Robin van Persie equalled the record held by Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry by scoring 18 league goals from the turn of the year to the end of the season
RVP missed out on the Golden Boot last year by just two goals. He was so close and yet so far after an incredible finish to the season. Van Persie can console himself by knowing that he only played twenty-five league games and yet scored eighteen goals. Imagine what he’d be capable of with a full season of football.
Wayne Rooney, Manchester United
Odds – 9/1
Fun Fact – On average, Wayne Roony heads the ball twice, uses his chest thirteen times and touches the ball with his feet ninety times in one game
Wayne Rooney is the favourite to win the Golden Boot with the bookies. Of course, we’d profile his chances. Sure, he only returned eleven goals last season but he was busy converting himself into a new position. In 2009/10 he lost out to Drogba by three goals and he’ll be looking to find the form again. His partnership with Hernandez will continue to grow this season and could end with him in possession of the Premier League Golden Boot.
Luiz Suarez, Liverpool
Odds – 14/1
Fun Fact – Suarez is one of a legendary group of players to score 100 goals for Ajax; along with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Marco van Basten, and Johan Cruyff
You shouldn’t read anything into the fact that Suarez managed only four goals last season. He only made his debut in February for the club and never had a chance to get his goal tally up. What he did do is show everyone with a string of classy showings that he has wonderful feet and an eye for a goal. Once he gets back from his Copa America-induced break, he’s a great outside bet for the 2011/2012 Golden Boot.
Dimitar Berbatov, Manchester United
Odds – 25/1
Fun Fact – Berbatov has won a trophy with every club he’s played for
Last season’s joint top goal scorer is always capable of finding the back of the net; assuming he is given the chance to play. Last season he scored five goals in the 7-1 demolition of Blackburn Rovers. His biggest obstacle next season and why his odds are so long is because of the competition he faces within his club. Javier Hernandez and Wayne Rooney are ahead of him in the pecking order and muscling out those two would be a tough task for any striker.
There you have this season’s top ten Golden Boot contenders who all have a viable chance of walking away as the victor. Now it’s down to who you fancy having a punt on? Will it be someone who’s won it before or a completely new face? Will it be shared again?
One thing’s for sure; the league has a lot of fire power in it next season and I’ll be very surprised if last season’s twenty goal mark is good enough to for anyone to claim the 2011/2012 Golden Boot.
