Fernando Torres – Top Goalscorer Betting Odds | World Cup 2010

Fernando Torres

Liverpool star Torres, a striker for tournament favourites Spain, is most bookmakers’ fourth or fifth choice to win the Golden Boot.

Odds vary a lot for this player, with the longest being 13-1 from expect.com and the shortest 8-1 from Coral, the only bookmaker offering the same odds for Torres as they are offering for the overall favourite – his team mate David Villa – at 8-1. The majority of others are offering 12-1 for Fernando Torres to score the most goals, including Bet365, Stan James and 888sport.

26 year old Torres, who joined Liverpool at the start of the 07-08 season, has had an impressive career. He has already played for Spain in three major international tournaments, the European Cups in 2004 and 2008, and the last World Cup in Germany in 2006.

As well as scoring the goal that won Spain the Euro 2008 trophy in the final against Germany, Torres racked up three goals in the last World Cup. That’s two less than the five that won Miroslav Klose the Golden Boot for Germany, though Spain did only make it to the Round of 16 where they were knocked out by France – Klose’s team came third, therefore playing three more games than Spain did.

Despite his very impressive scoring record both for his clubs and his country, there are a couple of factors counting against Torres which may explain why his odds are generally longer than his strike partner Villa’s.

Torres has been confirmed as being out for the rest of Liverpool’s season with an injury. Whilst he is expected to still be fit for the World Cup, this does mean his preparation for the tournament will suffer.

Additionally, his Premiership club Liverpool have had their worst season for many years, going out of the UEFA Champions League, a tournament five time winners Liverpool usually expect to do well in, very early on, and comprehensively losing their place as part of the English Premiership’s famous “Big Four”.

Liverpool’s poor performance has been down to a number of factors and players like Steven Gerrard and Torres have been seen to work hard to try and carry the struggling team, but Liverpool’s issues may have an impact on the odds for Torres here.

If you want to combine a bet on Torres for the Golden Boot with Spain winning the tournament in a double, then odds differ from just 16-1 from Ladbrokes to 25-1 from Sky Bet and Bet365.

If you think that Torres will be top tournament scorer but the overall champions will be England, a bet on this double with Paddy Power returns 80-1.

Luis Fabiano – Top Goal Scorer Betting Odds | World Cup 2010

29 year old Brazilian and current Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano is among the front runners to win the coveted Golden Boot – the award for the tournament’s top goal scorer – at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa this summer.

Throughout the market, Fabiano is ranked either fourth or fifth shortest odds with the bookmakers, with some being unable to pick between the Brazilian and Spain and Liverpool’s Fernando Torres.

The longest odds on offer at the time of writing for Luis Fabiano to attain the top goal scorer accolade are with Expekt.com, who are offering 13-1 (they are also offering 13-1 on Torres). The shortest are from Sportingbet, Tote and William Hill at 10-1, with most others offering 12-1 on the player.

Despite controversy during his early career with Sao Paolo where he was known for his, sometimes worryingly, aggressive approach (he received a three match ban for kicking a player during a match against River Plate), and a disappointing spell playing for Rennes in France, Fabiano has gone on to cement himself as one of the best strikers in the game after some impressive performances both for his country and Eurpoean clubs Porto and Sevilla.

He was the top goal scorer in the 2009 Confederations Cup with five goals. This equals the five that Miroslav Klose won to win the World Cup Golden Boot in 2006. A similar performance in South Africa could be enough for him to win this.

Whilst Brazil are second favourites to emerge as outright winners, one factor counting against Fabiano in the Golden Boot stakes is that compared with other front runners like Lionel Messi from Argentina, Rooney from England and David Villa and Torres from Spain, Fabiano’s Brazilian side has drawn an incredibly tough group.

Brazil’s Group G is definitely this year’s “group of death”, with opposition from Portugal and the Ivory Coast. With high scoring wins usually coming out of the group stages in a World Cup, Fabiano only has one weak team, North Korea, to play – racking up lots of goals against the teams boasting other Golden Boot contenders Christiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba will not be an easy task.

A double bet for Fabiano to win the Golden Boot and Brazil to win can get you odds of an exciting 40-1 from Paddy Power. The majority of others offering this bet will give you 25-1, with Ladbrokes only paying out 18-1 on this.

For Fabiano to emerge as top goal scorer but with England winning the cup, Paddy Power will give you odds of 80-1.

Robinho – Top Goalscorer Betting Odds | World Cup 2010

26 year old Robinho, who has been rated as a top player from a very young age, with even the legendary Pele suggesting he was his successor at just 15 years of age, is something of an outsider to win the Golden Boot at the World Cup. This is despite his team being second favourites to win the trophy.

The longest odds currently available for Robinho, who is currently on loan from Premiership side Manchester City to his old club Santos back in Brazil, are a staggering 50-1 from bwin. Other bookmakers’ offerings vary, with Betfred, Blue Square and 888sport giving 33-1, the shortest, and Ladbrokes, Eurobet and William Hill in between with 40-1 on this bet.

Robinho’s transfer to Manchester City from Real Madrid received more publicity than any other movement in the 2008 summer transfer window. With the player widely expected to join Chelsea, a surprise last minute deal with Man City surprised everyone, including it seems, Robinho himself, who in a press conference after the arrangement had been made, famously slipped up and said an offer had been accepted from Chelsea, rather than City.

With Man City under new ownership, the wealthiest in the Premiership, and trying to build up a team fit to compete with the famous “big four” and in Europe, Robinho found himself slipping down the Manchester City pecking order, where he only expected to play one in every two games. For this reason, he went on loan to Santos, in order to get as many games in as possible in preparation for the 2010 World Cup.

Robinho won the Golden Boot and Best Player award in the 2007 Copa America championship, where he scored six goals, three from a hat trick in the game against Chile, and was also on the Brazil team that won the 2009 Confederations Cup.

With competition from team mates Luis Fabiano and Kaka, among others, as well as favourites David Villa, Rooney, Lionel Messi et al, Robinho will need to work hard to repeat his Copa America achievements at the World Cup. With Brazil in the most difficult first round group, including Portugal and the Ivory Coast, who boast other Golden Boot contenders Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba, there is a big task ahead of the player. This probably explains the long odds for a man of his talents.

Wayne Rooney – Top Goalscorer Betting Odds | World Cup 2010

England striker Wayne Rooney is the third favourite to win the 2010 World Cup Golden Boot with UK bookmakers, with the best price currently looking like 12-1 from Victor Chandler. 888sport and Tote are both offering 11-1, and the worst current price is 8-1 from Ladbrokes.

Wayne Rooney has had a very impressive career, making his debut in a major international tournament in Euro 2004 at the age of 18. He scored two goals against Switzerland to become the youngest player in the history of the competition to get a goal, though this record was broken a mere four days later.

Rooney was also at one time England’s youngest ever international player and goal scorer, though Theo Walcott has since taken that accolade.

Other personal achievements for the Manchester United and former Everton striker include BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2002, Professional Footballers Association (PFA) Young Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006, and the PFA Fans Player of the Year, also in 2006. With Manchester United he has also won the Premiership for three consecutive years and the UEFA Champions League. There is almost certainly room on his trophy shelf for a World Cup Golden Boot too, though.

Despite having played in the 2006 World Cup, Rooney has not yet managed to score his first World Cup goal. This is probably due to the much discusses metatarsal injury that many feared would cause him to miss that competition altogether. This time around, Rooney is going to be hungry for the glory he missed out on four years ago, and hopefully once he breaks his World Cup duck the goals will keep on coming for him.

Doubles bets for the outright winner with Wayne Rooney as top scorer in the competition are quite a varying market. It definitely pays to compare the bookies if you want to gamble on these scenarios. For Rooney for the Golden Boot with England as champions Sky Bet, Blue Square and Paddy Power are all offering 33-1, but Betfred and William Hill offer 25-1 and Ladbrokes are again, the shortest odds at just 16-1 for the same bet, which shows how much of a difference shopping for the best price can make.

Backing Rooney as top goalscorer with favourites Spain winning the cup is 66-1 with Paddy Power, who will offer you the same price for a double with Rooney and Brazil.

David Villa – Top Goalscorer Betting Odds | World Cup 2010

Spain’s formidable David Villa currently leads as the bookmaker’s favourite to win the Golden Boot at the 2010 World Cup finals.

Prices for Villa as top goalscorer vary but at the time of writing most are offering 9-1, though Sportsbook.com will give you 10-1 and Bet365, bwin, Ladbrokes and William Hill are only offering 8-1.

With Spain favourites to win the tournament outright and a reasonably easy group round including Honduras, Chile and Switzerland, there should be plenty of opportunities for the man many call the best striker in the world to rack up some serious goals, and knowing Villa, there will be some pretty special ones to watch in the mix.

Villa won the Golden Boot when Spain triumphed in Euro 2008, scoring 4. The World Cup has one more round than the European Cup, so there is even more scope for scoring if Spain go all the way. When Miroslav Klose won the Golden Boot for Germany in 2006, his team coming third (therefore playing as many games as the finalists due to the match for third place), he scored 5.

David Villa has also been his club, Valencia’s top scorer for the past four consecutive seasons.

Other personal triumphs for the 28 year old include the most goals ever scored in a year by a Spanish International, at 12, and the most consecutive games scored in by a Spanish player, at 6.

With credentials like that it is no wonder the odds are short on Villa taking away a second coveted Golden Boot this summer.

Other bets available include doubles on the winning country and the top goalscorer. Not all bookmakers are offering these, and the odds do vary wildly so it is very sensible to shop around on these combination bets. The best price on Villa as top goalscorer and Spain winning the cup outright currently appears to be from Bet365 who are offering 25-1, Ladbrokes are only offering 14-1 for the same bet and Betfred 16-1, with a number of others sitting in between. If you want to take this bet it is definitely worth seeking out the best price with variances like those.

Combining David Villa as top goalscorer with another team winning you can get 66-1 with Brazil or England from Paddy Power.

Villa has some strong competition, even within his own team, with his strike partner and Liverpool star Fernando Torres fifth favourite with the bookmakers. With names like Argentina’s legendary Lionel Messi, Brazil’s Luis Fabiano and England’s Wayne Rooney, as well as previous winner Miroslav Klose also in contention, top goalscorer in this tournament is by no means going to be any easy pick.