Champions League Top Scorer Odds: Can Ronaldo reclaim the Golden Boot?
The Champions League returns to our screens this evening and there are some mouth-watering fixtures on show. Barcelona v Bayern Munich is undoubtedly the pick of the matches on Tuesday, while a repeat of the 2005 and 2007 final between Liverpool and AC Milan takes centre stage on Wednesday.
We delved into the outright winner betting yesterday to assess the prices on offer for the competition's biggest sides, but today our focus turns to the top scorer market to see which players are tipped to claim the coveted Golden Boot award in 2021/22.
Erling Haaland - 6/1 (Favourite)
Last season’s Champions League top scorer with 10 goals, Borussia Dortmund wonderkid Erling Haaland continues to go from strength to strength and currently heads the betting at 6/1. The 21-year-old has fired out of the blocks this season, notching eight goals in his opening six appearances in all competitions and will be raring to go in the Champions League this week.
Dortmund have been placed in an extremely favourable group alongside Sporting CP; Besiktas and Ajax, so there should be plenty of opportunities for Haaland to boost his tally early on. The true test will come in the knockout stages - where Dortmund haven’t progressed past the quarter-finals since reaching the final in 2012/13.
Robert Lewandowski - 13/2
Following closely behind is Bayern Munich goal-magnet Robert Lewandowski, who is behind only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as one of the leading scorers in the history of the Champions League with 73 goals.
Bayern are third-favourites to win the UCL at 7/1 and if they are to go the distance - just like they did in 2019/20 - their talismanic front man will be at the forefront of things once again. 13/2 is on offer for the former Dortmund striker to outscore his peers this time around, best priced with William Hill at the time of writing. He’s already found the net eight times in just five outings for Bayern this term (all comps), and will be chomping at the bit to get off the mark in Europe against Barcelona.
Lionel Messi - 7/1
Third-favourite in the market at 7/1 is Lionel Messi. PSG’s new signing will be hopeful he can be the determining factor for his new employees and their so far thankless battle with the Champions League, and when you look at the Parisians’ squad on paper, it’s hard to argue that any side has a better starting XI.
Messi is the competition’s second-highest goalscorer, behind only Ronaldo, with 120 goals to his name so far and will be determined to close the gap between himself and the Portuguese this season. Playing in a star-studded team alongside the likes of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Angel Di Maria, chances certainly shouldn't be at a premium for the Argentine. He's just a bit good at free-kicks, too.
"Sensational. Outstanding. Magic."
A great scorer of goals AND a scorer of great goals! 🐐
Here are Lionel Messi's top 5️⃣ Champions League free-kicks 🤩👇 https://t.co/AX31Jm1w95
Romelu Lukaku - 9/1
Romelu Lukaku has kickstarted his second stint at Chelsea with a bang this season, scoring three goals in his opening three games for the Blues, including a stunning brace against Aston Villa at the weekend. After returning just four goals in the Champions League with Inter last term, the Belgian will be hopeful of at least doubling that tally this time out in a much stronger team.
Chelsea have been placed in a winnable group alongside Zenit, Malmo and an out-of-sorts and Ronaldo-less Juventus, so Lukaku has the potential to capitalise on this early on and propel himself towards the upper echelons of the top scorer chart, not to mention he plays for the current holders who are arguably even stronger this season. With all things considered, 9/1 could be considered decent value.
Cristiano Ronaldo - 10/1
Manchester United haven’t tasted success in Europe’s elite knockout competition since Ronaldo helped them beat Chelsea in the 2008 final, but with Mr. Champions League back at Old Trafford they will be optimistic about a good run this time out.
The 36-year-old got off the mark with a brace on his second debut at the weekend and will have both the Premier League and Champions League Golden Boot awards firmly in his sights this season.
Like Chelsea, United’s qualifying group has them placed firmly as favourites for progression into the last-16, and presents Ronaldo with a great chance to score plenty of goals in the process. 10/1 is on offer from William Hill, Paddy Power and Betfair for CR7 to reclaim the UCL Golden Boot this term, and we’d be lying if we said it wasn’t extremely tempting.
Kylian Mbappe - 11/1
I mentioned earlier how PSG probably have the best squad on paper in this season’s Champions League, and while the main beneficiary is expected to be Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe should also enjoy a fruitful campaign in Europe this term. Mbappe finished just two goals shy of Haaland’s 10-goal total last season and was magnificent away at Barcelona in the last-16, lighting up the Camp Nou with a memorable hat-trick.
With chances in front of goal distributed three ways between himself, Messi and Mbappe, the limelight is predicted to be shared in the French capital this season but that won’t stop the 22-year-old in his quest to outscore his team-mates in the Champions League. 11/1 is a good price on the face of it, although first PSG must navigate their way through a challenging group which includes Manchester City and RB Leipzig.
Mohamed Salah - 20/1
Liverpool are quietly going about their business as one of the outsiders to win the Premier League this season, with the likes of Man City, Chelsea and Man Utd constantly dominating the headlines. But against Leeds on Sunday the Reds reminded us all what a magnificent side they are and right at the heart of things was the ever-present Mohamed Salah, who scored his 100th PL goal in the 3-0 victory at Elland Road.
The Egypt international is a 20/1 outsider in the market at the time of writing, presumably due to the fact that Liverpool have been drawn in possibly the toughest qualifying group alongside AC Milan, Atletico Madrid and Porto. It would be foolish to write Salah off in this market, however, given his exemplary goalscoring ability.
A full list of Champions League top scorer odds can be found below.
Champions League Top Scorer Odds - 2021/22
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20%
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15.4%
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11.1%
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9.1%
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6.7%
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7.7%
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5.9%
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5.9%
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4.8%