With just one week until the tournament begins in Warsaw, thoughts turn to the potential winners of the coveted Golden Boot. The trophy is award to whichever player scores the most goals in a single tournament.
David Villa, who won the accolade in the 2008 Championships with winners Spain, has been ruled out through injury, though with his country listed as tournament favourites, you might be tempted to back one of the players expected to lead the line in his place.
The most likely candidate is Athletic Bilbao forward Fernando Llorente, who managed 29 goals in 51 appearances in the 2011/12 campaign, helping his club reach the Europa League final. You can get odds of 16/1 for Llorente to finish the tournament as top scorer, whilst fellow Spaniards Fernando Torres and Roberto Soldado are both best priced at 20/1.
The favourites to finish top of the goal-scoring chart is Germany’s Mario Gomez of Bayern Munich, who has hit an incredible 41 goals in 52 club appearances, culminating in a Champions League final appearance a few weekends ago.
Gomez is way ahead of the majority of the market, with a best price of 8/1.
Next on the list is Dutch striker Robin Van Persie. Having already clinched the English Premier League Golden Boot with 31 league goals, Arsenal’s number 10 is 10/1 with most bookmakers.
No European footballer can rival Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of club goals in the past season. The former Manchester United player managed almost a goal a game on his way to helping Real Madrid reach 100 points and claim the La Liga championship. Having missed out on the Pichichi to Lionel Messi, might be tempted to take advantage of the best price of 14/1 offered for Ronaldo to come out on top.
Other players worth considering are Mario Balotelli of Italy, who is generously priced at 25/1, as is Thomas Muller of Germany. Balotelli’s compatriot Antonio Di Natale is 33/1, whilst England’s Wayne Rooney is 40/1, though he will miss the opening two games through suspension.
Mario Gomez 8/1
Robin van Persie 10/1
Cristiano Ronaldo 14/1
Karim Benzema 16/1
Fernando Llorente 16/1
Fernando Torres 18/1
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 18/1
Miroslav Klose 16/1
Robert Lewandowski 22/1
Thomas Muller 25/1
Lukas Podolski 25/1
Mario Balotelli 25/1
Wayne Rooney 33/1
Arjen Robben 33/1
Antonio Di Natale 25/1
Andy Carroll 33/1
Zlatan Ibrahimovic 50/1