Goalscorer predictions: World Cup hopefuls among our best bets for the weekend
- Recommended bets:
- Back Phil Foden to score against Brentford
- Back Dominic Solanke to score against Everton
- Back Wilfried Zaha to score against Nottingham Forest
- Back Ademola Lookman to score against Inter Milan
- Back Richarlison to score against Leeds
With the last round of matches before the break taking place this weekend, a couple of World Cup hopefuls feature on our list of potential goalscorers.
Brentford are worryingly out of form as they make a daunting trip to the Etihad Stadium, and it feels like a question of ‘how many?’ for Manchester City.
Thomas Frank’s visitors have yet to win an away game this term and have conceded three or more goals in all four of their defeats, so the answer could be ‘quite a lot’.
Erling Braut Haaland understandably dominates the betting but is likely to be joined by others in finding the net against Brentford, and Phil Foden could be among them.
With six goals in 10 league starts, the England attacker has double the amount of City goals than his nearest challengers Kevin De Bruyne and Julian Alvarez, discounting Haaland of course.
Everton concede the most shots per game in the Premier League at an average of exactly 17 and that figure rises to a whopping 18.4 when they are on the road.
Picking out who in the Bournemouth ranks can profit from Everton’s generosity is the test, with the Cherries sharing the goals around a squad that is not prolific but has hit more goals than six other Premier League teams.
Kieffer Moore netted a brace against Tottenham in Bournemouth’s last home league game but Dominic Solanke is the more consistent threat. He has scored only three goals but has had double the number of shots on target than any other Cherries player this term with 10 and is usually in the thick of the action.
Of the 10 teams hosting a Premier League match this weekend, only Bournemouth have conceded more shots in front of their own fans than Nottingham Forest, who allow 13.3 shots per game against them at the City Ground.
Crystal Palace arrive in excellent form having won four of their last six league games but with Odsonne Edouard a major doubt, the goalscoring burden is likely to fall on Wilfried Zaha.
Zaha usually steps up to the plate, however, netting six goals for Palace this season — including one in a tough trip to West Ham last weekend.
While many Qatar-bound players might be going easy in their final domestic fixture, former England under-21 winger Ademola Lookman will have no such concerns.
The ex-Everton man represents Nigeria at senior level, so Lookman will be fully focused on domestic matters after the West African nation failed to reach the World Cup finals.
There is a big prize for the Atalanta forward to target, too, with his club just three points behind second-placed Lazio in a congested Serie A.
While the arrival of Inter Milan is a test, the visitors have lost all five meetings with fellow top-eight teams this term, conceding two or more goals on each occasion.
Lookman has scored in five of Atalanta’s last seven matches, including against leaders Napoli and top-half pair Fiorentina and Udinese.
Back a fully-focused Lookman to down another leading rival.
Richarlison came on for the final 30 minutes of Tottenham’s Carabao Cup trip to Nottingham Forest in midweek and, perhaps unlike many of his fellow Qatar-bound contemporaries, he will be eager to get minutes under his belt.
The Brazil striker missed six games through injury and will want to regain full match fitness ahead of the World Cup.
Spurs manager Antonio Conte will be equally eager to get him onto the pitch given the injuries among his attacking options and the evident fatigue in Harry Kane.
Richarlison will be going full throttle and should get plenty of opportunities to mark his return to Premier League action with a goal.
Leeds’ ultra-aggressive approach often leaves them exposed at the back and Jesse Marsch’s men have conceded nine goals in their last four league games.
