Kula Sheikher
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http://www.bettingzone.co.uk/footba...TORY_NAME=betting/10/08/09/manual_115927.html
Last season's Premier League Golden Boot 1-2 Didier Drogba and Wayne Rooney head the betting again for the new campaign.
The last of the 6/1 about Rooney has been taken this week and at the odds it is fair to say he has something to prove.
The England striker endured an abject World Cup in South Africa, barely getting a chance whilst managing to fall out with the fans when they were booed after the woeful 0-0 draw with Algeria.
He looked an absolute shadow of the player who was in such incredible form for Manchester United at the start of 2010 and for whatever reason, he failed to live up to expectations in a national jersey.
He now returns to Old Trafford and the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson while you get the feeling he could well respond with something to prove to all the summer's naysayers.
But I prefer to look beyond him and Drogba at the prices with the latter still building back up to full fitness following a groin operation at the end of July.
That follows on from the broken elbow he suffered while on duty for the Ivory Coast ahead of the World Cup and although injury can strike any player at anytime, Drogba is 32 now and it is not unreasonable to suggest that there may be some drop off in his performance in an ageing Chelsea team.
Liverpool's Fernando Torres is next in the betting at 8/1 and with 18 goals last season from 20 matches there is no denying he could well have got somehwere into the 30s in the Premier League based on that strike rate given an injury-free run.
If - and it is a big if - his problems are behind him then he has outstanding claims as there is little doubt he is the best natural goalscorer in the division.
He has reaffirmed his future is at Liverpool and the arrival of Joe Cole at Anfield means extra opportunties being created.
But he pulled up short again at the World Cup finals with another niggling problem and it remains to be seen how much of a season he will have.
Arsenal's Robin Van Persie also looked laboured in South Africa compared to what we have seen from him domestically.
He is not far behind Torres when it comes to clinical finishing at the top level in England but also carries a health warning for punters having spent much of last season on the sidelines.
You have to go back to 2000 - when Sunderland's Kevin Phillips top scored - for a player who did not represent Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal.
But hopefully Carlos Tevez can buck the trend and he gets the vote for top gun this season at a general 14/1.
The Argentine should be at the peak of his powers now at 26 years old and is likely to be very much at the spearhead of any Manchester City championship bid.
We have had the usual scare story that Tevez is rather down in the dumps ahead of his return from his summer break in Argentina but once he gets back into the groove in this country that is soon forgotten.
He has admitted in the past that his acrimonious move from Manchester United across the city was the "best decision of his life" and the following quote illustrates his mentality once on the pitch: "I feel I have to win the game for City and it is goals, goals, goals."
He bagged 29 in 2009/10 in all competitions - his best ever haul - to be the fans and players Player of the Year with the 23 he scored in the Premier League good enough for fourth in the charts behind Drogba, Rooney and Darren Bent.
He now takes the role on the pitch which he used to have when playing in Argentina and Brazil and there seems every reason to believe he can improve on last season's tally as he drives himself on both personally and also motivated by providing the best possible life for his daughters.
As history tells us that the winner more than often plays for one of the big guns then just as likely is a wild card popping up at a big price in the frame.