Euro 2024 predictions podcast: Who will be the top goalscorer?
Euro 2024 is finally here and with it, here at Squawka we’ve released our predictions for the tournament.
Hosts Germany face Scotland in Munich on Friday to kick off what should be a summer feast of football. That’s the first of 51 matches, with the final in Berlin coming exactly a month later.
Squawka’s Euro 2024 predictions
- Euro 2024 predictions podcast: Favourites, dark horses or flops? Rating every team from Group A, B and C
- Euro 2024 predictions podcast: Favourites, dark horses or flops? Rating every team from Group D, E and F
- Euro 2024 predictions podcast: Who will be named Young Player of the Tournament?
- Euro 2024 predictions podcast: Rating the favourites to win Player of the Tournament by team and position
While lifting the trophy is the biggest motivation for any player, winning the Golden Boot is a close second. At least for the forwards. The list of previous winners of this prestigious accolade reads like a who’s who of European football’s greatest legends, with the likes of Michel Platini, Marco van Basten, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gerd Muller just a handful of the legends to take the prize.
Nowadays, assists are used as a tie-breaker for players on equal goals but in our latest podcast, we’ve looked purely at who could be the tournament’s top goalscorer among the Bet365 favourites.
Watch the full podcast above or read on for a breakdown of what to expect.
Kylian Mbappe vs Harry Kane
Priced at 5/1 and 11/2 respectively, Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane are the two standout favourites to score the most goals at the Euros this summer, and with good reason. This is a pair of players who between them have won 10 Golden Boot awards in Europe’s top five leagues, while Kane is already England’s record goalscorer — and a World Cup Golden Boot winner — and Mbappe is just 10 goals off the record for France despite playing 45 and 55 games fewer than the two players above him, Thierry Henry and Olivier Giroud, respectively.
Scoring goals is just what they do and with England and France having a high possibility of meeting in the semi-finals, this could be one of the key narratives of the tournament. It’s certainly splitting opinion.
Backing Kane, Squawka’s Jack Verweij said: “36 goals in 32 games in the Bundesliga this season, an unbelievable debut campaign. And eight goals in 12 Champions League games as well, which shows that although he’s added that creative element to his game, it hasn’t come at the expense of scoring a bucket load of goals. He’s got that Rooney-esque ability to run a game now, which he’s added to his game. But he’s also just a top goalscorer at the same time. I think him at No.9, I fancy his chances more than Mbappe.”
Landing on the other side of the fence, Squawka’s Dean Smith responded: “I want to start by saying I do love Harry Kane, but it’s just Kylian Mbappe. One thing that’s different between the two for me is the reliance that France have on Mbappe in comparison to England’s reliance on Kane. If we look at the World Cup in Qatar, for example, Kane scored just two of England’s 13 goals, whereas Mbappe scored half of France’s 16 goals. If you look at the seasons the likes of [Kingsley] Coman and [Ousmane] Dembele have had for their clubs, it’s not been great, both only managed three league goals.
“I think the way France are going to play will be geared up to get chances to Mbappe, whereas England can potentially rely on the likes of [Phil] Foden, [Jude] Bellingham and [Bukayo] Saka to come through with goals, and even players off the bench like [Cole] Palmer. For France, it’s all about Mbappe.”
Cristiano Ronaldo
Don’t ever tell Cristiano Ronaldo the odds. At 12/1, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner is behind both Kane and Mbappe and at 39 years old and playing in Saudi Arabia, many feel he is winding down his career. However, this is Cristiano Ronaldo. He never ‘winds things down’.
It’s also important to remember he is the defending Golden Boot winner, pipping surprise package Patrik Schick to the award with an assist after they both scored five goals at Euro 2020. And with Portugal joining France and England among the most-fancied teams at the tournament, there are plenty of reasons to back CR7.
“He’s in a group where he can fill his boots. They should have at least one of those three fixtures in the group stage where they do fill their boots,” said Jack. “Ronaldo is not going to want to be taken off if there’s an opportunity to bag some goals.”
Romelu Lukaku
We may look back in years to come and regard Romelu Lukaku as one of the most underrated strikers of his generation. He just keeps on scoring and for Belgium, his record is frankly phenomenal, already his nation’s record goalscorer with 85 in 115 caps.
Belgium have been drawn into a favourable group alongside Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine and will be hellbent on proving a point after a dismal 2022 World Cup campaign. Lukaku will be key in proving that point.
“He’s scored at a better rate in international football than both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi,” said Dean, adding: “If he gets the chances, and you suspect he will in that group, then he could get himself off to a really good start.”
Longshots
Who will be the Patrik Schick of Euro 2024? Well, Schick himself is currently priced at 50/1 by Bet365 to repeat his Euro 2020 heroics.
Alongside him, the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Cody Gakpo, Artem Dovbyk, Florian Wirtz and Dusan Vlahovic are all capable of striking fear into the hearts of defenders but thanks to either the nations they represent or their role within the squad, are sitting further out in the odds.
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