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Get on Benzema

By Matt | May 23, 2008

KARIM BENZEMA stands out in the Euro 2008 top goalscorer betting odds as being unbelievable value to win the Golden Boot.

The Olympique Lyonnais prodigy, who is continually linked with Manchester United, is 33/1 to be top marksman at the tournament with a raft of layers – and that, for my money, is too long.

Granted, Benzema is unlikely to start the tournament as Les Bleus’ first-choice striker – would you drop Thierry Henry? – but is a wonderful option for Raymond Domenech to have on the bench.

The Lyon striker is two-footed, strong and fast, and can score in and around the box. Given decent service by Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery, Marseille’s Samir Nasri and his club teammate Hatem Ben Arfa, Benzema is good enough to score against the best defenders in the world – which generally means France’s Group C rivals Italy – and against Holland and Romania, if given the chance, he could get a hatful.

Injury, suspension, tiredness or Henry carrying his indifferent Barcelona form into the European Championships could all see Benzema get on the pitch – and if he plays, he scores in my book.

Golden Boot favourites
The Euro 2008 top scorer betting odds are dominated by the obvious favourites – Fernando Torres, Cristiano Ronaldo, Klose, Toni, van Nistelrooy and Thierry Henry. I can find an argument against each one.

Spain are, to use the hackneyed cliché, perennial underachievers; Ronaldo doesn’t play the same role for Portugal that he does for Man U; Klose is a journeyman pro who gets most of his international goals against teams like China; Italy could go the whole tournament without scoring; Ruud is back from injury and the Dutch are likely to squabble among themselves from the word go, and Henry has only ever played well for Arsene Wenger.

I’m confident that Euro 2008 will be the tournament that makes Benzema a household name across Europe, and I think he’ll line up for Man U in the 2008/09 football season. Get on him now.

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