Champions League top goalscorer winner odds and outright predictions: Vini value

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for the Golden Boot winner in this season's Champions League.

Vinicius Junior scored the most important goal in last season's Champions League and this could be the campaign when he adds quantity as well as quality.

It was Vinicius's strike at the back post which won the Champions League for Real Madrid against Liverpool and the Brazilian will fancy his chances of building on that in a group containing Celtic, Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Celtic have a Championship rather than Champions League wage bill, Leipzig have already conceded five to Bayern Munich and four to Eintracht Frankfurt this season, while Shakhtar are having to play their home games in Poland.

Most of Shakhtar's foreign stars have also departed and they are unlikely to be as strong as normal.

It's easy to forget that Vini is still only 22 considering he signed for Real Madrid in 2018 and had a difficult start to life in Madrid. He is now looking the absolute real deal and has started this term with three goals in four La Liga matches.

Teammate Karim Benzema, who scored 15 goals in last season's Champions League to take the Golden Boot, has more obvious claims but that is reflected in the odds differential of 9-1 and 40-1.

Erling Haaland is the favourite and after ten goals in six Premier League games it is clear he has settled in nicely at Manchester City.

A record of 23 goals in 19 Champions League matches for Borussia Dortmund and RB Salzburg suggests Haaland's place at the head of the market is correct.

Paris St-Germain trio Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar could find themselves sharing the goals around and Robert Lewandowski will have to do most of his work against Viktoria Plzen because there won't be many cheap goals for Barcelona against Bayern and Inter.

Mohamed Salah has not set the Premier League alight this term but form is temporary and class permanent. Everything in his Liverpool career suggests he will come good and he offers a better option than Tottenham's Harry Kane at similar odds.

There is no group lightweight for Kane to go to town against after Marseille came out of pot four in Tottenham's group.

Bayern's holistic approach to attacking fluidity may count against Sadio Mane's individual claims. Chelsea have a similar plan and the wonderful Joao Felix is handicapped by playing for Diego Simeone's negative Atletico Madrid.

Best bet

Vinicius Junior top goalscorer
1pt each-way 40-1 general

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