Thursday 26 November 2015 17:16, UK
Jamie Vardy is not the favourite for the Premier League Golden Boot, while Wayne Rooney's odds are drifting badly.
The Leicester striker has averaged a goal a game after 13 matches this season, firing himself into the record books, the England squad and the Foxes to the top of the Premier League in the process.
However, Romelu Lukaku and Harry Kane have gained ground with recent flurries, while it is Sergio Aguero who is still considered Sky Bet's favourite in their top scorer market, having found the net on his return from injury at the weekend.
As well as looking at those performing well, we assess those who have underachieved in the race for the Golden Boot, with Wayne Rooney's odds having drastically dropped since the beginning of the season. Each player's current odds are compared to what they were at the start of the season.
The big achievers
Jamie Vardy - (11/4 with Sky Bet - was 200/1)
Few more remarkable stories exist in football than Vardy's stunning rise from Stocksbridge Park Steels to leading the scoring charts in the Premier League. Vardy equalled Ruud van Nistelrooy's record of netting in 10 successive games with his 13th goal of the season against Newcastle and can make it an unprecedented 11 when Leicester host the Dutchman's former club Manchester United on Saturday. The 28-year-old scored just five times last season, resulting in odds of 200/1 on him being top goalscorer at the start of this season. Those odds have tumbled ever since.
Romelu Lukaku - (7/1 with Sky Bet - was 40/1)
Everton's record signing has often divided opinion but Jose Mourinho may well be beginning to regret his decision to let the Belgium striker leave following his increasingly impressive run of displays. While Diego Costa has scored just three times this season and struggled with ill-discipline, Lukaku has taken his tally to eight for the campaign with four in his last three, including a brace against Aston Villa on Saturday. With none of last season's top seven in the Toffees' next seven fixtures, it might be a good time to back Lukaku's shortening odds.
Odion Ighalo (50/1 with Sky Bet - was 80/1)
Much like Vardy, Ighalo's heroics were certainly not anticipated by the bookies, with his top goalscorer odds at 80/1 before a ball was kicked. However, the Nigerian striker's form offered more of a warning, with a prolific second half of last season aiding Watford's promotion push. He followed that up with an emphatic start to the current campaign, leaving him with more goals in 2015 than any other player in England's top four divisions.
Riyad Mahrez - (66/1 with Sky Bet - was unlisted)
The 24-year-old winger offered no such suggestions that he was set for a prolific 2015/16 campaign, scoring just four times last season despite playing all but eight games for Leicester. Such was the surprise of Mahrez's goalscoring form that he did not even make the top scorer odds list at the start of the season. There are still doubts over his credentials with odds of 66/1, although that is still significantly shorter than the Foxes' title price of 150/1.
Meeting expectations
Sergio Aguero (5/2 with Sky Bet - was 11/4)
Such is the quality possessed by the Argentina star, Aguero is still the favourite to be top goalscorer this season despite trailing leading marksman Vardy by six goals. Aguero's finishing prowess was at its peak in blitzing Newcastle with five goals, while he managed to give his Manchester City team-mates some hope of a comeback with a fine strike in Saturday Night Football's 4-1 defeat to Liverpool. However, those efforts were separated by the latest in a long line of injury problems, while he has only scored on one other occasion in nine league appearances this season.
Harry Kane (13/2 with Sky Bet - was 14/1)
The 22-year-old was becoming increasingly tainted with the label of a 'one-season wonder' as he netted just once in Tottenham's opening nine league games of the season. However, such suggestions have been well and truly dismissed with a run of seven goals in his last four games, leaving him third in the scoring charts. The England striker drifted out to 14/1 before his hat-trick at Bournemouth, odds which have now more than halved following his brace against West Ham.
Alexis Sanchez (14/1 with Sky Bet - was 20/1)
The Chile international has managed six league goals for Arsenal so far, but at the same time last season in the league he had seven - so perhaps it is a surprise to see Sanchez's odds shorten slightly from 20/1 at the start of the season to 14/1 now. With eight players currently out injured for Arsenal, there is pressure on Sanchez to deliver in the next few games, particularly as he has not scored since his opener in a 3-0 Saturday Night Football win against Watford on October 17.
Olivier Giroud (18/1 with Sky Bet - was 18/1)
Giroud seems to have thrived under the increased competition offered by Theo Walcott this season, boasting seven goals despite being used as a substitute on six occasions. While Arsenal's title hopes were dented in a 2-1 defeat at West Brom on Saturday, Giroud managed to get his name of the scoresheet yet again. However, the lack of a guaranteed starting berth due to competition from Walcott has led to doubts from Sky Bet over his chances of topping the scoring charts.
Underperforming
Wayne Rooney (100/1 with Sky Bet - was 11/1)
Rooney's odds have slipped dramatically after scoring just two goals so far this season, his last coming against Everton in mid-October. Rooney's starting odds of 11/1 seemed logical as Louis Van Gaal insisted he would deploy the 30-year-old as his sole starting striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation, while England's new all-time leading scorer has hit double figures every year since the 2004/2005 season. But the emergence of Anthony Martial has seen him play more regularly in a number 10 role behind the 19-year-old, and has struggled to replicate his goalscoring prowess shown in previous years. His odds are now the same as those offered for Liverpool's Roberto Firmino, West Brom's Salomon Rondon and Watford's Troy Deeney.
Diego Costa (40/1 with Sky Bet - was 5/1)
Three Premier League goals in a struggling Chelsea side means the Golden Boot is a long shot for Costa. At this stage of last season he had 11 goals as Chelsea started their march towards the league title. Mourinho has kept faith in his target man, with the Spain international playing in 11 of the champions' 13 league matches so far, but he started the season as the second favourite to top the scoring charts and has now drifted to 40/1.
Eden Hazard (200/1 with Sky Bet - was 20/1)
Hazard is another Chelsea player to have seen his Golden Boot odds drift dramatically as he's failed to score at all in the league this season. The 24-year-old has predominantly played in his traditional left wing role, but after an impressive display as a number 10 against Norwich, last season's player of the year has stated his desire to remain in that role, only for Mourinho to disagree. Hazard scored 14 goals during 2014/15, and Vardy is only one goal shy of that tally already this year, and it looks like it will be difficult to catch up.
Theo Walcott (100/1 with Sky Bet - was 22/1)
Walcott was expected to challenge Giroud for the main striker's role at Arsenal this season. So far, he has started one game fewer than Giroud with playing time being quite fairly split throughout the season. However, Walcott has scored just two in comparison to the Frenchman's seven. His odds have lengthened further as the 26-year-old has been ruled out with a calf injury since the end of October.
Walcott is in a similar situation to Liverpool duo Christian Benteke (12/1 to 40/1) and Daniel Sturridge (16/1 to 80/1) whose odds have lengthened due to lack of appearances. Sturridge has not played under Jurgen Klopp after missing the last seven games with a knee injury whilst Benteke has seen limited game time under the former Dortmund manager.
