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Who Will Be Arsenal’s Top Goal-Scorer This Season?

By on January 3, 2014

Through 20 weeks of Premier League play, Arsenal have forced 39 goals, which is good for 3rd best in the League behind the surprising Liverpool (46 GF behind the devastating attack of Luis Suarez) and Man City (which has forced a rather incredible 57 goals already). This is a fairly impressive rate for the Gunners, and is one reason the club is atop the League standings. But with the attack looking more and more well rounded, one question fans are wondering is who will finish League play with the most goals for Arsenal.

Perhaps the best way to look into this question in a mathematical way is to check the Betfair news betting odds for the league’s top overall goalscorer. While odds are not given for each respective team’s top goalscorer, the overall odds feature most of the relevant players, and their relative outlooks give a clear picture of who the oddsmakers expect to top the goalscoring list for Arsenal. However, because not every player is mentioned, we’ll also combine these relative odds with some basic projections and predictions. Here are the players who figure to be in the discussion.

Aaron Ramsey

With 109/1 odds to lead the Premier League in scoring, Ramsey isn’t truly in contention (in the oddsmakers’ eyes) for the league award. He does lead Arsenal thus far with 8 goals according to ESPN, but as we already wrote, the injury he sustained in the Gunners’ victory over West Ham could, unfortunately, keep him out a while. Ramsey’s chances to lead the team in scoring have taken a major hit.

Olivier Giroud

After a sizzling start to the League season, Giroud has cooled off a little bit, but has scored 8 goals to date. With 16/1 odds to lead the league in goals scored, Giroud has the 7th best overall odds in the league, and the highest for any Arsenal player. With Ramsey out, he’s the clear favourite to be the team’s leading scorer.

Theo Walcott

Walcott has 5 goals to date, and has seemed to benefit from Mesut Ozil’s presence in the team. As far as likelihood to lead the team in scoring, he certainly shouldn’t be forgotten. He was our top scorer last season with 14 and while injury has hampered his progress this campaign, he’s still a strong candidate to step up as a major goal threat this season.

Mesut Ozil

Ozil already has 4 goals out of midfield since joining Arsenal, and one argument is that as he continues to get more comfortable his scoring rate may only go up. However, while his primary role is as a creator, there’s always the chance he goes on a scoring streak.

Jack Wilshere

Wilshere only has 2 goals to date, and his play has been somewhat erratic. However, he’s netted 2 goals in Champions League as well, and with Ramsey out injured he’ll have more opportunity to get himself on the score-sheet. This doesn’t make him a strong candidate to lead the team scoring charts by any means, and truth be told it would be very surprising if he got anywhere near double figures this season.

Lukas Podolski

Seeing action in just 3 games thus far, due in large part to a hamstring injury, Podolski does have 3 goals, including a big one in the recent win over West Ham, and he managed to score 11 in the league last season. However, with Giroud seemingly back on track after another goal against Newcastle, Podolski will have his work cut out to catch the Frenchman in the scoring charts.

Ultimately, the smart money has to be on Giroud to regain his form and finish as Arsenal’s top scorer. However, he has shown he can go through dry spells so the likes of Ramsey and Walcott are worth keeping an eye on.

Who do you think will finish as our top scorer?