Back Hernandez to open the scoring

26Jan 2013

Betfair

Where would football be without goals? In a pretty dull state of affairs, that's where. This new column for betting.betfair is dedicated to goals and lots of them, and is provided by Dan Fitch...

Each week I will pick out a number of choice goalscorer bets. It won't just be me saying "that Lionel Messi gets on the scoresheet fairly often" either (please note: the author reserves the right to pick Messi as an anytime scorer selection when times are hard).

So without much further jibber jabber, let's press press on with the selections. First we go to Old Trafford in the FA Cup where Manchester United meet Fulham.

Robin van Persie is Manchester United's undisputed goal-machine, but this looks like an opportunity for Alex Ferguson to give him a well-earned rest. The FA Cup is no one's idea of a priority these days and having been given a home tie, I think United will give a run out to Javier Hernandez.

The Mexican is available at 5.6 to score first. If Ferguson instead decides to start with the Mexican on the bench and someone else scores first while he's sat on it, then you'll see your stake returned. What could possibly go wrong?

From the FA Cup we move to Spain where Real Madrid play host to Getafe on Sunday. Real are another side that could be jiggling their front-line about over the weekend.

Karim Benzema started in Real's midweek cup-tie against and opened the scoring in a 1-1 draw. However, in last weekend's league match against Valencia, it was Gonzalo Higuain who played as the central striker and was first on the scoresheet in what became an emphatic 5-0 win.

I'm tipping Higuain to return to Madrid's starting line-up and with 8 goals in 13 league games this season, the 3.65 on offer for the Argentina to score first looks like good value.

Next we move on to Africa, to the draw-fest that is the Africa Cup of Nations. Today sees the Ivory Coast take on Tunisia in a game that will probably decide the group winners.

The Ivory Coast won their opening game against Togo 2-1, but weren't at their best. It took a late goal from Gervinho to seal the win, but don't worry Arsenal fans, I'm not tipping him to pull off two miracles in the space of a week.

No, it's Didier Drogba that interests me. The Ivorian has scored 59 goals in 92 games for his country. Drogba had a quiet opening game by his standards and the Ivory Coast need him to return to form if they are to win this tournament.

Perhaps it's the fact that Drogba has been slumming it in China that can explain Drogba's slow start. His country needs him to deliver now and he's not a man that tends to let people down, so the 5.0 for him to score during the game looks a good bet.

Over to Italy, where Sunday's evening kick-off sees Inter Milan play at home to Torino. Inter's nippy Argentine forward Rodrigo Palacio is their top scorer this season with 14 goals in 25 games.

This makes the price of 5.0 available for Palacio to open the scoring look very tasty indeed, with the diminutive frontman the second favourite behind Diego Milito in the betting at 4.5.

Just when you're thinking that I'm only picking low-priced forwards in this column, I'm going to pull the rug out from under you, as we return to the FA Cup.

Spurs travel to Leeds on Sunday and it's their centre-back Steven Caulker that interests me. The England international is a menace from set-pieces, scoring twice this season for his club and once again on his international debut. The price of 38.0 for Caulker to score first is worth a small stakes punt.

Recommended Bets

Back Javier Hernandez First Goalscorer @ 5.6

Back Gonzalo Higuain First Goalscorer @ 3.65

Back Didier Drogba First Goalscorer @ 5.0

Back Rodrigo Palacio First Goalscorer @ 4.5

Back Steven Caulker First Goalscorer @ 38.0