Are the current Viktor Gyokeres Champions League top scorer odds worth following – or backing already – even at this early point in the current UCL edition?
Gyokeres has been on fire in front of goal recently, with a stunning treble against Manchester City putting the Sporting Lisbon hitman level with Harry Kane at the top of the Champions League scoring charts on Tuesday night.
Going into Wednesday’s matchday four fixtures, the former Coventry City forward is priced at 12/1 to finish as the top scorer in UEFA’s elite club competition in the 2024/25 campaign.
Viktor Gyokeres Champions League top scorer odds – History in the making?
Sporting are flying high in the Champions League table after an unbeaten start. The Primeira Liga champions have collected 10 points from a possible 12, scoring nine goals along the way. Gyokeres, who was plying his trade in the EFL Championship just last year, has bagged five of those.
Gyokeres also has a personal incentive merely beyond winning the UCL golden boot, as Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the highest scoring Swede in the competition, netting 48 goals to sit joint-10th on the all-time list. Gyokeres has a long way to go to match his compatriot, but the 26-year-old can certainly make great inroads this season.
Of course, we are still yet to see how the Portuguese champions will function after Ruben Amorim departs for Old Trafford. Regardless, Sporting will fancy their chances of progressing in the Champions League, as Gyokeres is simply on fire right now, netting nine in his last three.
The price is likely to shorten if his stunning form continues, so the 12/1 could be worth snapping up on paper at least.
Optimism, but with a word of warning
However, the super Swede has been linked with a move away from the Estadio Jose Alvalade, which could influence his potential Champions League goal tally. Even though Gyokeres hasn’t shown any real desire to move to Old Trafford yet, Amorim likely just needs the right financial backing from INEOS to coax Gyokeres.
Such a move would surely kill off his chances of becoming the UCL top scorer, given that Man Utd are not in the competition this term. That said, he would – assuming United make it to the knockout stage – be an interesting bet to be the Europa League top scorer, given that he would be starting from zero.
For that reason, it makes sense to wait until the end of January to back Gyokeres, even if the odds shorten drastically. The fact that he is less experienced than Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland on the UCL scene can only help to keep his odds above the 5/1 region by the end of the league phase.
With the exception of Jose Mourinho’s UCL-winning Porto side of 2004, Portuguese teams also tend to have a short life expectancy in the knockout stage compared to representatives of the big five European leagues. This too will prevent his odds from shortening into complete worthlessness after the eighth and final UCL league phase matchday in January.
Written by Gareth Hinton
