Championship Tip: Top Goalscorer

Picking the top goalscorer for the Championship is a notoriously tough task with the top players potentially getting snapped up by the Premier League piranhas right up till the transfer window closes. Then, an explosive first half of the season will only rekindle that prospect come January. With that in mind, we need a player who seems settled and likely to stay put even if the goals fly in. As good a candidate as any in that respect is Southampton’s Rickie Lambert.

The Saints’ favourite was the kingpin in last season’s promotion campaign. Lambert netted 21 league goals to lead Nigel Adkins’ side into second spot. This was certainly no flash in the pan. The 2009-10 season was even more spectacular from a personal point of view as the Liverpool-born striker bagged a remarkable 37 goals in all competitions. The year before that wasn’t too shabby either; Lambert netted 29 times in the league for Bristol Rovers. Clearly we are looking at a man who knows his way round a penalty area. 87 goals in three seasons tells its own story at any level.

But can Lambert cope with the tougher defences in the Championship? Well it’s not hard to find examples of prolific strikers who have coped well with the step up in quality. Most recently there was Grant Holt. The Norwich striker grabbed 24 goals for the Canaries in League One and followed that with 21 more in the Championship. Lambert is a year younger than Holt and plays for a team with similar aspirations; there’s no reason why he can’t follow suit.

The 29-year-old recently signed a contract extention that keeps him at Southampton till 2014. In truth, even if he scores frequently in the next few months it is unlikely that Premier League clubs will be knocking down the door to snatch a player pushing 30. That may be a shame for Lambert, but it’s great news for our tip.

In a side touted to challenge as a decent outside bet for promotion, goal scoring opportunities should continue to come his way. Back Rickie Lambert at 25/1 with VictorChandler, the each-way bet paying out 1/4 odds if he finishes in the division’s top four scorers.