Confederations Cup Tips: Roberto Soldado

The Confederations Cup gets underway on Saturday night in Brazil and although the tournament is used as a logistics test ahead of the World Cup, there’s plenty to learn from the action on the pitch.

From a betting perspective there isn’t much fat in the outright betting so I’ve focused my attention in the top goalscorer market.

Of the two mini-leagues, Group B is by far the weakest. The Nigerian team is embroiled in an argument with their FA over unpaid bonuses, whilst leading striker Emmanuel Emenike misses the tournament. Joining them as potential whipping boys are Tahiti, a team made up of part-timers.

Looking to take advantage of these weakness are Spain. With Xabi Alonso missing from midfield, Vicente Del Bosque has the opportunity to evolve the world champions into a more attacking side whilst Nigeria and Tahiti look ripe for the taking.

The market expects David Villa and/or Fernando Torres to be the main benefactors but they have struggled for club and country. In recent friendlies both have been replaced on the hour mark by Roberto Soldado and there must be a chance the Valencia striker earns a starting berth.

2013 Domestic Season

The 28-year-old scored 24 goals in La Liga this season and of all the strikers at the Confederations Cup, only Shinji Kagawa has a better conversion rate of shots turning into goals. Unfortunately I don’t have data for the Brazilian duo of Fred and Neymar but both are short in the betting considering Brazil’s struggles of late.

It is a gamble backing a striker who isn’t a guaranteed starter but at 20/1 (Skybet) the value is with Roberto Soldado because just one strong performance against modest opponents could be enough to win the bet.