With it confirmed that Harry Kane has again suffered ankle ligament damage, the market for Premier League top-scorer has taken a turn.
Before the weekend Kane was 5/6 favourite to win the Premier League Golden Boot for a second successive season but then he was forced off in the early stages of the FA Cup quarter-final clash with Millwall.
Spurs have since confirmed the injury and revealed it was similar to the one he endured earlier in the season, which at that time sidelined him for several weeks and saw him miss 10 games.
INJURY UPDATE: We can confirm that @HKane sustained ligament damage to his right ankle during Sunday's FA Cup win against Millwall. pic.twitter.com/oeWGopOfXO
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 14, 2017
Whilst Spurs believe he will be back sooner than when he hurt his ankle previously, bookmakers have been forced to react quickly, despite the fact he still sits at the top of the chart.
But the new favourite is Romelu Lukaku – who like Kane has 19 goals, but now he is leading the market at 7/4 with Chelsea star Diego Costa cut to 11/4 from 9/2.
The #PL Golden Boot race is heating up ? pic.twitter.com/dQmOZzHpoj
— Premier League (@premierleague) March 15, 2017
We spoke with BetVictor’s head of ante post Michael Triffitt about the top-scorer market and he told TheGamblingTimes.com: “Because injury can strike at any time, it’s difficult to sometimes get overly excited when your selection hits the front and shortens dramatically. I have held several eye catching ante post betting vouchers on top scorer events that have ultimately ended up in the bin under the ‘value loser’ label!.
“This season the race to be Premier League top scorer has proved an interesting and intriguing one with a number of players supported at varying times. Manchester United marksman Zlatan Ibrahimovic was all the rage pre season and was popular at the opening 12/1. He still remains our worst result by far.
“However all the leading contenders have attracted attention so at least the book has been balanced and really anyone but the swede will be seen as a good result at present. In fairness Kane has been popular during the last month when he has really gone up the gears so a while off won’t be missed by bookmakers I suspect!.
“If we had to nominate our best result of the leading men then Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez would fit the bill perfectly and also be a nice 20/1 coup for my esteemed colleague Mr Jack Milner!!!”