July 21, 2008

Premier League

Quite possibly the only market where Ronaldo is 14/1

Paddy Power have opened a market on who will score the first Premier League hat-trick of the season and Fernando Torres, who scored two league trebles last season, is the 7/1 favourite.

Didier Drogba and Emmanuel Adebayor are close behind at 9/1 and 12/1 respectively while Cristiano Ronaldo and Dimitar Berbatov are not far behind at 14/1.

It’s usually one of the top strikers playing at a big club who does the honour, as proven by the fact that Adebayor (v Derby)  grabbed the first last season and Wayne Rooney (v Bolton) got the first the year before but sometimes there are big shocks, as was shown in 2005-06 when the first hat-trick was scored by Marlon Harewood for West Ham in a shock 4-0 win over Aston Villa.

If there is going to be an unexpected winner this year then Roque Santa Cruz’s odds of 28/1 look pretty tempting, especially when considering he scored one last season against Wigan.

Click here to claim a free bet from Paddy Power.