La Liga Top Scorer Odds Favor Karim Benzema, Luis Suarez and Memphis Depay

• The new La Liga season kicks off on Friday, August 13th at 3:00 pm EST with Valencia vs Getafe
• With Lionel Messi now a PSG player, this has opened up the field for the 2020-21 La Liga top scorer
• We look at possible winners of the Pichichi Trophy, take a look at the odds, and offer a best bet below

The 2021-22 La Liga season kicks off on Friday, August 13th at 3:00 pm EST with Valencia vs Getafe, and so what better time to look at the runners and riders in the battle for the league’s Pichichi Trophy.

With Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona for PSG, the field is now wide open in the race for the 2021-22 La Liga Golden Boot. Karim Benzema is the current favorite, just ahead of Luis Suarez and Memphis Depay but is there an outsider who offers the bettors some decent value?

We list the odds, look at the other players who are in the frame, and offer below our best bet.

La Liga 2021-22 Top Scorer Odds

Odds as of August 12, and more are available at Bet365.

No Messi; No Ronaldo

The departure of Messi to PSG has rocked La Liga but has also opened up things on the pitch to the extent there are now many uncertainties around who could win what this season. Any team that loses a Messi will be weaker for it, so the two Madrid clubs have both had their chances of a La Liga win enhanced, and it has also thrown wide open the race for this season’s Golden Boot.

🤩❤️💙 Welcome, Leo Messi! #PSGxMESSI pic.twitter.com/qxIbjLWFaS

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) August 11, 2021

Messi’s goalscoring record in La Liga was simply astounding and he has been the league’s leading goalscorer no less than eight times, winning what is known in Spain as the Pichichi Trophy for the last five consecutive seasons. In two of the three years Messi did not win the trophy, a certain Cristiano Ronaldo did, but with both players plying their trade in other countries things are about to change.

Suarez Still a Threat

In fact, there is only one player currently playing in La Liga who has won the trophy before, and that is Luis Suarez, who topped the goalscoring table with 40 goals in 2015-16 when playing for Barcelona. While Suarez no longer plays for the Catalan giants and is now 34 years of age, he is still among the goals, scoring 21 times last season in Atletico Madrid’s title-winning campaign. As a great friend of Messi’s, he would dearly love to follow in his footsteps as the leading scorer.

💙❤️ Blaugrana Love
From @LuisSuarez9 to Leo #Messi: pic.twitter.com/3ux9NVtr1L

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 7, 2021

If Suarez stays fit and healthy he will be up there again, no question, and even as the +500 second-favorite, there are worse bets out there, especially as this season it will likely take far less than 30 goals to top the charts. His Atleti team-mate Joao Felix is another who features in the betting but is very much an outsider at +2500 and with good reason having only scored seven times last season. The young Portuguese starlet is only going to improve but it is hard to see him reaching 20 goals.

Benzema’s Trophy to Lose?

The favorite for the Pichichi Trophy is Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema (+400), whose eyes will have lit up upon news of Messi’s departure. With 23 goals in the bag last season, bettered only by the Argentine maestro, the Frenchman will fancy his chances of topping the table along with winning the La Liga title. The only other real threat to Benezema from within his own camp is Eden Hazard – an outside bet at +1600 – but it is hard to see him getting anything close to 20 goals.

Back at home… Vamonos ⚔️🔥 #HalaMadrid #Nueve @realmadrid pic.twitter.com/bIQbhlPhtR

— Karim Benzema (@Benzema) August 4, 2021

La Liga Leading Scorers

Realistically, the biggest threat to Benzema will come from Barcelona where new signings Memphis Depay and Sergio Aguero will team up with Antoine Griezmann to form a three-pronged attack. Griezemann has spent plenty of time near the top of the Spanish goalscoring charts but this was in his time at Atletico Madrid. In his two seasons at Barca he has scored 22 times, so will need to double his output if he is to trouble Benzema.

Run the show, Amigo. @AntoGriezmann. 😌 pic.twitter.com/ldXoL7qna3

— Fiaz Hamzath 🍉 (@fiaz_hamzath) August 11, 2021

Gerard Moreno the Best of the Rest

Aguero’s record while at Man City was simply outstanding – 184 Premier League goals in his time there – but his output has slowed over the last few seasons, mainly due to a bad run of injuries, but he has hit double figures in Spain before during his younger years at Atleti. Depay is probably the better bet of the two after scoring 20 goals for Lyon last season, and if Barca can give him a decent supply he will push Benzema all the way.

🟡 Gerard Moreno = 2021 #SuperCup Man of the Match 👏 pic.twitter.com/sfJiXfJmac

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 11, 2021

Others to consider are Gerard Moreno – a 10/1shot who scored 23 league goals last season for Villarreal – and Youssef En-Nesyri whose 18 goals for Sevilla attracted the attention of some big clubs. Worth a look too is Alexander Isak, who scored 17 goals for Real Sociedad in their impressive fifth-place finish last season.

Best bet: Memphis Depay (+500). Best outside bet: Gerard Moreno (+1000)