If There's A New Way, I'll Be The First In Line. But It Had Better Work This Time

A follow-up to my preview of a few of the World Cup Golden Boot contenders (A follow-up! I've started a feature on here and am actually continuing with it!) as we look at a few more likely contenders:

Neymar (best odds 14/1 general)
The star man for the hosts, despite being just 22 he already has an impressive record for the Selecao of 33 goals in 48 appearances (including the Golden Ball award for Best Player at last summer's Confederations Cup). Likely to be deployed by Luiz Felipe Scolari initially from the left, with creative license to move infield, in a not dis-similar manner to the previously discussed Cristiano Ronaldo, a generous group should give Neymar opportunities to get at least 2 or 3 goals under his belt before the really serious business starts (even if Ross County's Yann Songo'o makes it into the Cameroon squad. 2 factors that work against Neymar, though, are his club form at Barcelona and the lack of other real stars among his team-mates. Firstly, while a record of 15 goals in 40 games is reasonable, it's difficult to look on his 1st season as a complete success- at times he appears to have upset the balance of what was an exceptionally well-oiled machine- at times, it's been difficult to justify his inclusion ahead of Alexis Sanchez (more on him later) and Pedro. As for the rest of the Brazil team, how much chances will the likes of Hulk, Fred & Jo really create for him? Brazil, though, should go far enough into the tournament for him to be among the leading Golden Boot contenders, though, and his price of 14/1 will only shorten as the tournament goes on

Karim Benzema (40/1 with Bet Victor)
Now here's an interesting contender. A true Number 9 hitting prime goalscoring form for a much-fancied outsider with a winnable group, Benzema has to an extent flown under the radar until recently- his price of 40/1 has shortened in the last few months from 66/1- indeed, some bookmakers have him as short as 20/1. Operating in a more central role than many that have been looked at so far, a strong supporting cast featuring the brilliance on the wing of Franck Ribery, the guile and passing range of Yohan Cabaye, the brute force, power and drive of Paul Pogba and the wildcard Antoine Griezmann should create plenty of chances for Benzema, who possesses all the qualities one would desire of a centre-forward. Opening games against Switzerland, Ecuador and Honduras should see Benzema rack up at least 2 or 3 goals early on in the tournament- with 6 goals being the average number being scored by the Golden Boot winner in the 8 tournaments where the last 4 play a total of 7 games, this should bring Benzema right into contention for the individual prize. If his team are good enough to compete for the teams' ultimate prize, Benzema could very well take the Golden Boot