David Nugent hitting the spot in Championship top scorer race
Published:Anyone who saw David Nugent’s one and only England appearance can tell you that he’s adept at making the most of simple goalscoring chances that come his way, and that has certainly been the case for Leicester City this season.
The former Preston and Portsmouth forward – who banged one in for his country from a matter of centimetres out against Andorra in 2007 – has been taking advantage of the huge amount of penalties that his club side have been awarded during the campaign so far.
Nigel Pearson’s men have scored eight spot kicks in their 14 matches in league and cup in 2013/14, with first-choice penalty taker Nugent bagging six of them.
His record from 12 yards makes the Scouser a good shout for this season’s Championship top scorer, especially at a hefty price of 18/1.
Currently three goals off the division’s leading men in Blackburn’s Jordan Rhodes (9/4 favourite) and Huddersfield hitman James Vaughan (6/1) who both have nine, Nugent will be vital to Leicester’s promotion push as the Foxes bid to improve on last season’s play-off semi-final heartbreak at the hands of Watford.
They’ve made a solid start in their attempts to return to the top flight for the first time in 10 years, and are currently spending the international break third in the table and three points off top two Burnley and QPR.
With a home game against a mid-table Huddersfield side who are winless in five on Saturday, Nugent will fancy his chances of adding to his league tally so far this season when club action resumes.
As well as Rhodes and Vaughan, his other rivals for top spot include QPR’s 6/1 Charlie Austin – who has scored from the spot in each of his last three league appearances – and Watford’s Troy Deeney, who bagged 20 league strikes last season and is 10/1 to top the charts this time around.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publication
