Expert Premier League predictions from Mark Langdon: 50-1 first goalscorer tip

There is always an extra spring in the step come New Year's Day in a World Cup year and whatever the rights and wrongs of the tournament in Qatar, the finals remain the highlight of any sporting calendar every four years.

Quite how a winter World Cup will play out remains to be seen but here are five players who could shine in the finals.

Florian Wirtz

Wirtz was 15 days past his 17th birthday when he made his Bundesliga debut and a couple of weeks later he became the youngest goalscorer in the league's history when he notched against Bayern Munich.

Still only 18, Bayer Leverkusen's attacking midfielder is doing amazing work and is joint-top of the goal-creating actions in Europe's top five leagues on 19 alongside Mohamed Salah.

What makes that statistic all the more remarkable is the fact he has played only 14 times and his average goal-creating figure of 1.52 per 90 minutes is miles clear of anyone else in Europe's elite leagues.

Karim Adeyemi

Germany have been searching for a striker for some years and the answer may lie across the border in Austria where 19-year-old Karim Adeyemi is filling the left by Erling Haaland's departure from RB Salzburg.

It's no secret that Adeyemi is the real deal - he ended up in Austria only after being kicked out by Bayern at youth level for off-field issues - and his movement is so difficult to handle. He seems destined to deliver on the biggest stage sooner rather than later.

Pedri

It could be argued that Pedri was the player of the Euros and definitely the breakthrough act of the tournament, but a ridiculous decision to send him to the Olympics straight afterwards has led to him sitting out much of this season due to injury.

When the player dubbed the "new Iniesta" returns expect to see more special things from this silky-skilled Spanish playmaker.

Gavi

"It's not normal that he plays like that," said Luis Enrique after giving 17-year-old midfielder Gavi his debut for the national team after just a few starts for Barcelona. With Pedri, Gavi and Ansu Fati in the ranks, the so-called death of Barca may be way off target and all three could be huge for 8-1 Spain at the World Cup.

Vinicius

Garth Crooks showed this week it's not always best to think outside of the box when doing these kind of features. Crooks- in trademark fashion - did a Premier League team of the year without Mohamed Salah.

Never ignore the obvious and the form of Vinicius means he cannot be left out. The Brazilian took time to warm to the task at Real Madrid but he is still only 21 and tops Europe's stats according to fbref.com for progressive carries and carries into the penalty area, while only Allan Saint-Maximin has dribbled past more opponents.

Best bets

Ben Davies first goalscorer in Watford v Tottenham
0.5pt 50-1 general

Ben Davies to score in Watford v Tottenham
0.5pt 20-1 general

Saturday preview

For a less obvious call, let's start 2022 with a huge-priced bang by backing Tottenham's Ben Davies to score against Watford.

Davies finished 2021 superbly on the left of Antonio Conte's back three and missed good chances against Vitesse and Norwich, while he was on the vicinity for Brentford's own goal.

He had the ball in the net at 0-0 against Southampton but it was ruled out for offside and that's four games in nine starts under Conte where Davies has shown up in big goalscoring positions.

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