Harry Kane may have already racked up three assists but the pre-tournament Top Goalscorer favourite and current holder of the World Cup Golden Boot is just 5/4 not to score a goal in Qatar.

The debate about a scoreless Kane struggling during the group games of a major tournament is nothing new having seen him burst into life during the knockout stages of Euro 2020, though he did get five of his six at the 2018 World Cup against Tunisia and Panama.

We make him a 66/1 shot to equal the four goals he managed at the Euros, but a lot shorter than his opening quote of 20/1 (now 5/2) to finish with the most assists proving he’s still the first name on Gareth Southgate’s team-sheet despite going 222 minutes without a shot on target, let alone a goal.

Kane has only managed four shots through his first three games, registering an xG total of 0.261 and a post-shot xG of 0, having failed to test a keeper yet.

Despite that, we’ve seen Kane at his playmaking best, putting up a chart-topping three assists in part thanks to his six key passes, with only five players in the tournament registering more. It could all so easily have been four assists had Marcus Rashford converted from Kane’s perfectly weighted through ball against Wales on Tuesday.

But the assists won’t mean much to his Top Goalscorer backers, seeing the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Cody Gakpo and teammate Rashford race away to three goals, and while there’s still time for Kane to turn things around, attentions may now be focused how many goals he’ll score in his remaining games.

It would have been a huge shock to see Kane go goalless throughout the entire tournament, especially had you said beforehand that England would score nine goals in the group stage, but he’s a 5/4 shot to do just that, and 6/4 to score just one.

Punters will be eyeing up England’s potential remaining fixtures, and while Senegal will be no walkover, it’s a game the Three Lions will expect to win. Then comes the potential quarter-final with France, assuming they get past Poland.

Kane is 9/2 to score two, and he’s 13/2 to score two or more against Senegal on Sunday, which currently appears his best chance of getting on the scoresheet.

If you fancy Kane to go on a bit of a run in the knockouts, he’s 20/1 to score three, 66/1 to score four and 125/1 to score five or more.

Steve Freeth

• England Men's Football Team
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