Paddy’s picks for this weekend’s £475,000 Hotshot Jackpot

I love a bit of Hotshot Jackpot, me.

Mostly because the name reminds of my favourite dish: the Hotpot Snack Box, which I get from Lippy Pippy’s Heart-Attack Chippy every time I visit Bolton. But also because there’s nothing better than the prospect of free money, especially when it’s £475,000.

What’s more, it’s pretty good fun trying to pick out six first goalscorers from a weekend’s footy action.

Here are the men I’m going for this time around.

Crystal Palace v Stoke – Wilfried Zaha

It looks like Roy is slowly putting back together the pieces of Crystal Palace’s season. Frank de Boer left the Eagles in a terrible state, but the former England manager is leading a gradual recovery, and their form and performance have notably improved.

At the heart of those improvements has been the Ivorian wing-wizard, Wilf Zaha, and you’d have to think his influence will be felt once again at Selhurst Park this weekend.

Tottenham v West Brom – Harry Kane

Frankly, there isn’t much point thinking too deeply about this one. Harry Kane is one of Europe’s finest forwards, and scored a hat-trick against West Brom in January. Backing anyone else would be a very risky business indeed.

Liverpool v Chelsea – Alvaro Morata

Quite a tough one to call, this. Liverpool score a lot of goals, but also concede an absolute bucketload as well. Their midweek match against Sevilla may have taken a fair bit out of them, so it wouldn’t be any surprise to see them struggle to get into things early on.

For that reason, I’m going for a Chelsea player here. Alvaro Morata is a gifted forward, and has been on a decent run of form, so he gets the nod.

Southampton v Everton – Wayne Rooney

Two teams who aren’t exactly setting the world alight. Everton can’t even find a manager, while Southampton are coached by the reliable but not particularly exciting Mauricio Pellegrino. It wouldn’t be a massive shock if this game was on the dull side of boring, so picking a first scorer is a bit of a chore.

Ultimately, this may be about who has the most guts, and surely no-one on the pitch in this one will have more than the Scouse Schillaci himself, Wayne Rooney.

Burnley v Arsenal – Alexandre Lacazette

Despite losing at Koln on Thursday evening – yes, really, Arsenal actually played a match on Thursday – Arsenal are actually in a fairly decent vein of form. There’s been a lot of talk of crisis at the Emirates  – as always – but on the pitch it’s pretty unfounded. The Gunners won’t be in the title race, but they’re unquestionably in the battle for a Champions League place.

As for Burnley, they are punching well above their weight. You’d have to think they might meet their match this weekend. Arsenal’s dangerous frontman, Alex Lacazette, gets my vote here.

Huddersfield v Man City – Kevin de Bruyne

It’s tempting to choose one of Sergio Aguero or Gabriel Jesus, but it’s hard to know which of them will get a more significant spell on the pitch. So, with all due respect to Huddersfield, it’s basically about picking a different City player.

Kevin de Bruyne is currently one of the finest attacking midfielders in the world. He could well open the scoring in this one.