This weekend’s football had some surprising results which, I’m presuming, many people would have not bet on at all. Only two draws this weekend, but that was easily replaced by four title favourites losing points in games which should cement their title bid.
First scalp of the weekend happened at Old Trafford. They faced a Newcastle side, who were much fresher than the hosts as they had only two games in the week to United’s three. Although Newcastle’s season has been going from strength to strength, they were still placed at odds of 6/1 to take down the once almighty United. United were considered heavy favourites at 8/15, but their loss to Newcastle was also the gambler’s as Newcastle eventually took all three points with a 1-0 score line.
Liverpool then took on West Ham, two teams who are having very different seasons to their last. Liverpool, looking like actual title contenders and West Ham, getting ready for the possibility of life in the Championship.
Next was the clash between Southampton and Man City. Man City have had a pretty bad season on the road, only gaining 7 points from 7 games. Southampton though, have had a good season at home, despite only being in the premier league just under two years.
The second scalp of the weekend took place at Stoke City, as they entertained Chelsea for the evening. Chelsea’s record is like Man City’s; excellent home form but don’t produce the goods away from home. This match ended up being quite similar. Chelsea were given odds of 4/7 to beat Stoke. Stoke were only given odds of 11/2 despite being at home.
Final 3 o’clock game saw West Brom take on Norwich. West Brom were considered the favourites, with odds of 5/6 as Norwich are finding it hard not to concede at the moment. They’ve conceded 15 in their last 5 games, only managing to score 5. Still, the visitors ended up winning the game without conceding as the game ended 2-0.
Last game of the day had Tottenham travel to the North-East to face Sunderland. Even though Sunderland have won only one in their last 5 and only 2 games overall this season, they were given good odds of 7/2 to beat a strong Tottenham side. They started off well, grabbing the first goal, but Tottenham ended up winning due to an own goal from Sunderland.
Last game of the weekend had Arsenal entertain Everton. Both sides are in great form but many would argue that Arsenal are the better of the two sides at the moment. 7/10 to take down Everton and Everton given 19/4. The game seemed like it would be without goals until the 80th minute. Cheers were short lived for the home fans as Everton grabbed the equaliser to stun Arsenals title bid.
This weekend has been great for the bookmaker. Last weeks results were very poor for them, only 2 draws and favourites won their games, but, this week is definitely a winner in their eyes. The only thing they could have asked for is a few more draws.