Weekend Review: Bookies suffer as Premier League leaders march on
Victories for high-flyers Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City leave the layers reeling despite a better show in the racing
A host of high-scoring victories for the Premier League’s front-runners led to a “grim” weekend for some bookmakers, despite a better performance on the racing front at Wetherby and Ascot.
Liverpool, Arsenal and league-leaders Manchester City all hit the net four-times in their Saturday fixtures, securing three points against Crystal Palace, Sunderland and West Brom respectively.
And William Hill’s Rupert Adams said even Manchester United’s goalless draw at home to Burnley failed to save the bookmaker.
“Saturday saw heavy losses on the match result and both team to score coupons with many punters latching on to the tendency of Liverpool and Arsenal in particular to win matches whilst conceding goals at the same time,” he said.
“Sunday was slightly better though not by much as both Premier League favourites won easily. Overall it was a pretty grim weekend for William Hill and many punters will be celebrating wins.”
And it was a similar situation at BetVictor. “In a weekend of very little cheer for the layers, United’s 0-0 draw saved our bacon, it wasn’t enough to make it a winning weekend,” the operator’s Charlie McCann said.
“Punters well on top with the three Saturday aways Arsenal, City and Liverpool popular, whilst Sunday’s two Premier League jollies winning made sure it was a good day for favourite backers.”
However, it was a different story in the horseracing, particularly at bet365 following a surprise 16/1 shot victory for Irish Cavalier in the Charlie Hall Chase on Saturday.
“[It was] one of our best, if not the best, single Saturday race of the year so far and further results at Wetherby and Ascot meant it was a fine day on the racing front,” Steve Freeth of bet365 claimed.
Meanwhile, Alex Donohue of Ladbrokes echoed Freeth’s positivity. “The public love jumps racing and the sport’s stars so turnover was healthy at both major meetings with results being particularly favourable,” he said.
“Cue Card losing wasn’t actually as good as it might seem though as the price is too short for your recreational customer but nonetheless it did send all of the racing multiples down.”