Bookies rejoice as midweek football favourites flop

Bookmakers were celebrating another set of strong football results for the layers this morning as all four Premier League title contenders failed to win their midweek fixtures.

Punters were left shocked as Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City were unable to take advantage of current league leader Leicester City’s 2-2 draw at home to West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday.

Arsenal at around 2/7 was the top choice for punters last night, according to the bookies, while just three of the 10 most-popular favourites won, with non-Premier League heavyweights Bayern Munich and Celtic also failing to oblige.

Although William Hill said it faced a ?2m pay out should Leicester win the league, a spokesperson said the firm made a 37% profit as a result of the title contenders’ inconsistencies last night.

It was also a profitable night for rival bookie Ladbrokes. “Even Manchester United’s late winner didn’t do as much damage as it might have done years ago as they are slipping down the pecking order as far as punters are concerned,” PR manager, Alex Donohue, said.

“We are seeing notable spikes in turnover on outright markets, individual matches involving the teams and multiple bets due to Leicester’s title charge, so we want it to stay as volatile for as long as possible, before, ideally, Leicester finish a gallant second,” he added.

Meanwhile Sky Bet said it was “two-nil to the bookmakers” in the mid-week fixtures after suffering heavy losses on Saturday when favourites West Ham, Leicester and Stoke City all secured costly victories.

“Leicester, Middlesbrough and Southampton all failing to win on Tuesday night were the key results that left punters licking their wounds,” Sandro Di Michele, head of PR at Sky Bet, said.

“As entertaining as the title race is, the unpredictability is making it hard work for customers. Two very healthy nights of profit for Sky Bet,” he added.

And it was a similar story at Betway which saw punters make Arsenal the cornerstone of nearly every accumulator it took across both nights.

“With all four title contenders failing to win it was a great midweek,” the bookmaker said. “Although through our sponsorship of West Ham we dangled the carrot of 3/1 for Hammers’ fans and they took that with confidence before their game against Tottenham.”

In contrast to last year, operators have been enjoying a favourable run of football results of late. Earlier today Gala Coral reported a 55% increase in online EBITDA as its sports betting margin increased from 4.9% to 8.3%, in part due to kind football results.