Weekend Review: Christmas comes early as Gunners bust coupons
Arsenal's late equaliser ensured flying start for bookies, but a losing Sunday saw mixed results for the layers
Premier League football made its eagerly-anticipated return this weekend, with bookies reporting a mixed bag of results across all sporting events.
A buoyed Ladbrokes said “Christmas had come early”with Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United failing to hold onto a 1-0 lead against Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal in the early kick-off.
“Manchester United versus Arsenal burst many a coupon before the 3pm kick-offs had got under way and although the late win for Spurs took some wind out of our sails the earlier draws of Southampton versus Liverpool and Everton versus Swansea helped soften the blow,”Ladbrokes’ Jessica Bridge said.
Olivier Giroud’s late equaliser against United ensured a “great result”for Betfred, according to Peter Spencer: “A lot of people were backing United to win at home, while a few others fancied the Gunners to nick a victory, so the draw was the perfect result for us.”
Bet365 said they get off to a flyer thanks to the draw and both Merseyside clubs failing to win, but took a slight hit after West Ham was unable to hang on to victory against Tottenham Hotspur.
“Spurs’ late comeback was a bit of a kick in the teeth but one of just a few drawbacks in the English top flight,”bet365’s Steve Freeth said.
For William Hill, it was a mixed weekend of results with a “decent”Saturday followed by a “losing”Sunday. “The two most popular selections of the day were Newcastle and Chelsea who both won and the double with those two teams was very popular not to mention costly for William Hill,”Hills’ Rupert Adams said.
BetVictor said football results over the weekend “ended all square”, and even Barcelona’s home draw against Malaga wasn’t enough to boost the coffers.
“Barcelona dropping two points at home would normally be a cracking result but the fact that they were an afternoon kick off diluted its impact somewhat,”BetVictor’s Charlie McCann said.
Elsewhere, results in the rest of the sporting world didn’t go to plan for bet365. “The England results in the cricket and Rugby Union were both bad, while Scotland’s late show against Argentina at Murrayfield was painful viewing,”said Freeth.
A well-backed Andre Ward managed to retain his titles in the boxing, and BetVictor welcomed the late-night timing of the fight to ensure losses were kept to a minimum.
Ladbrokes said rugby union results were the best it had all year, while it suffered a “small blow”in the rugby league, with Australia heavily backed to land the Ladbrokes Four Nations trophy.
But Lads did take some joy in Andy Murray winning the ATP World Tour Finals in London: “Patriotic punters had deserted Murray thinking his extra time on court over the last week would be a step too far this weekend,”said Bridge.