Bookmakers revel in Premier League derby weekend

This weekend kicked off in style for the bookies as title winners Chelsea lost 1-0 to bottom of the table West Ham United in Saturday’s early kick off to mark one of the shocks of the season so far.

Liverpool failing to beat Everton in the Merseyside derby also caused a headache for punters, as the Premier League proved unpredictable as ever.

Alex Apati said it was a great weekend of football for Ladbrokes, with the operator substantially helped by the number of draws that played out on Sunday.

“Chelsea was the early coupon buster, and Liverpool’s failure to beat Everton was great for us,” he said.

Ladbrokes also benefitted from Manchester City’s 2-1 win at Old Trafford against Manchester United in a top-of-the-table derby clash.

“The City win was also great, with plenty backing United at such long odds at home,” Apati added.

It was a similar story for William Hill who were also helped out by lower league results. Rupert Adams said it was a great weekend for the bookmakers, with plenty of shocks spread over both days.

“Saturday started well for us with Chelsea failing to beat West Ham in the early kick-off,” he said.

“Although the later Premier League results were not as kind, we caught a huge break when popular Championship teams Aston Villa and Wolves were held to 0-0 home draws.”

“Sunday caused a few more problems with all the Premier League teams scoring, but with Arsenal and Liverpool failing to win, it meant that 90 minutes betting was very good for us.”

Elsewhere, James DeGale getting chinned at 1/100 was described as “a very good result” by Steve Freeth of Bet365, while Ladbrokes’ Apati said there was very little interest in the fight due to the firm’s short price of 1/50.