Weekend Review: Bookies lament last-minute woe as late goals go in
Premier League punters come out on top after dramatic late winners for well-backed favourites Chelsea and Liverpool
The Premier League returned to action this weekend as some trademark last-minute drama on Super Sunday caused a significant swing to negatively impact the bookies.
A 90th minute own goal from Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld saw Liverpool return to the top of the league with a 2-1 win at Anfield, as Chelsea also left it late to beat Cardiff by the same scoreline.
Kindred Group’s racing strategy analyst Ali Gill said the two late strikes left the operator marginally in the red this weekend.
Getting closer… So believe harder ?? pic.twitter.com/ZLEuK0HGjM
— Mohamed Salah (@MoSalah) April 1, 2019
“Late goals for both Liverpool and Chelsea left us well in the red for those games and it also bought in the ‘big three’ acca for the weekend after Manchester City beat Fulham 2-0.
“Man City’s poor finishing on the other hand actually saved us significantly as punters looked to find value outside the 1X2 market on that one – the ‘overs’ goals market was incredibly well backed.”
It was a similar story for Ladbrokes. The firm’s Alex Apati said: “Liverpool’s late goal cost us as you can imagine, as did Chelsea’s comeback at Cardiff.
“Couple them with wins for Manchester United and Man City and it’s easy to see why we’re hoping Arsenal drops points tonight.”
None of the weekend’s nine Premier League matches ended all square, much to the annoyance of bet365 spokesperson Steve Freeth.
Never give up! ? Last min winner! ? 3 pts! ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/M4igfNyJwm
— Ruben Loftus-Cheek (@RLC) March 31, 2019
He said: “It was good to see the Premier League back – just a shame there weren’t any draws.
“A general lack of them this season, but that is just the way it goes sometimes. There were also some great late goals for punters with the title race still very much up for grabs,” he added.
Away from the Premier League, Apati said plenty of lower-league punters bagged both teams to score accas, while Kindred bemoaned Real Madrid’s late goal in their 3-2 victory over SD Huesca.