Weekend Review: Bookies take a beating in “brutal” weekend of Premier League action

There was barely a Premier League shock in sight this weekend as the acca-backers got the better of the bookies in the lead-up to Cheltenham Festival.

Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham all comfortably beat their weaker opponents while Manchester United won 2-1 at home in Saturday’s big clash against Liverpool.

There were plenty of goals in the other matches, including Leicester City’s 4-1 defeat of nearly-relegated West Brom and Burnley’s 3-0 away win at shambolic West Ham.

And it could get even worse for the layers this evening as title-headed Manchester City visit Stoke, where an away win is likely to tick off a huge amount of accumulator bets.

“This weekend was one that can only be described as brutal for Kindred in the Premier League,” said Kindred Group’s Ali Gill.

“No real shocks and plenty of goals for the overs line meant that we were beaten in eight of the nine games by jubilant punters, with Spurs, Arsenal and Leicester’s wins being particularly expensive.

“With a large number of Saturday coupons coming in, we will certainly be hoping that Stoke can cause a mighty upset tonight to kill any remaining accas,” he added.

It was a similar story for BetVictor, where Charlie McCann said: “It was a great weekend for football punters.

“Just when you thought Spurs might do the layers a favour by going a goal down and losing Harry Kane, they turned on the style.”

Director of exchange and Ladbrokes Coral Shane McLaughlin said: “It was a busy weekend on BETDAQ with action coming from a range of sports and events.

“There was strong interest across the major European football leagues, with the highlight being the £710,000 matched on Manchester United v Liverpool.”

The bookies did however claw some money back on the rugby as England’s Six Nations campaign continued to unravel with a 22-16 defeat against France.

Gill said: “England’s Six Nations has fallen apart in the last two match rounds, leaving Ireland as the new champions.

“England’s loss to France left us way ahead on the day and, in the outright market, England losing the crown also left us well in the black.”

Elsewhere, bet365’s Steve Freeth revealed that Tiger Woods could be back in the mainstream conversation after the firm took more than 800 bets on the American to win the 2018 Masters.

“He was 80/1 for the Major at the back end of 2017 and he’s now into 11/4 to win a Major during 2018,” said 365’s Steve Freeth.

“I’m not saying Tiger-Mania is back, but there are definitely glimpses!”