Weekend Review: English clubs flounder as punters back European rivals
Eventful weekend sees both Manchester clubs crash out of Europe along with Bayern Munich’s 8-2 demolition of Barcelona
English clubs’ European shortcomings left some punters beaming as Manchester United and Manchester City fluffed their lines on the continent.
City’s 3-1 loss to French outfit Lyon in the Champions League and United’s 2-1 defeat to Spanish side Sevilla in the Europa League were well-backed by doubting bettors back home.
Kindred Group’s Ali Gill said: “With the huge price on Lyon, likely coupled with knowledge of City’s recent fragility in the tournament and the goals involved, meant punters managed to come out ahead there.”
Our #UEL journey comes to an end.#MUFC @Chevrolet
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 16, 2020
Betway’s Chad Yeomans also saw “shrewd” punters get the better of the bookies by betting on City’s French opposition.
Yeomans said: “There were a few shrewd Betway punters who backed Lyon to win in 90 minutes at 11/1 pre-match and there were even a few who had even backed Lyon -1 and Lyon HT/FT – they certainly didn’t expect City to sweep past them like many did [and it] ended in a poor result for us.”
Speaking on United’s failure to reach the Europa League final, Yeomans said in-play action put customers ahead.
Yeomans added: “Sunday didn’t get much better as in-play punters could see like the rest of us, that it just wasn’t going to be Manchester United’s night and Sevilla’s second-half goal that put them 2-1 up and through to the final of the Europa League. It was a good result for plenty of Betway customers.”
For William Hill’s Rupert Adams, the Manchester clubs’ defeats means a potential downturn in Champions League turnover for the operator.
Adams said: “Obviously, the two Manchester losses were good results in the short term, but the fact they are out will have a negative impact on turnover for both competitions going forward.”
Elsewhere, German champions Bayern Munich dismantled Barcelona 8-2 as the Catalans suffered their heaviest-ever defeat in Europe.
WHAT DID WE JUST WATCH?! ? #MissionLis6on #FCBFCB #UCL pic.twitter.com/EMaCN7h4kk
— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) August 14, 2020
Gill said: “Bayern Munich’s astonishing 8-2 defeat of Barcelona was our biggest event by some way, and cemented Bayern’s place as the dominant team and strong favourites to win the title this year.”
Betfred’s Alan Firkins added: “In the outrights, Bayern are now hotter than the recent weather.”
Finally, in horseracing, Adams told EGR the weekend presented a mixed bag for the bookie.
“Saturday racing was good, with a number of big-priced winners, but Sunday was a horror show. The two key races could not have really gone any worse.”