Weekend Review: Klopp’s kids win at Wembley while Ireland creep closer to Six Nations victory

It was a profitable weekend for bookmakers following the Carabao Cup being won by Liverpool in extra-time and Premier League results going against punters.

Jurgen Klopp’s side (8/11) lifted the first domestic trophy of the season, with the match ending 0-0 (13/5) in normal time.

The odds on Liverpool winning the three remaining competitions – the Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League – have tumbled from 1500/1 in the summer to 16/1 now, according to bet365’s Steve Freeth.

The Reds will be hoping to send Klopp off on a high after the German coach announced he was leaving at the end of the season.

Freeth said: “One down and three to go. Having been 1500/1 in the summer, we’re just 16/1 about Jurgen Klopp finishing his Liverpool career in style by landing all four trophies this season.

“Over 400 bets were placed at that original/highest price and many more at 1000/1 and all rates down. We have the Liverpool quadruple for telephone numbers.

“While our ante-post position on the Reds is far from ideal, the 0-0 at full time was perfect for us in what proved to be our best result of the weekend.”

Betway were also left pleased with the result, with Chad Yeomans saying the goalless draw delighted traders.

Yeomans remarked: “The big result of the weekend’s football was the EFL final, in which, despite numerous chances for both teams, the game miraculously finished 0-0 after 90 minutes, delighting our football traders and guaranteeing us a good day in the office.”

Liverpool’s win in extra time was “as good as we could expect” said Kindred Group’s Ali Gill, with many players backing the Merseyside team to win.

Gill commented: “In the Carabao Cup final, a 0-0 draw in normal time was, as always, about as good as we could expect, although in what is so often a cagey affair, it goes a bit less under the punters’ radar as an outcome.

“Liverpool were the better-backed team in the ‘To win the tie’ market, but overall a great result for the book, with a centre back being left to score the goal to settle it.”

Betfred’s Alan Firkins added: “The Carabao Cup final went to extra time, which is invariably a great result for the books – and was. A game win for Liverpool despite a heavily depleted squad right now, and the ‘Klopp Farewell Tour’ is off to a flyer.”

Elsewhere in English football, there was a convincing win for title-chasers Arsenal (2-5) on Saturday night, as they dispatched of Newcastle 4-1 at home.

Manchester United on the other hand were downed by a last-minute winner from former Gunner Alex Iwobi, while neighbours Man City were only able to put one past Bournemouth, which benefitted bet365.

Freeth said: “Punters also found Premier League winners hard to come by in what was a reduced coupon in the English top-flight.

“Their only highs were at Villa Park and at the Emirates, where the hosts both scored four, but with Manchester City being reduced to one goal at Bournemouth, likewise Wolves at home to struggling Sheffield United, it was a solid set of results overall.

“Manchester United’s failure at 4/6 scuppered a number of accumulators as did Brighton’s failure at 5/6 against Fulham and Everton respectively.”

Firkins noted how Fulham’s win ended United’s recent momentum, while the Premier League title race heats up heading into the final few months.

“Fulham was the name on everyone’s lips on Saturday afternoon, taking all three points at Old Trafford against a disappointing Manchester United. The Reds are now out to 6/1 for a top-four finish after building recent momentum to do just that.

“Two points separates the top three in the Premier League and, most unusually, all have played the same number of matches (26). So, just a dozen games remain, and we go 11/10 City, 11/5 Liverpool, 11/4 Arsenal; and it’s 80s bar. Brave man or woman who’ll call this one with any great certainty right now.”

For Kindred, the Manchester club’s results worked out in the operator’s favour, as did the other games in England’s top-flight.

Gill noted: “Overall results in the Premier League game were very positive for us as we managed a profit in all seven games played, Man City’s very narrow win over Bournemouth and Man Utd’s last minute defeat to Fulham being the two best.”

On the remainder of the football results, bettors and bookies did battle across Sunday’s fixtures around Europe with the big clubs in Portugal, France, Germany and Italy failing to secure three points.

Freeth commented: “Punters had some joy on Sunday with Celtic and Juventus both winning from behind to make a dent with the Serie A side getting a 95th minute winner, and we took a hefty blow from Inter beating Lecce 4-0, but, with PSG drawing and Real Madrid only winning 1-0, it was a favourable weekend of results.”

“In Europe it wasn’t a vintage set of results for the bettors either as PSG, Dortmund, Sporting and Milan failing to win were also very good results for the layers,” said Yeomans.

“In La Liga, Almeria sit rock bottom of the table with no victories and just nine points for the whole season. Many saw the visit of high-flying Atletico Madrid as a simple formality and an easy tick in the away win box, but the unexpected 2-2 stalemate left punters reeling,” he added.

Meanwhile, in rugby, England were left tasting defeat in the Six Nations after losing to Scotland at Murrayfield, with Kindred noting how bettors left England high and dry prior to the match beginning.

Gill said: “A tough weekend for England in the Six Nations as they lost to Scotland at Murrayfield. Punters seemed to have abandoned England slightly on the day, as a Scotland win saw us just about finish in the red.”

There was also the victory for Ireland over Wales, which now puts them in the driver’s seat for the Grand Slam at 1/3 and 1/100 to win the Six Nations.

Yeomans remarked: “In the Six Nations, Ireland marched on with a comfortable home win over Wales that will undoubtedly have punters who backed Andy Farrell’s men pre-tournament counting their money as they are now 1/100 to win the Championship and 1/3 for the Grand Slam.

“However, the huge upset of the weekend came at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille, where France took on Italy. The French – who had won 45 of their previous 48 Test Matches against Italy, including the past 14 in a row couldn’t continue the winning run and the contest ended in a 13-13 draw which ended many punters’ trebles in what was assumed to be a Sunday banker.”

Elsewhere, in horseracing, Kindred’s Gill suggested there were some nice races for punters who engaged with the Kempton card and those who backed Lump Sum in the Dovecoat Novice Hurdle came up trumps.

He said: “Some good racing from Kempton over the weekend kept punters nicely engaged as we enter the quiet period before Cheltenham. The Coral Racing Club handicap kicked the day off with a good result for the book as 9/2 shot Mark Of Gold beat well-backed favourite Joker De Mai into second.

“However, later in the day, the Dovecoat Novices’ Hurdle went to the very impressive 13/8 favourite Lump Sum, in a result which saw punters, ironically, win a lump sum.”

Lump Sum’s win now makes him 20/1, from 12/1, for the upcoming duo County Hurdle and Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham, according to Betfred.

Firkins said: “No massive movers as a result of the weekend’s racing but we have clipped No Ordinary Joe in to 12/1 from 16s for the Martin Pipe, Lump Sum is 12/1 from 20/1 for both the County Hurdle and the Martin Pipe, with impressive Fairyhouse Bobbyjo Chase scorer I Am Maximus now 10/1 from 20/1 for the Aintree Grand National.”