Weekend Review: Shock Premier League results leave bookies beaming
Victories for Sheffield United and Bournemouth upset the apple cart as Newmarket’s July Cup yields a 12/1 winner
Bookmakers were counting the cash after Premier League strugglers and Champions League challengers alike pulled off several shock results this weekend.
Burnley’s 1-1 draw away to Liverpool, Sheffield United’s 3-0 trouncing of Chelsea and Bournemouth’s stunning 4-1 win over Leicester bust accumulators across the country as punters rued the unpredictability of the closing weeks of the season.
Kindred Group’s Ali Gill said: “Liverpool’s draw with Burnley was, unsurprisingly, our biggest winning event by a distance. Sheffield Utd’s win over Chelsea was next in the Kindred winning column with Bournemouth’s 4-1 win over Leicester following.”
We keep fighting ? #BOULEI // #afcb ? pic.twitter.com/brNFWpeyrz
— AFC Bournemouth ? (@afcbournemouth) July 12, 2020
Betway’s Chad Yeomans noted that it was a “good weekend” overall and once again pointed to the unexpected trio of results.
Yeomans added: “Liverpool drawing with Burnley and Sheffield United’s 3-0 thumping of Chelsea were not results the Betway punters expected or backed. [And] one of the unexpected score lines of the weekend then occurred on Sunday evening when Bournemouth hammered Leicester City 4-1.”
Betfred’s Alan Firkins looked towards the season’s conclusion and said Manchester United and Aston Villa could potentially cost the bookmaker a bomb.
If Manchester United manage to secure a top four spot and Villa stave off relegation, this weekend’s positivity will be quickly dashed.
??? team effort today ?#AVLCRY #AVFC
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) July 12, 2020
Firkins said: “After being supported at as large as 8/1, Manchester United are a big loser for us if they can secure a top four spot, which now looks eminently feasible.
“If Villa can’t avoid the drop, that’s another expensive one – we took plenty on them being relegated in the days following their promotion, as many evidently doubted they could thrive among the elite,” he added.
Elsewhere, William Hill’s Rupert Adams said a combination of surprising Premier League results and a July Cup victory at Newmarket for 12/1-shot Oxted was a perfect storm for bookmakers.
Adams continued: “It was a weekend of bookmaker-friendly results in both football and horseracing, so one to savour for us.”