Weekend Review: Unpredictable FA Cup sees bookies make winning start to 2020

The magic of the FA Cup rang true for the bookies this weekend as some unlikely results saw operators kick off 2020 in a winning way.

Premier League duo Wolves and Manchester United carved out a 0-0 draw – the perfect result for layers – while Jose Mourinho’s Spurs could only draw against Championship side Middlesbrough.

We're set for an #EmiratesFACup third-round replay.#MUFC

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 4, 2020

The third round of the competition saw 20 matches played on Saturday and 10 on Sunday, while tonight’s clash between Arsenal and Leeds United will round off the betting action.

Kindred Group’s Ali Gill said: “The FA Cup early rounds are often a good time for bookies to get a head start in the competition, and this weekend was no exception.

“Thirteen of our biggest 15 FA Cup matches of the weekend went our way, including some very favourable results from Man Utd and Spurs.

“The biggest match however was unsurprisingly the Merseyside derby, which was one for the punters as Liverpool took the win against Everton.”

What a crazy day, WOW??! Unbelievable feeling scoring my first goal for @LFC but most importantly a great team performance. On to the next….? pic.twitter.com/kUQAaoxsqq

— Curtis Jones (@curtisjr_10) January 5, 2020

It was a similar story at William Hill, where Rupert Adams told EGR: “We love the FA Cup – it often brings us a cracking weekend and always a surprise or two.

“It is 1-0 to the bookies in 2020,” he added.

One Betfred punter used the flurry of fixtures to beat the bookies however, winning £4258 off a £10 accumulator across the FA Cup and five leagues in England, Scotland, Spain and Portugal.

Betway’s Chad Yeomans revealed that Barcelona’s draw with bottom-of-the-league Espanyol wiped out a ton of accumulators, with Brighton’s defeat to Sheffield Wednesday another positive result.

Ladbrokes’ Alex Apati confirmed the operator made a solid start to the year thanks to Port Vale scoring against Man City, although a win for Arsenal this evening would tip the balance back in favour of the weekend’s acca-backers.

Elsewhere, the Labour leadership contest is heating up with Betfred. Sir Keir Starmer is the current favourite at 8/13, while Jess Phillips has come in from 25/1 to fourth-favourite at 10/1.

I believe another future is possible – but we have to fight for it.

That’s why I’m standing to be leader of the Labour Party.

Join me and together we can – and we will – win: https://t.co/7LQiNItoDU pic.twitter.com/hZQaDBmx3M

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) January 4, 2020

Finally, Kindred described the weekend’s racing as a “much more player-friendly affair” following victory for favourite Fiddlerontheroof in The Unibet Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown.

Betdaq matched £2.2m on the horseracing action at Sandown, where one punter took home £6k after his £2k stake on Anthony Honeyball’s Jepeck came in.