If we knew then… Premier League betting review

The weekend’s Premier League action threw up some odd results, but that meant big returns for some punters. Here’s some of the bigger football bets that landed this weekend.

We’ve been desperately waiting for the return of the football so much anything that happened over the weekend was going to be labelled ‘amazing’. Oh look, Arsenal trying to walk the ball into the back of the net again - that’s amazing. Wow, Liverpool again looking as threatening as a sleepy kitten – that’s incredible. And so on and so forth.

Thankfully, we didn’t need to lie to ourselves and pretend it was amazing because it genuinely was amazing. Two 5-0 thumpings. Liverpool beaten 3-0 and City being made sweat by the new boys. Here’s a look at some of the bigger priced bets that were backed during a remarkable start to the Premier League season.

500/1
Swansea to beat QPR 5-0 (Live betting)

New manager. Key players flogged. Uncertainty in the ranks. Swansea were supposed to be classic candidates for ‘second season syndrome’, but there was little evidence of that as they tore into QPR at Loftus Road. The Rs actually started quite well. For a whole seven minutes. Thereafter it was a nightmare as Rangers defended like statues and Rob Green looked his old, unsecure self. Some people saw the writing on the wall and took the 500/1 on offer in running for the Swans to trounce their hosts 5-0.

There was also some top quality soothsaying in other markets as Swansea to win by four or more goals was backed at 100/1. Someone was also quite impressed by Michu in the past because they got on the Swans new boy to score two or more goals on his debut at a less spectacular, but commendable, odds of 30/1.

400/1
Zoltan Gera to score first and West Brom to win 3-0

‘This time around it’s going to be different’. The Liverpool fans’ opening day of the season mantra for the last 20-odd years was rather short-lived as Brendan Rodgers’ first league game in charge of the Reds ended in an embarrassing defeat. In fairness, the Reds started quite well, but from the moment Zoltan Gera reminded everyone that he was still alive thanks to a brilliant strike into the top left hand corner of Pepe Reina’s goal, it was the same old story. The Baggies took advantage of some generous defending and refereeing to run out 3-0 winners, landing one lucky punter a 400/1 scorecast bet. Nice way to start the season.

The straightforward Correct Score bet of West Brom 3-0 wasn’t too shabby either, paying 70/1 and someone was cheering Shane Long’s ‘limper than an arthritic donkey’ penalty as it meant their West Brom to miss a penalty bet came in at nice odds of 22/1.

200/1
Half Time/Full Time Correct Score
Manchester City 1-0 Half Time – Manchester City 3-2 Full Time

The champions, who dropped two points at home all last season, against a newly promoted team. If Manchester City took the lead, you got the feeling things could get as messy as Gary Lineker’s shorts at Italia 90. Despite a dreadful penalty from David Silva, the hosts did take the lead as Carlos Tevez took the opportunity to fire past Kelvin Davies and show the world another slogan t-shirt. Southampton didn’t roll over and have their bellies tickled however and goals from Rickie Lambert and Steven Davis put them in the lead with 20 minutes to play.

Nasri saved the day, for City and one punter

City again showed they’ve got plenty of fighting spirit, with goals from Edin Dzeko and Samir Nasri guiding them to a win that paid handsome dividends for one visionary punter who called it at 200/1.

100/1
Fulham to beat Norwich 5-0

Fulham looked to be in disarray heading into their season opener. Last season’s main man, Clint Dempsey, had thrown his toys out of the pram and looks like he’ll never play for the club again. There was a theory that the mild-mannered assassin, Chris Hughton, would be able to work his magic on Norwich, but the Cottagers were 2-0 up by half-time and put several cherries on top with three second-half goals. No-one backed Damien Duff to be part of the scorecast, but the straightforward Correct Score bet paid pretty well and was backed at 100/1 before kick-off.

100/1
Ivanovic to score first and Chelsea to win 2-0

Branislav Ivanovic has a pretty good goalscoring record for Chelsea. He’s scored 14 times during his spell at the Bridge which, in the obligatory and not especially relevant comparison with Fernando Torres, is one more than Fernando Torres. The Blues splashed the cash over the summer on some expensive new attacking threats, but it was the Serbian stalwart who got the ball rolling in what turned out to be a straightforward win for John Terry’s Roberto di Matteo’s side. He was 25/1 to score first, but throwing him in the scorecast was especially lucrative, bumping up the winnings substantially. Congratulations if you managed to spot that one.

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