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Tottenham Can Close Gap on Leicester This Sunday
Fred Done the founder of Betfred has paid out on Leicester to win the Premier League but he could be left with egg on his face for the third time if results go against them this weekend. The Foxes are seven points clear with six games to play but if Tottenham win at home and Leicester lose on the road the gap would be four points and Fred could be regretting the gift that he says has cost him £1 million.
Done has history of getting things badly wrong when he settles bets in the outright market for the Premier League before the end of the season. He is an avid Manchester United fan but let his heart rule his head in 1998 and 2012. He paid out early on United in both years but they were overhauled by Arsenal and Manchester City which meant Betfred had to pay out twice but he can probably afford it being Fred.
Everybody now knows about the small staking and once a year punters who backed Leicester at 5,000/1 to win the Premier League. They can now be layed at 1.37 which makes the market the most volatile ever in the history of sports betting. The maximum back price on Betfair is 1000.00 so even punters who backed Leicester in this way are now in a great trading position if any are still left and have not cashed out. Backers at five times that price have been in clover for some time.
Gary Lineker has promised to present Match of the Day in his underpants if Leicester get the job done much to the amusement of Alan Shearer who has offered the presenter one of his wife’s bras for that special show. Leicester have not quite jumped the last fence in racing parlance and there could still be some twists and turns and this weekend’s live TV fixtures may throw a spanner in the works. Ten more points are still required before the biggest shock ever in sport.
Leicester are in first with a trip to Sunderland today. This is the time of the year when the home side start winning matches and the Stadium of Light can be a tough place to avoid defeat. However, Sunderland are in the relegation mire because they are a poor team but Leicester would bite your hand off if you offered them a point. Sunderland have lost 6 of 15 league fixtures, scoring 17 goals and conceding 16.
The league leaders have the best away record in the Premier League this season. They have lost just two matches on the road and only Tottenham have a better goal difference on their travels. Leicester have won five of their last six league matches by a single goal without reply and that winning habit will come in handy at the business end of the season. However, if they drop two points Tottenham can get within five if they beat Manchester United at White Hart Lane later in the day.
United have the incentive of fighting for a place in the Champions League. They are now four points behind the noisy neighbours but have a goal difference that is 13 less then that of City’s which is worth an extra point. Louis Van Gaal still thinks he will be the manager next season but soon the deluded one will be replaced by the Special One as long as Mauricio Pochettino does not usurp Jose Mourinho in pursuit of the boss’s job at Old Trafford. But Ryan could still get the one of the gigs he craves most.
Pochettino would do his prospects no harm if Spurs beat United on Sunday. That result would impact on United’s chances of finishing in the top four and could be huge in the context of which team wins the Premier League. But if Leicester have beaten Sunderland by kick-off in London a win for United would surely end Tottenham’s bid for a first top division title since 1960-61 when they also won the Cup.
Only Leicester have won more matches at home than Tottenham and the London club have lost just two of 16 matches at their own ground. However, five fixtures have been drawn but Tottenham still have the second best home goal difference in the Premier League, behind Manchester City who score for fun at the Etihad. United have failed to win 10 of 16 matches when they have been away from home.
Leicester keep grinding out results and clearly have a tremendous team ethic. A dip in form has been predicted since about last September and soon the marginal results could go the other way. Sunderland could really muddy the waters and Tottenham must then take advantage so the gap could be down to four points on Sunday evening.
