6th May 2016
Hi ,
It would not have been in anybody’s wildest dreams that on the penultimate weekend of the Premier League season Leicester City would be celebrating winning the title and four of the superpowers would be scrapping for second place and qualification for next season’s Champions League. Everton will be giving Leicester the guard of honour before Saturday’s fixture while the two North London and Manchester teams will be fighting over the scraps. Norwich have ding dong against Manchester United in the context of avoiding relegation to get the ball rolling.
For betting Leicester must be the lay of the weekend. It seems since about 10pm on Monday night the players have been celebrating the club’s first top division title and who could blame them. The biggest upset ever in sports has seen the 5,000/1 Foxes win the Premier League and give hope to every sports team around the globe. Bookmakers report it is the first time they have ever paid out on a 5,000/1 chance and the result has cost them millions. However, not many pointed out that Leicester have been a coupon buster on many weekends since last August. Beating the big teams consistently has knocked out thousands of accas.
The industry reports huge losses with relish and in this case they know just about every football bettor in the land will be throwing a tenner on another long shot to win the Premier League next season. However, the days of laying bets at 5,000/1 are over and the outsiders to win the 2016/2017 title are Burnley at half the price. All the bookies report taking some bets on Leicester, only a few but at such big odds a great deal of damage can be done to profits. The outright book will be a loser but the weekly coupons and accas have probably cost punters a fortune.
When an ordinary couple win millions on the lottery they are presented with an oversized cheque by a celebrity. Every national newspaper covers the story and there is a spike in lottery betting so the operators will get the money back with interest. Bookmakers have the same mentality in that they can accommodate big payouts because the money will come back due to more betting on big outsiders. The industry has been stung by Leicester winning the Premier League but the damage is not mortal and no bookie will be out of business because of weighing in Leicester punters.
Norwich are 19th in the league, a point behind Sunderland who have played the same number of games (35) and two behind Newcastle who have played one match more. Beating Manchester United at home would be a huge result and pivotal in terms of which of the three teams are relegated. In the nightmare scenario for Geordies and Mackems Newcastle and Sunderland could drop down and Middlesbrough could travel in the opposite direction from the Championship to Premier League. Burnley have already won the golden ticket and they are 2,500 to do a Leicester and win the Premier League next season.
Relegation for the two north east teams would be much more likely if Norwich do the business against United. Their home record is slightly better than average for a team in their position. They have won five of 17 home fixtures, scoring 22 goals and conceding 27. United have won 7 of 17 matches on the road so are beatable on their travels. A win for Norwich would throw a spanner in the works for Newcastle and Sunderland. They are both probably banking on an away win so a victory for Norwich would concentrate their minds and the pressure could be too much.
With billions swilling around the game due to television money relegation could cost a club untold fortunes. In theory the match against United is the biggest in the history of Norwich City Football Club. United are also desperate for points to qualify for the Champions League and failure to finish in the top four must surely cost Louis Van Gaal his job. Apparently he has been a father figure for Ryan Giggs but not in football matters but with regards his number two’s personal life. Maybe when Van Gaal makes notes during matches he is replying to his Agony Uncle correspondence.
The fixture between Manchester City and Arsenal is massive in the quest for automatic entry into the Champions League next season. Tottenham need to beat Southampton at home to stay in pole position for second place. There is still the matter of the leading scorer in the Premier League to be settled which comes down to Harry Kane (25 goals), Sergio Aguero (23) or James Vardy (22). None of this will bother most Leicester players who may well be drinking champagne during their match against Everton.
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