Weekend Review: Premier League returns to fill the bookies’ coffers

The Premier League returned this weekend with a dramatic encounter at Stamford Bridge on Saturday lunchtime as Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United took on his former club Chelsea.

The thrilling match ended in a 2-2 draw and the real moments of drama, including a last minute equaliser and a touchline scuffle, reminding fans what they missed out on during the two-week international break.

The layers were also delighted to see a return to action for England’s top-flight teams, with several results boosting the books big time this weekend.

First goal at the bridge! #ComeOnChelsea ⚽️🙌🏻✔️ pic.twitter.com/iRjIVadte7

— Ross Barkley (@RBarkley8) October 20, 2018

Kindred Group’s Ali Gill said: “It was a very strong Premier League weekend for us as we took a win in 8 of the 9 games played so far.

“Only Everton’s 2-0 defeat over Palace left us in the red, with Ross Barkley’s last minute equaliser over Man Utd adding shine to what was already looking like a very positive result.”

Betdaq’s Eamon Moran revealed that one exchange punter bagged almost £24,000 on the result at Stamford Bridge.

He said: “Mourinho’s latest return to Chelsea might have stolen the pre and post-match headlines, but the game was only our third-most traded football match of the weekend.

“The fiery encounter at the Bridge was the scene of a meaty winner for one punter, who landed nearly £24,000 after backing over 2.5 goals.”

Elsewhere, Bet365 was boosted by various football results in Europe’s top five leagues.

The firm’s Steve Freeth said: “Last weekend’s Football League was pretty expensive to say the least but we had some favourable results in Europe this weekend with odds-on pokes like Juventus, Roma and of course, the currently bookmaker-friendly Real Madrid failing to land the spoils.

“We had no Premier League complaints, even though a number of the fancied teams won. The lack of BTTS and ‘Over Goals’ was a huge help.”

One of the matches that failed to deliver in the overs category was Liverpool away at Huddersfield. The match ended just 1-0, with last season’s top scorer Mo Salah netting his first away goal of the current campaign.

Gill added: “The low scoring nature of Liverpool’s win over Huddersfield made it our biggest winning PL match of the weekend, as the over/under goals bets tumbled in our favour.”

Away from the football, BetVictor’s Charlie McCann bemoaned the lack of credible betting action in the F1 after Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen won the United States Grand Prix.

Congrats to Kimi, he did a great job today out there. A huge thanks to the fans for always making this such a special place to race. We keep working and will push forward to the next one in Mexico #USGP #F1 @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/otpMJS0DhS

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) October 21, 2018

He said: “The F1 was a small winner in a terrific race but surely something has got to happen to make the sport more competitive and thus more attractive to punters.

“It was a great race in the States but only six cars can possibly win each race and in some cases only four. Let’s hope the Red Bulls are as competitive as they were last year in Mexico this weekend.”