Premiership Betting Review - 22 January 2006
Chelsea, at huge 1/5 odds-on were the biggest coupon busters of
the day after they could only manage a 1-1 draw with London
rivals Charlton Athletic. Eidur Gudjohnsen gave Chelseathe lead
after 18 minutes but new Charlton signing Marcus Bent came off
the bench to net an equaliser on 58 minutes.
Manchester United vs Liverpool was the highest profile match of
the day. The bookies had banked on a draw and that result looked
a 21/10 reality until Rio Ferdinand thundered in a stoppage time
header for a Reds victory at odds of 13/10.
United can be backed to win the Premiership in the "without
Chelsea" market at 5/6 while Liverpool remain second favourites
in the same market at 6/5.
Arsenal's wretched away form continued with a 1-0 defeat at
Everton, their sixth loss on the road this term. The Gunners
came close to breaking the deadlock only for 11/2 shots Everton
to rush straight up the other end for James Beattie to score.
In the battle at the bottom, 11/10 Birmingham City hammered
fellow strugglers Portsmouth 5-0 at St. Andrews. Steve Bruce's
side are still three points off safety, while Harry Redknapp
faces a tough task to keep Portsmouth in the top flight. They
are now 2/5 to go down.
Sunderland gave themselves a fighting chance of survival with a
battling 1-0 win at the Hawthorns. The Black Cats are 13 points
away from safety, eight points behind second-from-bottom
Portsmouth and are 80/1 outsiders to avoid relegation.
Wigan maintained their top six position with a slender win at
faltering Middlesbrough. Wigan, at 5/2 raced into the lead
within a minute and former Blackburn midfielder David Thompson
doubled the advantage with a goalscoring debut. However, Boro
levelled terms but another debutante, Neil Mellor, struck a 90
minute winner for the Latics.
A goal from unsettled striker Jared Borgetti helped 5/4 Bolton
to a 2-0 win over Manchester City, while improving Blackburn,
priced up as 23/10 outsiders, inflicted more misery onto Graeme
Souness, with a 1-0 victory over Newcastle.
Tottenham were another coupon buster after a drab goalless draw
with struggling Aston Villa. Martin Jol's side were 8/11 good
things before kick-off.