SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Jose Mourinho has labelled Manchester United the ‘unluckiest team in the Premier League’. This feeling is probably echoed by many players on Spiffx this week, and certainly those who backed the home team to beat Arsenal at odds of 3.60 shortly before Juan Mata’s opening goal last Saturday.
The odds dropped to 1.09 as the Reds held on to the lead for over 20 minutes, before surrendering the lead just a minute from time. A pair of substitutes combined to deny United, with Alex Oxlade Chamberlain beating a tired looking Marcus Rashford before crossing to Olivier Giroud in the area.
Manchester United, who began the match at 2.54, started the second half with similar odds of 2.76 after an uneventful first 45 minutes. Despite retaining control of the game, the home side had reached a high of 3.60 when Mata received a pass from Ander Herrera and calmly slotted past Petr Cech.
Those odds continued to move from 1.25 towards 1.00, as United stifled the fourth highest scorers in the Premier League with relative ease. From 1.16, the home price became 1.12 as Mourinho strengthened his side’s defence by replacing the goalscorer with Morgan Schneiderlin in the 85th minute. The odds had just touched 1.09 as Giroud scored with Arsenal’s only shot on target in the match.
United’s frustration at dropping two points was epitomised by Wayne Rooney picking up a late yellow card for dissent. That came just a minute after the England captain had created a big chance for Herrera to reward any Spiffx players who backed United in stoppage time at odds of over 20.
