Sports Bookmakers’ Top 3 Most Unlikely EPL 2022/23 Results
There’s a reason why the English Premier League is the most-watched league on the planet. Although it has faced some criticism for being too lob-sided in favor of Manchester City and Liverpool, who are the only two clubs to win it in the last five years, it draws in a staggering number of viewers from every country.
Football is the most significant modern sporting export out of England; if you travel to countries with all different cultures and traditions, you can often find a middle ground talking about the English Premier League and the competing teams. Betting companies understand just how extensive this scope is, and they put considerable time and money into ensuring that the markets for these games reflect fair prices and, in some instances, opportunities.
Football betting may have entered a golden age, given that the league is broadcast to so many people throughout the globe. All betting markets have experienced a resurgence because of the internet and how much more convenient it has made the whole bet process. However, some markets have emerged due to the internet, and gambling companies have identified their potential, such as the eSports market, which is the professional gaming market.
Thousands of people gather in stadiums to watch tournaments unfold on games like Fortnite, FIFA, Counter-Strike, Call Of Duty, and League Of Legends, so naturally, there are now gambling markets that add further excitement to these tournaments. You can click here to bet on the League of Legends at the best platform with esports to see the scope of this market.
More traditional sports markets, like EPL markets, aim to factor in a few components to try and get the betting market correct. However, that’s not to say some serious surprises crop up occasionally, so let’s look at some of the most unlikely scorelines of the Premier League so far this year.
Brighton 1-5 Everton
Most bookmakers would have given you some incredible odds for this, somewhere in the region of 1000/1. Everton were 8/1 just to win the game. However, Dwight McNeil turned into a prime Ronaldinho and made the south coast side, vying for Champions League qualification at the time, look daft. McNeil also got himself an assist in the game, accompanied by a splendid side-foot volley from Abdoulaye Doucouré.
This result essentially kept Everton in the division. Although they secured their survival with a win on the final day, this unexpected result gave them a springboard to go on and acted as a catalyst. If Everton didn’t win this game, and in the manner that they did, their 69 years in the top flight may have ended.
Brentford 4-0 Manchester United
Nothing summed up Manchester United’s appalling start to the season better than this result. Although Graham Potter’s Brighton won 2-1 at Old Trafford on the opening day, this was a complete meltdown against a team they were quickly expected to beat. It’s a testament to the resolve of Man Utd boss Erik Ten Hag that he could steer the ship so drastically in the opposite direction and drag the team to a third-place finish.
The game was a massive shock at the time, but in light of how the league has played out, it looks even more surprising now that the dust has settled. One of the key reasons this was one of the shocks of the season was that all of the goals came in the first 35 minutes. After that, Man Utd completely crumbled, but that team on that pitch back in August is a far cry from the solid outfit Ten Hag eventually turned them into. If you placed a bet on Brentford 4-0 at half-time, you’d have netted a nice 125/1.
Manchester City 1-2 Brentford
Given that the West Londoners did a number on United and Man City (twice), maybe the scorelines weren’t as unlikely as we thought. But, of course, any win over Manchester City is a good day at the office. Still, Brentford beat a much-weakened version of City on the final day at home after City had already guaranteed the title and made it three Premier League titles in succession.
Their win much earlier in the season was probably the most unlikely result that occurred throughout the Premier League campaign, at least in the eyes of the betting public. Brentford was considered 16/1 just to get a draw. However, Ivan Toney’s brace sunk the defending Champions, and the game seemed to kickstart Man City’s season into gear. Arsenal led the way for so long and looked like they had one hand on the trophy at one stage, but in recent Arsenal fashion, we know what happened.
The fact that Arsenal was a genuine contender this season was a shock for many, and at the other end, Leicester City, who finished 8th in the previous campaign, was relegated. However, while it may have had an unpredictable end with Man City sitting at the top of the podium, there were still some excellent twists, and we expect next season will be a lot more of the same.