Having paid out on Chelsea as winners of the Premier League on Friday top bookie Paddy Power are this morning facing the prospect of a £500,000 cock-up after Paul Scholes’ last minute winning goal in the Manchester Derby and Spurs unexpected 2-1 win over League leaders Chelsea has thrown the title race open again.
Reacting to yesterday’s results Paddy Power were forced to slash the odds on Manchester United winning the title from 6/1 to 11/8 and pushed Chelsea’s odds from 1/7 to 8/13.
Paddy Power said “I’m guessing it’s far too late to say our early payout on Chelsea was a belated April Fools joke? It looks like the football Gods are conspiring to teach us a very expensive lesson”
Paddy Power has long had a reputation for calling the title first for their punters each season. In the 2005/06 season the bookie correctly crowned Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea the champs as early as September after the London club raced into an unassailable lead. But the bookie hasn’t always got it right.
In 2003 Paddy Power paid out early on Arsenal (with a 12-point lead) as Premiership winners at the start of March. The Gunners surrendered their title with a 3-2 home defeat against Leeds United in the penultimate game of the season effectively handing the title to Manchester United and costing the Bookie a very expensive double payout on the Premiership that season!
LATEST TITLE ODDS
8/13 Chelsea (from 1/7)
11/8 Man Utd (from 6/1)
12/1 Arsenal (from 25/1)