Arsenal fans have been left raging after sports betting giants Paddy Power have made a controversial decision regarding their Premier League title race against Liverpool
Paddy Power have taken the bold decision to pay out early on bets on Liverpool to win the Premier League.
The sports betting company stated they had ‘seen enough’ following Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to West Ham at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. A first half goal from Jarrod Bowen paired with a Myles Lewis-Skelly red card was all the Irons needed to take victory over Mikel Arteta.
The defeat has put a significant dent in the Gunners’ chances of catching Liverpool and clinching the Premier League title. Paddy Power believes it’s more than a dent – they think the race is over. Paddy Power said: “That’s it folks, Liverpool are Premier League champions!
“Well, that’s what we’ve decided, anyway, as after Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat at home to West Ham – yes, West Ham – on Saturday afternoon we’re calling it – the title race is OVER. And that means we’re officially PAYING OUT EAELY on Liverpool to be crowned Premier League title winners!”
Although many football gamblers will be happy with an extra bit of cash, Arsenal fans have been left seething. “This is a different type of disrespectful” one fan said on X.
A second commented: “We’ll come back to this at the end of the season – bookmarked.” A third felt very insulted as they threw one back themselves saying: “U clown,” as a fourth saw the potential jinx and said: “Nooo. Kiss of death if I’ve ever seen one.”
There is proof to say that this could genuinely be the ‘kiss of death.’ Just two games into the season, Paddy Power paid out on bets for Everton to be relegated. Now, the Toffees are on track to stay in the Premier League with David Moyes.
Paddy Power were also wrong when they paid out bets early in 2016 for Hilary Clinton to win the American election. And you can even take it back to 2009 when they paid out on Tiger Woods to win the PGA Championship in 2009 on day three – YE Yang won it.
Perhaps the most infamous time this has happened however is when Betfred founder Fred Done lost £500,000 by paying out early on Manchester United winning the title in 1998, when they were 12 points ahead of Arsenal, only for the Gunners to close the gap and win the league by a point.
Realistically, it does look harder for Liverpool to lose the title than to win it. They are eight points clear of second place Arsenal and Arne Slot’s squad have only lost once all season.