Premiership Betting: Chelsea done at 1.01 and the luck of the Ireland

Premier League / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 31 August 2008 / Leave a Comment

All the best of the in-running prices from Sunday's in-play Premiership matches...

Chelsea dropped their first points of the season and conceded their first goal of the season as Darren Bent's first half injury-time equaliser stunned Scolari's men, not to mention those who took [1.01] on Betfair on Chelsea to be leading at half-time.

As Bent scored with virtually the last kick of the half, layers of Chelsea in the half-time market at [1.01] (£467 matched) and 1.02 (over £9k matched) will have been toasting to the former Charlton man - the half-time draw was matched at [50.0]. Bent may be a regular Premiership scorer but the scorer of the first goal of the match certainly isn't. Chelsea's Brazilian Belletti came under the "any unquoted" runner in the first goalscorer market, matched at a high of [15.5].

And that's how it stayed with Chelsea being backed at a low of [1.15] on the match odds market and the draw at a high of [9.0]. The absence of any second-half goals was as bad news for the over 2.5 goals backers as it was for the Chelsea backers with overs touching [1.24], and ultimately proving to be a losing bet. The two "dropped" points mean Chelsea are now out to [2.3] on the Premiership winner market with Lampard and co having been matched as low as [1.9] already this season.

Manchester City were the second team of the day to score a first-half injury-time goal to ensure there was carnage on Betfair's half-time market.

Stephen Ireland's goal to put Mark Hughes' side 1-0 up at the break against Sunderland was a blessing for those who backed them at 30 to be ahead at the half-way mark and a headache for those who took just [1.06] on the half-time draw. Returning hero Shaun Wright-Phillips scored two more in the second-half to bring about a shock 3-0 scoreline for the visitors, an [85.0] chance on Betfair prior to the start of the match.

At Villa Park it was a far more mundane story on the pitch and consequently on the exchange. A goalless draw between Villa and Liverpool was matched at [12.0] and a straightforward draw was backed at [3.55].

North of the border Rangers were matched at [5.0] to beat bitter rivals Celtic in an ill-tempered match that saw seven bookings and two reds. The 4-2 win has convinced layers on Betfair to make Rangers the marginal favourites at [1.86] to go on and win the SPL with Celtic now [2.06].