West Ham and Wigan liven up drop battle
Two of the teams who endured the most uncomfortable Christmases, West Ham and Wigan, are likely to head into the New Year a lot happier after enjoying incredibly rare away victories on Boxing Day to shake up the rather tight Premier League relegation battle.
The Irons and Latics were 20th and 18th respectively on Christmas Day but have both gained ground in the best way possible by winning at the homes of rivals in the scrap for survival, and, unsurprisingly, there was more money to be made betting against other punters on Betfair in both encounters.
West Ham secured their first Premier League travelling triumph in 16 months and 28 attempts in a derby match against a Fulham side whose regression since the departure of Roy Hodgson has been staggering, their 3-1 success made more remarkable by the fact they came from behind for once, while Carlton Cole scored his first ever Premier League brace.
Anyone who stuck a £10 on that outcome on Betfair received a massive payout of £513 - even accounting for the maximum five per cent commission - compared to £280 with Ladbrokes and Victor Chandler.
That result in the lunchtime game meant that Wigan would be bottom if they lost to Wolves at Molineux, however they completed the double over Mick McCarthy's strugglers with a 2-1 win that was only their second on the road all season.
If you had 2-1 Wigan backed to a tenner stake on Betfair then your reward was a profit of £152, a big step up from the £95 up for grabs with Bwin. Betfair customers also won 25 per cent more for bets on Wigan winning than those at Ladbrokes and three other bookmakers.
The Boxing Day results had a significant impact on the relegation betting, with new bottom club Wolves now [1.6] favourites to finish in the bottom three and Fulham in to [3.15] to tumble, while former frontrunners West Ham have drifted to [1.92] and Wigan to [2.36].
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Published: 28 Dec 2010
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