Expect the unexpected
Ilearned long ago that you should expect the unexpected when it comes to sport betting and there have been some football results over recent weeks that have hammered that point home.
In some cases you can explain the result while in others you just have to acknowledge that there was no way you could have called it and move on. My troubles started in the FA Cup 4th round a few weeks back when Championship side Leeds United were beaten 1-0 by non-league Sutton United.
I was high on Leeds goals but in retrospect should perhaps have considered that Leeds are involved in the promotion race and their FA Cup motivation might be low. I then backed Arsenal to score three goals at home to Watford. Watford played out of their skin and won 2-1.
I cannot explain that result as all indicators pointed at a comfortable Arsenal victory. Worse still, I am a Watford supporter. I was high on total goals when Arsenal visited Southampton in the FA Cup and while I managed to show a profit I could never have predicted that all five goals would come from the visiting team.
Southampton were coming off a very hectic stretch of games, so perhaps that one is explainable. The result that really has me scratching my head took place on Tuesday night in the Champions League. Barcelona were away to PSG and they started as favourites at around the 12/10 mark. Like many punters I did not see Barcelona romping to victory and I backed the draw. PSG have been in great form and have an excellent home record but I couldn’t see them winning. They didn’t just beat Barcelona, they absolutely hammered them 4-0.
In the FA Cup you can explain away poor performances, but the Champions League is the biggest club prize there is.
With Super Rugby around the corner the result was a timely reminder that anything can happen in sport and the worst case scenario may be worse than you imagine.
Brent Graham is a sports betting blogger at
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