Weekend Review: Bookies rejoice at Barca's blip

Barcelona’s shock home defeat to Alaves and Kell Brook’s fifth round stoppage in his fight against Gennady Golovkin were the highs in a strong weekend for the bookies.

The Catalan giant’s surprise loss raised a smile over at Ladbrokes, which enjoyed Alaves walking away from the Nou Camp with all three points.

“It’s not often you get Barcelona beaten so you have to celebrate it when you do, that along with City’s victory in Saturday’s early derby KO they bust many a Saturday coupon,” said Ladbrokes’ Jessica Bridge.

“Arsenal’s late winner was a kick in the teeth but one we’re happy to absorb in a give and take weekend,” she added.

However, the firm was “annihilated” on the return of the Old Firm, with Celtic well-backed to defeat Rangers resulting in Lads “forking out heavily” in all markets.

BetVictor said Barcelona’s defeat limited the damage caused by Arsenal’s very late win against Southampton, while Chelsea’s failure to beat Swansea meant it was a winning weekend for the firm.

“Sunday football was good with Swans’ draw with Chelsea pivotal in making it a winning day and a small winning weekend for the layers,” said BetVictor’s Charlie McCann.

Unibet’s William Vickery said it took a “big margin” from the Manchester derby, Chelsea’s draw and Barca’s defeat, and also took advantage of British punters backing Kell Brook to win his fight against Gennady Golovkin.

“Support came late for Kell Brook, many were caught up in the late hype and the fairy-tale result but in the end the weight told after a spirited performance and we took a healthy margin from the fight,” said Vickery.

And Golovkin’s win resulted in Ladbrokes keeping a six-figure sum in the satchel, according to Bridge.

“An excellent result seeing underdog Brook fail to step up two divisions, Brook in any round would have been a nightmare result for us as punters love to back the British outsider in these sorts of contests,” she said.

It was a result that proved favourable for William Hill too, despite one punter placing £40,000 on GGG to win. “The boxing was great and we won six figures which is an anomaly for a 1/5 winner,” said William Hill’s Joe Crilly.

The weekend concluded with Novak Djokovic losing to Stan Wawrinka in the US Open final, much to the delight of BetVictor.

“Novak Djokovic’s defeat was a cracking result in Flushing Meadow and all-in-all it was a very good weekend for the books,” said McCann.

However, the outcome proved less positive for William Hill. “In the US Open, the match result for the men’s final was a bad one for us,” said Crilly. “We laid quite a bit of Wawrinka before the match, however, he was largely friendless in the outright market.”