Erling Haaland’s prolific debut Premier League season was exemplified by Sportradar’s recent ‘season in numbers’ analysis report, where the Manchester City striker accounted for 94% of all league bets by December.
The firm revealed that by the end of August, the Norwegian had received 52% of the bets placed in the top goal scorer market – ahead of Mo Salah (10%); Harry Kane (4%); Darwin Nunez (12%); Gabriel Jesus (10%); Marcus Rashford (1%); and Cristiano Ronaldo (2%) combined.
That betting percentage was then eclipsed in December, when the 22-year-old made up for 94% of the wagers placed in the market worldwide.
And while the threat of continued City dominance rarely faded, the data showed Arsenal as the most backed team to win the title. Over the course of the season, the Gunners received 41% of the bets placed in the Premier League outright winner market worldwide, compared to Manchester City who received 33% of the bets in the same market.
If Newcastle United’s ambitions were given a boost on the back of new ownership, that wasn’t reflected in the betting. On a match-by-match basis, across the full 380 games played this season, Sportradar found that there were surprisingly few wagers on them to win their matches.
In the analysis, Sportradar noted: “Eddie Howe’s side attracted just 6% of the bets to win their matches over the course of the season, despite enjoying their best Premier League form since 2011/12, winning 19 matches, drawing 14 and losing five. Even though they occupied a place in the top six league positions from October, and were challenging for Champions League qualification, they remained unfancied amongst the bettors.”
Sportradar also took into account the bookmaker’s perspective. And it was clear that the operators couldn’t see past Manchester City taking top honours. Bookmakers made the Cityzens favourites to win 92% of their Premier League games this season, with odds of 1.7 or shorter for 100% of their home matches, while they were favourites at that price to win 17 of their 19 away matches.
Looking at it month-by-month, here’s how Sportradar’s global betting data reflected how the Premier League title between Arsenal and Manchester City played out.
