Betting odds on Liverpool and manager Rafael Benitez
15th January, 2010
Wednesday night saw Liverpool get knocked out of the FA Cup and online bookies Ladbrokes have been forced to slash Liverpool’s odds of getting relegated from 50/1 to 20/1.
Bookies Sky Bet is offering a price of 4/1 that Benitez will leave Anfield before Saturday’s match against Stoke with Ladbrokes offering odds of 7/2 to be the next top flight manager to get the boot and a price of 7/1 that Stoke manage to beat the reds this Saturday forcing Benitez to leave his position.
Pressure on Benitez has continued to increase and as one of the pre seasons favourite for the Premier League title, it seems that the defeat earlier this week has added to much pressure for the manager. It is rumoured that Ronnie Whelan has requested that Benitez gets given the boot and bookies odds appear to support this decision. Sky Bet are offering a price of 8/11 that he sees out the current season.
Ronnie Whelan explained, “The way Liverpool have been playing is not good. They have lost ten of the last 20 games. Benitez should have gone a long time ago. They have got to do it now.”
A spokesman from Sky Bet explained, “Liverpool’s exit from the FA Cup has really increased the pressure on Benitez and if the Reds fail to get a result against Stoke at the weekend then it could see the end of the Spaniard’s term at Anfield. Liverpool’s ambition of finishing the season in a top 4 spot, for which they are 11/8, looks a million miles away and it’s looking more and more likely that Benitez’s side will finish potless for the fourth successive season.”
Ladbrokes are offering a price of 1/3 that the reds don’t finish in the top with a spokesman from Ladbrokes saying, “Problems are mounting for Liverpool on and off the pitch. To even mention the club in the same sentence as a relegation would have been unthinkable not so long ago, but it’s indicative of their monumental fall from grace.”
With the prospect that Benitez may be leaving his post, a betting market on who will replace him has been opened with Sky Bet offering a price of 20/1 for Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish to take over, with former Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink priced at 5/2.
Sky Bets betting expert said, “This news couldn’t have come at a worse time for Benitez especially after being dumped out of the FA Cup the other night. They have Tottenham, Everton and Arsenal to play within the next 4 weeks and without their key players, Liverpool could find themselves well adrift of the top four by the middle of February.”
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By Gina
