London, UK -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/09/2012 -- As soon as it was drawn, there was one FA Cup third round fixture that jumped out. Manchester City and Manchester United renew their rivalry on Sunday and spread betting interest in this knockout tie is fuelled by the most recent meeting between the sides when Roberto Mancini’s men cost Sporting Index an estimated £250,000 after they hammered the Red Devils 6-1 at Old Trafford.
Manchester United’s defence is apparently in disarray – they conceded three to Newcastle on Wednesday – and the Sporting Index traders are fearful of another rout at the hands of the side Sir Alex Ferguson famously called ‘the noisy neighbours’. Sporting Index have set the total goals spread at 2.7-2.9, while total goal minutes are currently quoted at 138-148. The 6-1 result back in October made up a staggering 501 minutes – the same make-up on Sunday would mean buyers would celebrate a profit of 350 times their stake!
Sporting Index allow punters to bet higher or lower on total goals and goal minutes (so if a goal is scored in the 5th minute and the 26th minute, the market makes up 31) among others. The majority of people buy these markets so generally, the more goals and the later those goals, the more Sporting Index is required to pay out.
Other exciting spread markets offered by Sporting Index are those on player goal minutes. With 25 goals in 30 appearances this season, Robin van Persie will carry the weight of plenty of buyers of his goal minutes when Arsenal welcome Leeds United to the Emirates on Monday evening. This is another match where buyers of total goals are likely to outweigh sellers, given the Gunners ran out 3-1 winners in a replay at this stage last year in the same competition. In the last seven meetings between the clubs there have been 31 goals scored at an average of 4.4 per game.
“Manchester City have had a superb week as they opened up a three point gap at the top with a healthy goal difference advantage,” comments Sporting Index spokesman Wayne Lincoln. “City’s spread supporters will be hoping the team can land another blow to United’s season on Sunday and are probably also wishing for a result to rival that incredible 6-1 thrashing.”
Sporting Index 2012 FA Cup Markets
Manchester City v Manchester United
Man City/Man Utd 0.25-0.45
Total goals 2.7-2.9
Shirt numbers 36-39
Bookings 56-60
Man City win index 13-14.5 (25 points for win, 10 for draw)
Man Utd win index 9-10.5 (25 points for win, 10 for draw)
Player goal minutes:
S.Aguero 21-24
E.Dzeko 17-20
D.Silva 11-14
W.Rooney 17-20
J.Hernandez 13-16
D.Berbatov 13-16
FA Cup Outright Index
(Winner: 100 points, Runner-up: 70 points, Lose Semi-Final: 50 points, Lose Quarter-Final: 33 points, Last 16: 20 points, Last 32: 10 points, Others: 0 points)
Chelsea 42-45
Tottenham 36-39
Liverpool 34-37
Arsenal 34-37
Man City 29-32
Everton 24-27
Man Utd 22-25
Stoke 19-22
Aston Villa 19-22
Fulham 16-19
Sheff United 16-19
(Others on site)
About the Sporting Index Group
The Sporting Index Group is best known as the world’s largest sports spread betting business, offering the widest range of markets and taking some of the largest bets on sporting events around the world. Markets include rugby spread betting, cricket spread betting and football spread betting.
The Group has 180 staff, all based at its London HQ. It is privately owned and is the undisputed world leader in sports spread betting, dominating the global market with an estimated 80%+ market share. Today it makes thousands of markets on upwards of 500 events every week, offering the sports fan the opportunity to bet on a wide variety of sports, political and showbiz events, as well as on a portfolio of unique virtual games. Clients transact via its websites, award winning mobile phone applications, and a 24/7 voice telephony service. Sporting Index’s B2C business continues to grow in the face of a fiercely competitive online betting market.
At the heart of the business is a world class trading, modeling and liability management capability that is widely acknowledged as amongst the best in the global betting market. The Group combines the latest technology with unrivalled trader expertise to service its core sports spread betting clients as well as an increasing number of wholesale customers who rely on the company’s fixed-odds in-play pricing data to underpin their own sportsbook operations via the Sporting Solutions brand. This has quickly established itself as a leading data provider with a number of flagship betting brands signed up.
Sporting Index is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Services Authority and the Gambling Commission.