Hull and Burnley prove that there are no easy fixtures in the Premier League

It seemed too good to be true on Saturday. Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea seemed like a successful treble in the making, with Burnley, Hull City and Sunderland all facing mammoth tasks to get something out of their matches. While the Black Cats found themselves trailing 4-0 at half-time to an outstanding Blues performance, the other teams did themselves enormous credit and illustrated the perils of lumping on favourites at odds-on in the Premier League.

While Manchester United were a pre-match 1/4 with bet365 against a Clarets team that have been very travel-sick this season, punters that had backed Sir Alex Ferguson’s team were made to sweat before the champions found a breakthrough just after the hour mark. While Brian Laws’ appointment has met with a negative press, he sent out an organised and determined side that created a few chances of their own. The Red Devils were 4/7 on bet365′s In-Play market before Dimitar Berbatov scored and illustrated the advantages of betting during the live action.

However, those that backed Tottenham either before or during the game had their fingers burnt, with Spurs once again failing to beat so-called lesser opposition at White Hart Lane. Punters will now be leaving Harry Redknapp out of their weekend accumulators for the rest of the season, with the bookies rubbing their hands together after offering pre-match odds of 2/7 about the home team. On another day, it could have been quite different with Hull keeper Boaz Myhill producing a goalkeeping masterclass for the Tigers, although Tottenham do seem to lack the nous to break down stubborn opposition after losing at home to Stoke and Wolves.

Chelsea proved to be the Saturday banker and are clearly the stand-out team in the Premier League right now. However, the Blues only get three points for their 7-2 mauling of Sunderland, although it clearly pays to study the line-ups before placing your bets. After all, Steve Bruce explained after the game that with Michael Turner, Anton Ferdinand and Nyron Nosworthy missing, the manager had to play midfielders in defence and that was a core explanation as to why a talented side were out of sight after just twenty minutes.

However, a victory of this nature is a rarity in the Premier League these days, with teams generally being well-organised and capable of pulling off a shock. Since the first few weeks of the season, putting the ‘top six’ sides in any kind of multiple bet is now more than a calculated risk, especially as Liverpool have failed to put together any kind of consistent run since the campaign began. At the moment, it’s far more sensible to look at single bets and perhaps the odd double, with some swotting up on likely team selections likely to yield more dividends. With Aston Villa and Arsenal likely to be well-fancied in doubles on Sunday, we shall see if blindly backing the favourites pays off or continues to be a risky business.