In-Play betting on Manchester United v Leeds United at bet365

We witnessed a famous FA Cup upset at Old Trafford on Sunday, with Leeds United obliging with victory at odds of 10/1. While Manchester United weren’t at full-strength, the best pre-match price available about the English champions was 1/4 with bet365, with Sir Alex Ferguson’s men expected to expose the gulf in class between the two sides.

At half-time, Jermaine Beckford’s 19th minute goal was the difference between the two teams  and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to pay a visit to one of the best bookmakers for In-Play betting. Bet365 have a cuttting-edge live betting console and it was interesting to note that they were making the Red Devils 7/5 favourites before the second-half kicked off. The draw was priced at 2/1, with Leeds available at 21/10 despite their advantage.

At the interval, you could also have backed ‘No Second Goal’ at odds of 9/2 with bet365, with Manchester United a 1/3 chance to score next and the visitors at 5/1 to grab a second. The bookmakers were clearly expecting Sir Alex Ferguson to have a few harsh words for his team in the dressing room!

However, five minutes into the second half and Leeds looked relatively comfortable. Wayne Rooney was already starting to come deep for the ball and the League One team were having a fair share of possession. United were out to 8/5 on bet365′s In-Play console, with the draw 2/1 and Leeds at 15/8. The odds on there being Under 2.5 or Over 2.5 goals were both 5/6, with the champions still expected to score.

By the 56th minute, Manchester United werre still failing to make an impact and bet365 decided to make them the 15/8 outsiders to win the match. With 35 minutes left (plus stoppage time), Leeds were the 7/4 favourites and were occasionally threatening on the break. Valencia and Giggs were thrown on in a bid to shake things up.

As the game went past the hour mark, bet365′s traders were changing the match odds every two minutes, something to note for future In-Play betting matches. The Red Devils must have been heavily backed by many customers expecting the Premier League team to eventually find a breakthrough and kick on to win, although Simon Grayson’s team were standing firm. In the 62nd minute, Man United were made 9/4 chances by bet365, with Leeds still available at 6/4 to back. However, by the 68th minute with Leeds looking comfortable, the home side were 11/4 and the visitors were 5/4. The draw was available at 7/4.

As we went past the 75th minute, the bet365 traders had seen enough of Manchester United’s lacklustre display to decide it was unlikely they would score two goals in the remaining time. Bet365 offered 5/1 about Manchester United and made Leeds odds-on (5/6) for the first time in the match. Indeed, it was the Yorkshire side that nearly scored around the 80th minute, with Beckford shooting wide and then Snodgrass hitting the woodwork with a free-kick. Manchester United were now 9/1, the draw was 9/4 and Leeds were 1/2 chances.

There was an additional five minutes of injury time for the Red Devils to salvage a draw and they nearly came close to obliging at odds of 15/4 with a goalmouth scramble. However, it was those that had backed Leeds before the match or In-Play with bet365 that were celebrating by the final whistle.