Three things we learned about betting from the weekend: Arsenal to win nothing again, the perils of red cards, plus Borussia Dortmund pleasing punters

Carling Cup : Arsene Wenger, Ipswich Town v Arsenal (Getty Images)

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* Dortmund clean up in Munich

Oh how ye mocked! Goal.com’s prediction that Borussia Dortmund would beat Bayern Munich on Saturday was ridiculed by some but the Bundesliga league leaders did the business romping home 3-1 at the Allianz.

In fairness odds of 4.20 on the title favourites were far too good to pass up. Jurgen Klopp’s team richly deserved their win which was their first in Munich in almost 20 years. It was the second time in a week in which German teams have been underpriced by bookmakers with Bayern themselves a superb 3.20 to beat Inter in the San Siro.

There’s not much value on the Bundesliga title race now with Dortmund 1/41 and Bayern 1/19 to finish in the top three. Punters looking for a similar value bet should consider Manchester United to beat Chelsea on Tuesday night.

Match Odds: Chelsea 2.10, Draw 3.20, Man Utd 3.60 (William Hill)

Just like Dortmund the Red Devils have waited a while to win away at their close rivals. It was back in 2002 when United last triumphed and no doubt they would love to eliminate the holders from the championship race on their own patch. Rather like Dortmund in fact…

* Beware the red card shut out

An increasingly popular market is ‘both teams to score.’ It’s attractive as you’re not relying on a specific team to win as is common with many bets.

However, beware the fate of red cards as they can influence this market considerably. Over the weekend many punters opted for both sides to score in the Palermo – Udinese match which screamed goals due to the nature of the sides involved.

Udinese were already 3-0 up by the time Palermo suffered their first dismissal and were 6-0 in the lead when the Sicilians went down to ten men. The match finished 7-0 to the visitors.

In the Catania – Genoa match there were three dismissals (Catania 2-1 Genoa) and Parma went down to ten men in their 2-2 draw with Roma. No goals were scored in Catania once the first red card was given just after the hour mark and the same thing occurred in the draw at the Stadio Olimpico.

Backing over 2.5 goals looks a safer bet as you can lose your shirt on red cards. One to bear in mind especially when betting in-play.

* Arsenal to win nothing…again

With the possible exception of Birmingham City and Tottenham Hotspur fans few gave the Brummies a prayer at Wembley. Alex McLeish’s Carling Cup winners were as long as 7/1 (8.0) in some quarters to beat Arsenal.

Following the Gunners’ latest choke their odds to win nothing (again) to a thin 1.73. You’ll get Arsenal at 2.0 to win a major trophy, 3.85 for the Premier League, 7.70 to scoop the FA Cup and a lengthy 30.0 for the Champions League.

If you fancy Arsene Wenger to walk before the end of the season you’ll get a price 17.0 on another manager being in the Arsenal dugout on May 22nd.

After winning their first major trophy for decades Birmingham City are 6.0 to get relegated in the same season.

And finally…

After his penalty miss against Everton in the FA Cup it’s a surprise that Ashley Cole is in hot water for an alleged accurate shot. William Hill have Cole at 8/1 to be next Premier League player to be arrested following the peculiar air rifle incident.

Along with his clandestine meeting with Chelsea, when he was still an Arsenal player, this looks like being another of Cole’s, ahem, less well executed moves.

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