Paddy Power is paying out on Manchester United as
winners of the Premier League, FA Cup and Carling Cup - the first
time any bookie has paid out early on a team winning more than one
trophy in a season.
With United's goal impregnable in their last 14 league games and
Arsene Wenger's admission that the champions are 'untouchable'
Paddy Power is not only declaring the title race over but all
domestic trophies for this season.
The bookie will pay out on all bets on United winning the three
domestic trophies as well as any bets on the domestic doubles and
the treble.
United are already just 1/6 to retain their title, 2/5 for the
Carling Cup and 7/4 for the FA Cup, with Paddy Power looking at an
early payout of over £1 million.
Paddy Power, head of communications for the bookie, said: "We
know and punters know the race for trophies is all but over for
another year so why wait for the formalities?
"If none of the opposition are able to even score a goal against
United what chance have they got of actually beating them to
silverware? We just hope someone can do us a favour and stop them
in Europe.
"However, paying out on all three is a gamble. Football has a
way of biting teams on the backside when they least expect it so we
could yet end up with egg on our faces and not for the first
time.
"Paddy Power are famous for being the first to call title races
over, even paying out on Chelsea after just seven games of the
2005/06 season. But we haven't always got it right, famously paying
out on Arsenal in the 2002/2003 season only to have to pay out
again when Manchester United pipped them to the title."
Paddy Power are also waiting on the outcome of this season's
relegation fight having paid out on Stoke, currently 2/1 on for the
drop, after their loss on the first day of the season.
