Rumour Mongering: Arsenal to Make Shock Daniel Sturridge Approach

Paying any mind to betting odds can be a dangerous game. Many see lines rise and fall and think they must reflect some special inside knowledge that the betting house has; that if odds are slashed it must mean the house is trying to protect themselves from paying out.

The reality is far more mundane, as the odds are only ever reacting to where people are placing money, and this tends to lead to spiralling odds as people see a line shift and bet more or less as a result, which shifts the line further and more people notice and on it goes.

Today, the odds some people are noticing are the odds of Daniel Sturridge making the move to Arsenal, which The Mirror and a handful of other English tabloids have noticed have been dropping. This probably will in the end mean nothing. But it could mean something.

The chances it’s more than a spiralling line as bettors get caught up in deadline day madness and think they’ve spotted a meaningful betting trend is probably about on par with the chances of Leicester City successfully defending their Premier League title.

For the likes of The Mirror, in the meantime it allows them to spin a story about how Sturridge could end up at Arsenal because he’s “out of favour” and has a “frosty relationship” with Jürgen Klopp. For the rest of us, there’s only now about nine hours to wait for the story to blow over.