West Ham beat Leicester to be the most profitable Premier League team to bet on this season

Meanwhile Aston Villa were the worst

West Ham pair Mark Noble and Dimitri Payet celebrate (Getty)

Despite Leicester romping their way to an unexpected Premier League title, they were not the best team to have placed a bet on this season.

Research shows that West Ham would have returned the most profit had punters put a £10 bet on Slaven Bilic's side to win every time they played this season.

At the other end of the spectrum, backing bottom of the table Aston Villa would have led to the greatest losses.

Online sportsbook NetBet studied the pre-match odds from every match of the season to reveal which sides would have returned the most profit - and which would have led to the biggest losses.

Leicester returned the second highest profit after West Ham, with Swansea, Stoke City and West Brom making up the top five sides that defied the odds this season.

While Aston Villa would have led to losses of £269.40 had a £10 bet been placed on them to win every week, backing heavyweights Chelsea and Liverpool would also have been unwise amid disappointing seasons for the two teams.

Top 5 most profitable...

1. West Ham £364.50

2. Leicester City £246.30

3. Swansea £104.00

4. Stoke City £72.10

5. West Brom £52.90

Top 5 least profitable...

16. Liverpool - £91.80

17. Norwich -£100.80

18. Everton - £124.80

19. Chelsea - £145.90

20. Aston Villa - £269.40