Weekend Review: Bookies bashed as City a Stones’ throw away from dropped points

Manchester City (3/10) left it late to beat Wolves 2-1 on Sunday while Liverpool (3/5) made it four wins on the trot in a bumper weekend for the punters despite Arsenal slipping to defeat at Bournemouth.

After falling behind to a Jørgen Strand Larsen goal after nine minutes, City pulled level through Joško Gvardiol midway through the opening 45 minutes.

And just as it looked like the match would finish all square, John Stones popped up with a winning header in the 95th minute, which was initially disallowed for offside, only for VAR to intervene and allow the goal.

Over at Anfield, Liverpool opened the scoring with a Mohamed Salah penalty, only for Chelsea’s (4/1) Nicolas Jackson to equalise.

Curtis Jones thought he had won another penalty, although VAR did not give it, but the Englishman did score the match winner to keep the Reds at the top of the table.

Arsenal (3/4), on the other hand, suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday evening against Bournemouth (15/4).

William Saliba’s early red card left Mikel Arteta’s side on the backfoot for much of the game and were punished when the Cherries found the back of the net twice, through Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert, in the final 20 minutes.

It was a bad weekend for the bookies, as Arsenal’s shock loss wasn’t enough in a favourite heavy game week, with wins for Spurs over West Ham, Manchester United at home to Brentford and Aston Villa beating Fulham in West London.

Kindred’s Ali Gill noted the Liverpool win over Chelsea was a good outcome for the operator but, overall, it was a tough set of results.

He said: “A weekend for the punters in the Premier League, with City’s latest last-minute winner hitting hardest as our worst result of the match round.

“Arsenal losing to Bournemouth was clearly a great result, coming in as our best result of the weekend overall and hitting huge numbers of accas too, but with Villa’s win over Fulham also being a huge loser, it was a tough week over all in the Premier League.

“In the Liverpool versus Chelsea game we actually managed to come out very slightly ahead, but overall there was very little in it.”

Betway’s Michael Reading added: “This was the kind of football weekend that punters and favourite-backers dream of. Our only silver lining was Arsenal’s surprise loss to Bournemouth, which helped us recover some ground in an otherwise tough set of results for the bookies.”

Jake Ashton, OLBG sports betting expert, said “Manchester City’s injury time winner away at Wolves followed Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat away at Bournemouth this weekend to see the Premier League title winner odds change right round again.

“Pep Guardiola’s men have shortened into 11/8 favourites to win the title for the 5th season in-a-row with Arsenal and Liverpool now joint second favourites at 5/2.

“Liverpool head to North London next weekend to face Arsenal in what is already looking like a pivotal match in the title race and one that could shape up who will be challenger’s for the league.”

It was a similar story for LiveScore Group, as the operator likewise endured a rough weekend due to the results in the Premier League.

Francisco Cano, LiveScore’s head of trading, said: “Club football was back this weekend after the international break, and punters must be happy given the number of favoured teams winning and the number of goals scored across the weekend.

“The biggest turnover event was Liverpool versus Chelsea, which finished 2-1 and resulted in a negative margin for us. Quite a similar situation in the Man City game – Wolves started leading but Man City equalised before halftime and scored the winner in the 95th minute. 

Arsenal’s defeat now leaves the Gunners at 5/2 to wrestle the Premier League title away from Man City (11/8), with Arne Slot’s Liverpool (11/4) still behind Arteta’s side as they prepare to face each other next weekend.

Betfred’s Alan Firkins noted: “A cluster of helpful results at the top end of the football pyramid was typified beautifully by Arsenal’s shock defeat at Bournemouth on Saturday. The Gunners are now out to 5/2 for the Premier League title, and next up at The Emirates are Liverpool.

 “City head the Premier League betting again at 11/8, with Liverpool just behind Arsenal at 11/4. It’s then 25s bar.”

The bookies also took a beating on the continent, as Barcelona (1/4), Atletico Madrid (2/5) and Real Madrid (14/25) all finished the weekend with three points apiece.

Wins in Italy for Inter Milan, city rivals AC and Juventus also made the return from the international break an unwelcome one for operators.

Gill added: “In Europe, Barcelona’s 5-1 mauling of Sevilla (7/1) was our worst result of the weekend, while Atlético Madrid’s win wasn’t far behind, and Real Madrid’s win also leaving us in the red.”

Reading said: “Saturday saw Real Madrid beat Celta Vigo, Manchester United stage a comeback against Brentford, and both Milan and Juventus secure wins in Serie A, leaving us reeling.

“By Sunday, things went from bad to worse as Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, and Inter Milan all claimed victories, leading to further losses for us.

In horseracing, a packed schedule for Champions Day at Ascot didn’t disappoint as the country’s richest raceday resulted in some top-quality action. 

The 8/11 favourite Kyprios kicked things off in the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup, beating out Sweet William (8/1) and Trawlerman (5/1) after tasting defeat to the latter last year.

Kalpana (100/30) picked up a comfortable win in the Champion Fillies and Mares Stakes to warrant its favourite status while Charyn (7/4) edged out Facteur Cheval (6/1) in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.

Charyn’s victory by two lengths, having taken the lead with a couple of furlongs left to run, meant it was another victory for a favourite to give the punters another win over the operators.

Finally, Anmaat’s (40/1) shock win in the Champion Stakes was a welcome boost as the surprise winner defeated the 6/4 favourite Calandagan.

Ridden by Jim Crowley, Anmaat was able to time its final burst to perfection to push through the gap and sweep past Calandagan to leave the French runner in second by half a length, with 25/1 shot Royal Rhyme back in third.

Firkins said: “Punters held the upper hand on Champions Day at Ascot, with three winning pushes from Fred – Kyprios, Charyn and Kalpana were all available at enhanced odds with Betfred, and duly obliged.

 “A boil-over in the Champion Stakes (Anmaat, 40/1) certainly helped a little, but the damage was already done.”

Gill also pointed to Anmaat’s win as the shock of the weekend while noting Kind of Blue (10/1) coming out on top in the Sprint Stakes was a great result for the firm.

He said: “On Saturday, at Champions Day, there was a mixed bag for layers and backers alike. The day got off to a punter-friendly start; Kyprios being well backed despite cramped odds to see punters away, while Kalpana’s win in the Fillies and Mares was our worst result of the day.

“On the other hand, the Champion Stakes went to 40/1 shot Anmaat, a huge shock as he just got his head in front of well backed French raider and 6/4 favourite Calandagan. Traders at Kindred Towers were hugely grateful for a great ride by Jim Crowley.

“The Champion Sprint Stakes going the way of 10/1 shot Kind of Blue was also a great result in the book, as all told it was a trader’s day.”