Weekend Review: Arsenal and Man City hit the right note as the Swiss win Eurovision

Arsenal’s (3/10) 1-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday afternoon ensured the Premier League title will head into the final weekend of the season.

The Gunners regained their one-point lead at the top of the table thanks to a first-half strike from Leandro Trossard. City do have a game in hand on Tuesday, 14 May, against Tottenham, where a win would take them back to the summit with a two-point gap over the Gunners.

City (1/5) comfortably defeated Fulham 4-0 on Saturday with a brace from Josko Gvardiol and a goal each from Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez ensuring all three points headed back to East Manchester.

The Premier League holders are still favourites at 2/5 to make it four titles on the bounce and continue their dominance in England under Pep Guardiola.

Bet365’s Steve Freeth said: “Wins for both Manchester City and Arsenal but surprisingly good results for the book with a Super Boosted Erling Haaland failing to land a shot on target and a low scoring affair at Old Trafford, plus we also have the added bonus of the title race going to the final game.”

Kindred Group’s Ali Gill noted that Arsenal’s slender victory was the operator’s best win of the weekend, with Arsenal now 11/5 to lift their first league title since 2004 – though those odds will change if Guardiola’s side overcome Spurs in midweek.

“A bit of a mixed bag in terms of results over the weekend in the Premier League but overall the good outweighed the bad for a positive weekend,” he said.

“Arsenal ensured the title race will go to the last day whatever happens between now and then with a tense 1-0 win over a poor United at Old Trafford. The low-scoring affair, as well as players looking for a bit of value on United, meant that result actually finished as our best in the book of the whole weekend.

“While still having to beat Spurs to keep things in their own hands, City are now 7/20 favourites to lift the title, while Arsenal are currently available at 11/5, which will lengthen significantly should City get past Ange’s men,” Gill added.

Betfred’s Alan Firkins said there was little surprise in the title race going to the bitter end, comparing the teams to “two thoroughbreds” fighting it out to the finish line.

He said: “Entirely unsurprisingly, the race for the Premier League title is going down to the wire – a term that owes its existence to horseracing, and has been in use for the thick end of a century. Two thoroughbreds are galloping flat out down the stretch, and the result remains tantalisingly in the balance.

“Arsenal have the one point advantage, but Manchester City have a game in hand. We’ll know more on Tuesday night when in a delicious ironic twist City travel to Spurs, who, it’s fair to say, wouldn’t in an ideal world want the crown to end up at the Emirates.”

Around the rest of the Premier League, bookies saw several late goals ruin their weekend as three second-half goals for West Ham downed Luton, while Bournemouth versus Brentford (11/5) saw each team score in the final four minutes of normal time to set up a thrilling finish.

Wissa’s 95^th minute goal secured all three points for the Bees, with similar happening at Chelsea (1/1). Two goals in the last 10 minutes for the Blues earned them three points against a resilient Nottingham Forest team in a 3-2 win at the City Ground.

Freeth added: “A number of late goals scattered around the Premier League took the shine off things as we lost on the games at Bournemouth, Tottenham, West Ham, Wolves and Nottingham Forest, but the draw between Newcastle and Brighton was profitable.”

Chelsea’s late winner, courtesy of Nicolas Jackson, gave some bookies a bloody nose. LiveScore Group’s Francisco Cano said: “The second biggest event was the Nottingham Forest versus Chelsea game, which finished 2-3, and given the large number of goals, our margin did not perform as well.”

Elsewhere, in horseracing, the Lingfield Trial was won by Ambiente Friendly (8/1), who now has the same odds of doing the same at the Betfred Derby.

Ridden by Callum Shepherd, Ambiente Friendly raced clear in the home straight to win by four-and-a-half lengths from 6/4 favourite, Illinois.

Nine horses that have won the Lingfield Trail have gone on to win the Derby, which is scheduled to take place on 1 June.

Firkins remarked: “Ambiente Friendly took the Lingfield trial impressively and is now an 8/1 chance for the Betfred Derby. It is the same price as the resolute Leopardstown scorer Los Angeles, one of several credible Aidan O’Brien challengers.”

Gill noted Ambiente Friendly’s impressive win was a great result for the firm, with You Got To Me’s victory at the Oaks trial leaving Kindred with a healthy margin on that particular race.

“At Lingfield on Saturday the Derby Trial went the way of a very impressive Ambiente Friendly at 8/1, beating 6/4 fav Illinois in what was unsurprisingly a great result for us here.

“The Oaks Trial also saw the fav beat, with You Got To Me holding on by half a length to win at 7/2; another result which left us with a healthy margin on that one.”

Finally, Switzerland was victorious in the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night for the first time since 1988, when Canada’s Celine Dion got the job done for the European nation.

Both Kindred Group and bet365 benefited from Nemo not getting lost this year, with their song The Code gaining 151 points in the final after finishing fourth in the semi-final.

Freeth said: “Our main concern in the Eurovision outright market was Croatia, with the odds-on favourite having been 40/1 at the start of the year and going no bigger than 15/8 in-play, so victory for the 4/1-chance Switzerland went down very well in the trading room.”

Gill noted it was a “chaotic” yet popular night for the company, one which left Kindred Group with a good margin from the contest.

“After a chaotic night, Eurovision went to Switzerland. In what was a very popular event for us over the weekend, we managed to finish up with a nice margin this year.”

Meanwhile, the UK’s woes in the pop contest continued with an 18^th place finish, despite the best efforts of one-time chart topper Olly Alexander.