Weekend Review: City and Chelsea crumble as Rashford and Royal roar ahead

A slip up from Manchester City and Chelsea’s ongoing woes made it a weekend for the bookies in the Premier League despite a super Sunday for the punters.

After some stoppage time heroics from Arsenal (17/20) saw the Gunners run out 4-2 winners at Aston Villa (7/2) and return to the top of the Premier League, City (1/4) had the chance to return to the apex on goal difference with a win at Nottingham Forest (10/1).

Instead, Pep Guardiola’s men were wasteful in front of goal after going 1-0 up thanks to Bernardo Silva. The usually reliable Erling Haaland had two bites of the cherry but failed to give City the cushion they desperately needed as Chris Wood hit home to earn a vital point for Forest.

Elsewhere, Graham Potter’s challenging Chelsea career continued after the Blues (2/5) went out with a whimper at home to rock-bottom Southampton (7/1) as James Ward-Prowse sent a freekick soaring past Kepa to give the Saints a famous victory.

Potter’s position is well and truly under pressure after winning just two of the last 14 games despite a January spending spree bringing in the likes of Enzo Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudryk.

The greatest. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/MOCFMfynRh

— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) February 19, 2023

Kindred Group’s Ali Gill said: “Forest managed to grab a draw against City and bottom club Southampton beat the still suffering Chelsea, with both results being great for the book, the City draw particularly taking swathes of accas with it along the way too.”

Sunday saw Manchester United (11/20) blitz Leicester City (19/4) 3-0 at Old Trafford as the imperial Marcus Rashford continued his hot streak with two goals.

The win puts Erik ten Hag’s side firmly in the title race, a proposal that many at the start of the season would have laughed off.

Betfred’s Alan Firkins commented: “Manchester City could and probably should have had six at the City Ground, but title rivals Arsenal and Manchester United took full advantage.

“City interestingly retain narrow outright Premier League favouritism at 10/11, then it’s 11/10 Arsenal, 12/1 Man Utd, and a whopping 250/1 bar. Proper three-horse race now, with United playing some lovely stuff after early scares against Leicester.”

Spurs (17/20) rounded off the weekend with a routine 2-0 win over West Ham (3/1) with goals from Emerson Royal and Son Heung-min to leave the Hammers in the mire of a relegation battle.

The shifting fortunes from Saturday to Sunday for the bookies was summed up by Betway’s Chad Yeomans.

Yeomans said: “It’s fair to say it was a weekend of two halves. It went our way on Saturday having seen City drop points and Chelsea slip up again, this time to Southampton.

“On Sunday, the pendulum swung in the punters’ favour with both well-backed sides in the Premier League getting the business done for them. First up, Manchester United swept aside Leicester City with a sensational second-half performance before Spurs comfortably beat West Ham United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.”

Your two goalscorers this evening ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/gOqrxUYjvV

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 19, 2023

Gill added that wins for United and Spurs, along with Liverpool’s (9/5) 2-0 victory over Newcastle (29/20) had left the operator “marginally” behind over the weekend.

In the Championship, Burnley extended their lead over second-placed Sheffield United to 11 points and 15 points to third-placed Middlesbrough after a 1-0 win at Luton.

The Clarets’ stunning season has seen them lose just twice while scoring a division-high 63 goals and having the tightest defence, leaking just 27.

With Vincent Kompany’s side seemingly trotting towards the Premier League, bet365’s Steve Freeth confirmed the bookie had paid out early on the Turf Moor outfit being league winners.

Freeth said: “With Burnley going through a rebuild after relegation, we saw Norwich and Watford top the betting, but those that put their faith in Vincent Kompany have been rewarded with an early payout on the Clarets.

“9,416 multi-bets now have Burnley marked as a winner, with a six-figure sum also paid out on single bets, with prices ranging from 16/1 to 11/2 as the Clarets became the third side to trigger our league winner early payout offer this season after Dumbarton and Napoli,” he added.

On the continent, wins for Barcelona, Real Madrid and a 95th minute Leo Messi freekick to give PSG all three points were sore points for the layers.

Elsewhere, in horseracing, Shishkin silenced the doubters after returning to winning form in the Ascot Chase by blowing away the competition and running out in first place by 16 lengths.

The Nicky Henderson-trained nine-year-old’s form had been questioned after disappointing performances in his last two races, but the 2/1-shot showed no signs of sluggishness as he powered to victory as he stepped up in trip to two and a half miles.

Shishkin travelled strongly throughout and powered home from Pic D’Orhy, 3/1, and the well-based 7/4 favourite Fakir D’oudairies.

Shishkin is BACK! The @sevenbarrows star is brilliant in the Grade 1 Betfair @Ascot Chase for @NdeBoinville! pic.twitter.com/rkBY975agG

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) February 18, 2023

The solid performance has also shaken up the market ahead of the Ryanair Chase at next month’s Cheltenham Festival.

Gill said: “The Ascot Chase on Saturday saw the return to form of Shishkin, who put in a hugely impressive performance to win by 16 lengths.

“At 2/1, our punters had kept the faith and that was a result they wanted to see. He’s jumped himself to 11/8 favourite for the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham and is already well supported in the ante-post market for that one.”

Firkins commented: “We held the upper hand for most of the TV racing contests, but Shishkin returned to form with a bang at Ascot and is now very short for the Ryanair at The Festival (5/4).

“Fanciful thoughts of a Gold Cup tilt might be just that, but on decent ground it’s not the daftest idea I’ve ever heard. Good to have the champ back fit and firing.”