Weekend Review: Four-midable Spurs add to City’s blues with stunning away win 

Tottenham (6/1) stunned defending champions Manchester City (2/5) with a comprehensive 4-0 win at the Etihad Stadium.  

A first-half brace from James Maddison was followed by goals from Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson, compounding Pep Guardiola to five defeats in a row in all competitions for the first time in his managerial career.  

The defeat leaves City eight points behind table toppers Liverpool (33/100), who capitalised with a 3-2 win away at Southampton (8/1).  

Dominik Szoboszlai gave Liverpool the lead, before goals from Adam Armstrong and Mateus Fernandes turned the game around for the home side.  

A Mohamed Salah double eventually secured the points for Arne Slot’s men, who face City in a mammoth clash next week.  

Jake Ashton, sports betting expert at OLBG, commented on how bookmakers believe the title race is shaping up.  

He said: “Liverpool are now odds-on for the Premier League title after Mo Salah helped them to a massive 3-2 away win against Southampton on Super Sunday.  

“With Manchester City losing their 5th game in a row on Saturday, Arne Slot’s men knew that a win on Sunday would increase their gap further at the top of the table and they did just that.  

“The latest odds now put Liverpool at 5/6 to win the league with the Reds welcoming City to Anfield next weekend.” 

Elsewhere in the Premier League, Ruben Amorim’s first game in charge of Manchester United (13/20) ended in a 1-1 draw with Ipswich (4/1) at Portman Road.  

Omari Hutchinson’s first Premier League goal for the club cancelled out Marcus Rashford’s early opener.  

Wolves (5/1) climbed out of the relegation zone with a 4-1 win away at Fulham (13/25), while Arsenal (2/5) cruised to a 3-0 home win against Nottingham Forest (13/2).  

Chelsea (11/25) ran out 2-1 winners against Enzo Maresca’s former side Leicester City (6/1), a result which would lead to the Midlands club parting ways with manager Steve Cooper.  

Ten-man Brighton (9/5) held on to a 2-1 win against Bournemouth (7/5), Aston Villa (7/10) and Crystal Palace (4/1) played out a 2-2 draw at Villa Park, while Everton’s (13/10) home game against Brentford (2/1) ended goalless.  

Francisco Cano, head of trading at LiveScore Group, said: “This past weekend saw several surprising results across Europe’s top leagues, highlighted by the game between Manchester City and Tottenham, which saw the current title holders extend their unwanted losing streak to five games as they suffered a staggering 0-4 home defeat. 

“The other notable result for the weekend was the draw between Ipswich and Manchester United on Ruben Amorim’s debut, which yielded the weekend’s highest profit margin.” 

Meanwhile, across in Europe, Harry Kane netted a hat trick in Bayern Munich’s (2/25) 3-0 home win over Augsburg, while Borussia Dortmund (4/5) and Bayer Leverkusen (4/25) enjoyed dominant home victories, winning 4-0 against Freiburg and 5-2 against Heidenheim, respectively. 

In Spain, Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham found themselves on the scoresheet as Real Madrid (8/25) won 3-0 away at Leganés.  

Barcelona (7/10) surrendered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 away at Celta Vigo after going down to 10 men, while Atlético Madrid (9/20) won 2-1 at home to Alavés. 

In Serie A, AC Milan (13/10) and Juventus (21/10) ended in a stalemate, Inter (9/20) thumped Verona 5-0 away from home, while Napoli (7/10) maintained their lead at the top of the table with a 1-0 win at home to Roma.  

Bet365’s Steve Freeth explained how the weekend’s European results were tough for the bookmaker to take.  

He said: “The biggest reason for our flat weekend was down to the results around Europe with our Soccer Acca Bonus on accumulators on top. On Saturday, we paid out on 8/11 Barcelona on 61 minutes when Robert Lewandowski put them 2-0 up before Celta Vigo fought back to claim a 2-2 draw.  

“On top of that we saw a number of well-backed favourites oblige on the continental coupon: 1/5 Leverkusen, 8/11 Dortmund, 2/7 Stuttgart, 8/11 Eintracht Frankfurt and 9/10 Borussia M’gladbach in Germany; 1/2 Atletico Madrid, 7/10 Girona, 1/3 Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain; and 2/5 Inter, 4/7 Atalanta, 7/10 Napoli and 4/5 Lazio in Italy. 

“We also had 1/7 PSV, 1/4 Feyenoord and 4/9 Go Ahead Eagles to deal with in Holland, plus 1/3 Galatasaray and 1/4 Fenerbahce in Turkey, as we were left scratching around for results.” 

Betway’s Mike Reading added: “In Italy, punters had a field day on Sunday with Lazio and Fiorentina extending their winning runs, and Atalanta also delivering for bettors on Saturday. The 0-0 stalemate between Milan and Juventus was a standout positive for us in an otherwise disappointing set of Serie A results.

“Over in France, Nice’s come-from-behind victory proved costly, though Lyon’s 1-1 draw—set against the backdrop of their financial struggles and potential relegation—was a decent result for us.

“In Spain, it was largely a punters’ paradise with all the big favourites winning. Our silver lining was Barcelona’s unexpected draw with Celta Vigo, which offered some relief.”

Turning attention to horseracing, the Nicky Henderson-trained Lucky Place (4/1) won the Howden Ascot Hurdle ahead of Blueking d’Oroux (3/1) in second and Colonel Mustard (10/1) in third. 

At Punchestown, Brighterdaysahead (9/4) beat 4/9 favourite State Man in the Unibet Morgiana Hurdle. 

In the Betfair Chase at Haydock, Venetia Williams-trained Royale Pagaille (11/4), ridden by Charlie Deutsche, pipped 15/8 favourite Grey Dawning to victory in a thrilling finish in the mud, with Bravemansgame (8/1) coming in third. 

Betfred’s Alan Firkins said: “Nine races on ITV and only two winning favourites translated into a very decent Saturday on the horseracing front, with ultra-brave Betfair chase winner Royal Pagaille being cut to 20s for the King George, although I bet he wishes it could be run at his beloved Haydock, in deep ground. 

“The talented mare Brighterdaysahead lowered State Man’s colours and took the Morgiana at Punchestown, earning a 5/1 quote from 14s for the Champion Hurdle. She’s also 7/4 for the Mares’ Hurdle, in the event that connections go for that option.  

“With Constitution Hill out to 5/1 and rather under a cloud, it would be no surprise whatsoever if she went for the big one, for which Lossiemouth is our 9/4 fav, with reigning champ State Man at 7/2.” 

Last but not least, in Formula One, Max Verstappen claimed his fourth straight Driver’s Championship after beating his rival Lando Norris at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Despite George Russell claiming victory – ahead of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in second and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in third – Verstappen’s fifth place finish gave him the points required to seal his championship victory.