Weekend Review: Madueke magic sinks Wolves while Seagulls soar with late show 

Chelsea (9/10) bagged their first win of the Premier League season with a romping 6-2 victory away at Wolves (11/4) in what was a mixed second week of the season for the bookies.

Noni Madueke scored a hat-trick after posting an uncomplimentary Instagram post about the city of Wolverhampton the day before, while Cole Palmer added a goal and a hat-trick of assists.  

Nicolas Jackson and new signing João Félix were also on the scoresheet, while Matheus Cunha and Jørgen Strand Larsen netted for the home side.  

The weekend’s Premier League football kicked off with a dramatic win for Brighton (13/10) at home to Manchester United (7/4).  

Danny Welbeck opened the scoring with his 100th career goal against his former club, before Joao Pedro’s 95th minute winner cancelled out Amad Diallo’s second-half equaliser. 

Tottenham (9/25) ran out comfortable 4-0 winners at home to Everton (7/1), while Erling Haaland hit his first hat-trick of the season in Manchester City’s (1/10) 4-1 win at home against Ipswich (30/1). 

There were away wins for Nottingham Forest (2/1) at Southampton (13/10), West Ham (11/4) at Crystal Palace (19/20) and Arsenal (18/25) at Aston Villa (7/2).  

Home wins for Fulham (17/10) against Leicester City (16/5) and Liverpool (1/5) at Brentford (12/1) as well as a 1-1 draw between Bournemouth (31/20) and Newcastle (8/5) rounded out the Premier League action.

Two wins from two 💪

A perfect start to the season for Man City, Brighton, Arsenal and Liverpool 💫 pic.twitter.com/V3ckYP2Ztc

— Premier League (@premierleague) August 26, 2024

Kindred Group’s Ali Gill said Brighton’s victory over Manchester United set the bookmaker up for a good weekend but that the punters did manage to mount a fightback.

He noted: “Spurs’ 4-0 win over Everton was our worst Premier League result of the weekend, while City’s win over Ipswich, including a Haaland hat-trick, wasn’t far behind. Goals galore in Chelsea’s 6-2 win over Wolves was another one which went to the punters.  

“However, United losing to Brighton was our best result of the whole weekend overall and helped pull us well ahead across the 10 matches, with Newcastle’s draw at Bournemouth another one contributing our way.” 

Betway’s Mike Reading added: “Sunday offered even more joy for favourite backers, with Chelsea hammering Wolves 6-2 and Liverpool securing a win over Brentford in Arne Slot’s first home match in charge, with Salah netting his second goal of the season.

“But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for bettors, as Bournemouth’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle at the Vitality Stadium dashed hopes of landing a Sunday treble, offering some relief for our football traders.”

Bet365’s Steve Freeth revealed that while “coupon busters were thin on the ground” the operator’s fortunes in the bet builder battle were more to the traders’ liking.

He said: “We fared better with a number of Premier League bet builders – Arsenal winning to nil at Villa Park being the highlight and the similar scoreline at Anfield was well received in the trading room as we clawed a considerable amount back.

“But, on the player prop front, we had 3,573 pre-game wagers on Erling Haaland to score a hat-trick at 7/1 as the champions coasted home after going a goal down to Ipswich.”

Meanwhile, across Europe, 18-year-old Endrick scored his first Real Madrid goal as the champions won 3-0 at home to Real Valladolid (16/1). 

Another teenager in the form of Lamine Yamal helped Barcelona to a 2-1 home win against Athletic Bilbao (17/4), while Atletico Madrid (12/25) ran out 3-0 victors against Girona (6/1) with a debut appearance from ex-Chelsea man Conor Gallagher.

In Germany, Bayer Leverkusen produced another late show, beating Borussia Mönchengladbach (15/4) 3-2 with a 101st minute winner. Bayern Munich also kicked off their campaign with a victory, beating Wolfsburg (5/1) 3-2 away from home. 

Games played: 1
Last minute goals: 1

We are SOOOO Back. 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/MWoBmc4AaP

— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) August 23, 2024

In Serie A, Juventus (17/20), Napoli (19/20) and Inter (1/5) all secured wins, while AC Milan (3/5) lost 2-1 away to Parma (17/4). 

Bet365’s Freeth said the operator was able to enjoy some success across Europe’s top leagues.  

He remarked: “In Europe we also had a number of short ones obliging like 4/7 Barcelona, 1/8 Real Madrid, 1/2 Bayern Munich and 8/13 Bayer Leverkusen – the German champions doing their usual trick of grabbing a winner in injury time.

“But just like in England, we were chuffed to see both Mbappe and Vini Jr not scoring or assisting in one of our best results of the weekend.

“As well as that bet builder joy, we were happy to put a line through the likes of 3/5 AC Milan, 1/2 Fiorentina and 4/9 Roma in Serie A, but it was a weekend with very little to shout about.”

Elsewhere, in horseracing, the 7/2 favourite Elmonjed won the Sky Bet Constantine Handicap at York’s Ebor Festival.

The heavily backed Magical Zoe (11/2) also ran out the winner in the Sky Bet Ebor Handicap, while 33/1 outsider Breege produced an epic performance to win the City of York Stakes. 

Those wins for the ante-post favourites were matched by a domineering performance from City Of Troy, heading off at 5/4 in the Juddmonte International Stakes as Ebor kicked off last Wednesday.

Additionally, Estrange (11/4) romped to a convincing victory in its debut in the Darley EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes at Goodwood on Sunday, while Ludo’s Landing (9/2) won the Churchill Tyres Handicap at Beverley.

Wonderful debut! ✨

Estrange saunters home in the Darley EBF Maiden Fillies' Stakes 🥇#ITVRacing | @Goodwood_Races | @omeararacing pic.twitter.com/RIe23qg8gU

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) August 25, 2024

At Yarmouth, Endless Victory (9/1) won the Get Raceday Ready Handicap, and Pellitory (9/1) won the British Stallion Studs EBF Restricted Novice Stakes. 

Betfred’s Alan Firkins revealed one punter enjoyed a massive windfall during the weekend’s racing. 

He noted: “Terrific to report that one of our customers had a 10p nine-fold accumulator, on unnamed racing favourites, that netted just short of a cool £22,000 on Saturday – and one of those was York’s impressive, well-supported Ebor scorer Magical Zoe, for trainer Henry de Bromhead and jockey Billy Lee.  

“York’s first day last week was painful but saw a performance for the ages as City Of Troy powered home and who is now 7/2 from 7/1 for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.”

Gill added: “At York on Saturday, the Ebor went the way of impressive 11/2 favourite Magical Zoe. Despite a couple of 25/1 shots in behind, no surprise that was the result that punters wanted to see, and we were left in the red.”