Weekend Review: Punters get the upper hand after wins for fancied sides

Manchester City are best-priced 2/5 to make it four Premier League titles on the bounce after brushing aside Wolves 5-1 at home thanks to four goals from Norwegian striker Erling Haaland.

City, who were a skinny 1/12 to beat Wolves, are now one point behind Arsenal, but have a game in hand as the title race nears its conclusion.

The Gunners (1/5) did what they needed to do to stay in the fight with a 3-0 win over Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium.

Goals from Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice finishing off a well-worked goal deep into stoppage time mean Arsenal are still top of the table with 83 points and two matches to play.

Meanwhile, Liverpool (4/9) beat Spurs 4-2 at Anfield in what was an entertaining fixture as the away side mounted a mini-comeback after being four-nil down on the 59-minute mark.

The Reds are theoretically not out of the title race, although 500/1 reflects the unlikely chain of events they need to fall their way for Jürgen Klopp to crown his last season on Merseyside with a second Premier League title.

Down in the capital, a resurgent Chelsea (1/2) ran riot against West Ham on Sunday with a 5-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.

West Ham’s poor run of form was enough for the owners, though, as they announced that manager David Moyes will leave the job when the Scot’s contract expires at the end of the season.

Media speculation suggests former Spain and Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui is set to take over from Moyes at the East London club.

Elsewhere, Brighton (13/10) beat high-flying Aston Villa on the South Coast, Newcastle United (19/20) ran out 4-1 winners away at Burnley and Brentford and Fulham played out a 0-0 draw.

At the bottom end of the table, Nottingham Forest (4/6) gave their survival hopes a shot in the arm with a 3-1 win over Sheffield United, who are already relegated to the Championship.

Fellow strugglers Luton picked up a point against Everton, meaning the Hatters are three points off safety, yet Forest have a superior goal difference.

Finally, Manchester United’s woes continued as Erik ten Hag’s side were thrashed 4-0 by Crystal Palace (10/11) in South London on Monday night.

Summing up the weekend’s Premier League action, Betfred’s Alan Firkins said: “Not much for the football desk to get enthused about results-wise at weekend as punters firmly held the upper hand.

“The glut of goals was another customer-friendly element, and Erling Haaland awoke from recent slumbers – by his standards – to bag four at home to Wolves. Golden Boot? He’s 1/66, so job nearly done.”

He added: “Arsenal and Manchester City both recorded comfortable victories at the summit and though Liverpool returned to winning ways their chance is now miniscule.”

Meanwhile, Steve Freeth of bet365 commented: “Saturday was a losing day with a number of fancied teams landing the spoils as Arsenal, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City made it a full house for fans of odds-on favourites in the Premier League.

“And this carried on to Sunday with Chelsea and Liverpool winning. Brighton also went off as favourites against Aston Villa, but the low-scoring nature of the game was a rare positive on a losing weekend in the top-flight.” 

Away from the Premier League, Freeth said Lionel Messi’s heroics for Inter Miami was a costly result for the Stoke-on-Trent-based bookmaker.

“Lionel Messi has cost us a fortune during his career, and he was rolling back the years in MLS with just the five assists and one goal in the 6-2 trouncing of New York Red Bulls,” he told EGR.

Elsewhere, at Flat racing’s HQ, Newmarket, there was a big upset on Saturday in the 2,000 Guineas as 16/1-shot Notable Speech landed the first Group 1 of the season for trainer Charlie Appleby and jockey William Buick.

Rosallion and Haatem filled the places at SPs of 15/2 and 16/1, respectively.

All the talk before the race was whether odds-on favourite City Of Troy could live up to the hype and prove to be the next superstar on the turf.

However, the Aiden O’Brien-trained colt, who went off at 4/6, quickly weakened two furlongs out and only finished ninth.

There was another surprise result the following day with Elmalka, ridden by Silvestre De Sousa, landing the 1,000 Guineas at 28/1 for trainer Roger Varian. 

Elmalka, who passed the winning post ahead of Porta Fortuna (11/1) and Ramatuelle (9/2), appeared to have little chance midway through the race when she touched 989/1 in running on the Betfair Exchange.

Ramatuelle was matched at 1/25 when she seemed to have the race at her mercy, before Elmalka powered through to take the one-mile Group 1. The 100/30 favourite, Fallen Angel, finished eighth.

“Racing was far tougher for turf devotees as the first two Classics of the season went to long-odds scorers,” Firkins remarked.

“Hot favourite for the colts’ heat, City Of Troy, was beaten over 16 lengths in ninth, and having been talked up as a potential Triple Crown winner is now out to 7/1 for the Betfred Derby at Epsom.”

Kindred Group’s Ali Gill added: “At Newmarket over the weekend, the 2,000 Guineas went the way of 16/1 shot Notable Speech, a result which unsurprisingly was cheered home by the traders.

“On Sunday the 1,000 Guineas followed the same trend as Elmalka got her head in front after a perfect ride from Silvestre De Sousa, to round off a fantastic weekend from our point of view with only two winnings favs across the two days at Newmarket.”

Finally, Kyren Wilson was reduced to tears on Monday evening after the 32-year-old took snooker’s biggest prize, the World Snooker Championship, at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

Wilson, who was 28/1 for the title before the tournament began 17 days prior, was up against 150/1 qualifier Jak Jones in a final no one could have predicted after a host of top seeds had been dumped out in earlier rounds.

A well-fancied 1/3-shot in the final, Wilson raced into a seven-nil lead to leave Jones reeling, yet the Welshman fought back to go into Monday’s two sessions trailing 11-6.

In the end, an emotional Wilson claimed a nervy 18-14 victory in what wasn’t a vintage final, but it was the second year in row snooker crowned a new champion after Luca Brecel’s triumph in 2023.