Weekend Review: Punters left perplexed as Premier League top dogs lose their bite

Stuttering performances from Manchester City and Liverpool left the bookmakers in the black as punters rued their luck in the Premier League.

The two title challengers failed to collect three points and lost ground to a Chelsea side in imperious form heading into November.

Manchester City (1/7) fell to a 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace (18/1), with goals from Wilfried Zaha and Conor Gallagher coming either side of an Aymeric Laporte red card for the hosts.

Liverpool (1/4) rushed into a 2-0 lead at Anfield against Brighton (10/1) following strikes from Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane but couldn’t hold onto their advantage as Graham Potter’s men clawed the game back to 2-2.

Patrick Vieira's tricky Eagles ⚡️#CPFC | #MCICRY pic.twitter.com/Vtx6Gpg2RQ

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) October 30, 2021

Kindred Group’s Ali Gill said: “A weekend for the layers to fight back in the Premier League as results fell largely in our favour.

“Manchester City losing and Liverpool drawing were the two best results in the book as overall we came out ahead in six of the nine games played.”

In the Saturday evening fixture, Manchester United (5/4) faced Spurs (2/1) in a crunch match for both managers following intense periods of pressure.

Incidentally, Nuno Espírito Santo was sacked this morning after Manchester United swept his side away 3-0.

Following a switch in formation after the 5-0 horror defeat against Liverpool, Ole Gunnar Solskjær gave himself breathing space thanks to excellent goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Edison Cavani and Marcus Rashford.

Betway’s Chad Yeomans said: “It was a good day on Saturday with both heavily supported favourites Liverpool and Manchester City both coming undone.

“Manchester United were well-backed in the evening kick-off against Spurs, but little predicted the total domination it would be for Ole’s reds.

“Ronaldo and Cavani were excellent, and the 3-5-2 formation saw Man Utd in a different light – is this something Ole will persist with going forward?” he added.

Watched it all the way and then 💥

🎯 @Cristiano#MUFC | @RemingtonUK pic.twitter.com/hblQJ8E9Mx

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 31, 2021

Betfred’s Alan Firkins commented: “Massive swings and roundabouts on Saturday. United winning emphatically and Ronaldo scoring first was disastrous, as were TV wins for Arsenal and Fulham.

“Relief in the north-west though courtesy of Liverpool’s draw and Manchester City’s loss at home to Crystal Palace.”

Firkins also told EGR how the outright title market was shaping up from the view of current champions Manchester City.

Firkins said: “The Blues have drifted to around the 11/8 mark to retain their crown, and there was certainly no joy for Pep in his 200th match at the Etihad helm.

West Ham’s (11/8) impressive start to the season continued after trouncing Aston Villa (19/10) 4-1 at Villa Park with goals from Ben Johnson, Declan Rice, Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen securing the Hammers’ place in the top four.

Yeomans added: “On Sunday, West Ham were very popular after the team line-ups were announced with Villa having no Danny Ings in the squad, and those punters were right as West Ham cruised to an easy victory.”

The bet of the weekend appeared to come from one bet365 punter, who won nearly £100,000 from a £25 Bet Builder double.

https://twitter.com/briandjones007/status/1454878616387469315?s=20

Elsewhere, in horseracing, three popular horses failed to deliver over the weekend.

Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Minella Indo (5/4) could only manage third in the Grade 1 Champion Chase at Down Royal as Frodon secured victory at 3/1 for trainer Paul Nicholls.

Frodon made all from the front and was given a terrific ride by Bryony Frost who managed to boot the popular nine-year-old home to win by three quarters of a length from Galvin.

Meanwhile, staying hurdler and 11/4 favourite Paisley Park also could only muster third at Wetherby as Daryl Jacob rode 5/1-shot Indefatigable to victory in the bet365 Hurdle.

Finally, rumoured retirement may be on the cards for nine-year-old Cyrname after the horse pulled up for the third successive race in the Charlie Hall Chase.

The Grade 2 encounter was won in dramatic fashion after Shan Blue was cruising to the last fence with what looked an unassailable lead, only to take a crashing fall and allow Fusil Raffles to take the win.

Cyrname trainer Nicholls said: “If he was going to run again it’d be at an easy track, like the Peterborough Chase (at Huntingdon) or something, or we’d just gracefully retire him.”

Firkins concluded: “On the racing front, losses for popular punters’ horses Minella Indo, Paisley Park, and Cyrname put us ahead, and for pure romance how about Frodon’s fantastic spin around Down Royal.

“The ultra-game nine-year-old is now a 6/1 chance to retain his King George crown at Kempton on Boxing Day.”