Weekend Review: Punters power ahead in Premier League as attention shifts to Qatar

The punters managed to squeak ahead of the bookies on the final weekend of Premier League action before the World Cup in a rollercoaster 48 hours in the top-flight.

The traders got off to the perfect start on Saturday after an Ivan Toney double downed Manchester City (1/8) in the Saturday lunchtime kick-off, with the Brentford (20/1) man showing England boss Gareth Southgate what he might be missing in Qatar.

City’s loss was an acca-killer early on to leave the punters reeling, and Saturday continued to look pretty rosy for the operators overall.

Kindred Group’s Ali Gill said: “The final weekend of action in the Premier League before the break was one to send the punters off to the winter World Cup with money in their pocket. It started so well but ended so badly.

“Saturday kicked off with a last-minute Brentford winner against City to shock punters and destroy swathes of accas as well as singles, our biggest event of the weekend also doubling as our best overall result,” he added.

3 points. 2 goals.
What a win. Fans were unreal pic.twitter.com/TrN3bftSaB

— Ivan Toney (@ivantoney24) November 12, 2022

A 1-0 win for Champions League-chasing Newcastle (23/20) over Chelsea (5/2) compound the early pressure on Blues’ boss Graham Potter, while low-scoring wins for Arsenal (1/2) and Nottingham Forest (12/5) were enjoyed by the book.

However, a barnstormer of a game in north London saw Spurs (3/5) run out 4-3 winners against Leeds (17/4) to swing Saturday to the punters.

Stunning performances from Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur kept Spurs in the top four heading into the World Cup as Antonio Conte’s men continue to show their grit.

Sunday was a day for the punters, with Aston Villa (4/1) under the tutelage of Unai Emery running out 2-1 winners against Brighton (7/10) and a last-minute winner from teenager Alejandro Garnacho giving Manchester United (17/20) a 2-1 win against Fulham (3/1).

Bet365’s Steve Freeth said: “I don’t like to see Villa winning at the best of times, but their victory at Brighton not only continued their good form under Emery but gave us our worst result of the day. The late winner from Garnacho was another kick in the teeth.”

Gill added: “After that, the punter-friendly results rolled in, with the goal-fest between Leeds and Spurs doing some damage, before Sunday was signed off with our worst overall result of the weekend as United grabbed a last-minute winner against Fulham to leave a big red hole in the book.”

After reaching the breakpoint in the season, Betfred’s Alan Firkins revealed Arsenal are shortening their odds for a first Premier League title since 2004.

Firkins said: “What an impact Ivan Toney’s brace at the Etihad on Saturday has had on the odds for ultimate Premier League glory. Five-point leaders Arsenal are now in to just 2/1 to take the crown, while Manchester City have drifted out to 1/2. It’s 33s bar the pair.”

https://twitter.com/agarnacho7/status/1591885783631564800

Looking ahead to the World Cup, with England set to face Iran in their first game next Monday, Freeth and Firkins revealed the early movers on the competition.

Firkins said: “No Toney of course over the next few weeks, but England do have a lunchtime meeting with Iran next Monday as their World Cup campaign kicks off. Betfred sees them at around 9/1 to win the tournament, with Brazil our favourites at 4/1. We’re excited, and looking forward to it all very much.”

Freeth commented: “Overall, it was a losing weekend on the football front with our attentions now turning to the World Cup. We don’t look to be in a great position in the Outright market with Brazil and Argentina both currently seven-figure losers for us.

Elsewhere, in horseracing, Ga Law, which was sent off at 5/1, narrowly beat French Dynamite to win a thrilling Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham on Saturday.

Meanwhile, I Like To Move It (17/2) took the Greatwood Hurdle ahead of 4/1 favourite Gin Coco.

Ridden by Sam Twiston-Davies, the victor gave the layers some joy as former favourite Thousand Tears, backed as short as 4/1 earlier this week drifted to 18/1 before the race before pulled up four fences out.

Finally, some patriotic betting in the F1 and cricket still saw the books come away with some profit.

Mercedes scored a 1-2 at the São Paulo Grand Prix with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton taking the two top spots as Red Bull pair Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez had off days.

There was an almighty upset in qualifying as Haas driver Kevin Magnussen took pole at odds of 500/1 in places. However, the Dane crashed out on the first lap of the race after he was shunted by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo.

P1!!!! pic.twitter.com/qFgqAOWoSg

— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) November 13, 2022

Gill revealed: “The penultimate round of the F1 season was a spicy affair, with Mercedes finally taking their first win of the season with an impressive 1-2.

“The fact it was George Russell on the top of the podium and not Lewis Hamilton helped even more than the fact Verstappen wasn’t the winner, in what was a good result for us overall,” he added.

Elsewhere, England were named T20 cricket world champions for the second time after defeating Pakistan by five wickets in front of 80,000 spectators in Melbourne.

Ben Stokes put up a magnificent 50 to drive England to success in yet another clutch final from the Cumbrian.

Gill said: “England cricketers became the first nation to hold the title of world champions in both the 20 and 50-over format at the same time after an impressive win over Pakistan in the T20 World Cup.

“Patriotic punters had got stuck into England on their run to the final, but we actually just managed to squeeze some profit out of the final.”