Weekend Review: Punters win first battle of 2021 as Premier League results fall into place
Favourites oblige across the board as former rugby player Gerwyn Price wins darts’ top prize
The first weekend of Premier League action in 2021 went the way of the punters as pre-match favourites avoided New Year hangovers to frustrate the layers.
Victories for Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham, and Leicester meant four of the top five teams in the league started 2021 with a bang, with champions Liverpool looking to make it a five out of five when they face Southampton on Monday evening.
Kindred Group’s Ali Gill told EGR that it was a “weekend clean sweep” for the bettors.
Gill said: “2021 started with a bang for Premier League punters as they enjoyed a weekend clean sweep, coming out ahead in all six games played over the weekend. Arsenal and Spurs’ wins topped the table in terms of worst results for us.”
⬆ Joint-top of the table!
🔴 #MUFC
#⃣ #MUNAVL
🏆 #PL@Chevrolet— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 1, 2021
However, West Ham’s somewhat surprise 1-0 victory over high-flying Everton thanks to a Tomáš Souček finish, and the enthralling 3-3 draw between Brighton and Wolves, gave the bookies some consolation.
Betway’s Chad Yeomans said: “With four of the top five in the Premier League all winning – with Liverpool still to play on Monday – it was a very punter-friendly weekend, in terms of finding the well backed teams to win.
“West Ham’s victory over Everton and the 3-3 draw between Brighton and Wolves were good results for the book,” he added.
Three points ✅
Another goal ✅
Potato salad ✅All in a day’s work for @tomassoucek28 pic.twitter.com/gBBzdeBqRc
— West Ham United (@WestHam) January 2, 2021
Manchester United’s 2-1 victory over Aston Villa put them level on points with Liverpool atop the Premier League table, with many now wondering if the Red Devils are genuine title contenders.
Yeomans noted that the Old Trafford club’s outright title odds have been slashed in recent weeks following an impressive end to 2020.
He said: “Manchester United had a very prosperous 2020 and their form at the back-end of the year has pushed them up the table to second place, level on points with leaders Liverpool.
“Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s men are now into 13/2 to lift their 21st Premier League title, having been as big as 40/1 a few weeks back,” he added.
Elsewhere, in darts, 35-year-old Welshman Gerwyn Price won his first PDC World Championship after ousting two-time champion Gary Anderson at Alexandra Palace in North London.
Price, a former professional rugby union player, only started competing on the PDC Tour in 2014.
𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘽𝙀𝙎𝙏 𝙎𝙀𝙏 𝙄𝙉 𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙇𝘿 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙈𝙋𝙄𝙊𝙉𝙎𝙃𝙄𝙋 𝙃𝙄𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙍𝙔
This. Is. Astounding.
Gerwyn Price averages 136.64 in that set, the highest set average in World Championship history!
11 darts. 12 darts. 10 darts. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/m7J0Hm6tPH
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 3, 2021
Gill said that Price’s win was a positive result, with pre-tournament favourites including Anderson and Dutchman Michael van Gerwen losing out.
Gill said: “Gerwyn Price took his maiden World Championship Crown, beating Gary Anderson in a result which was a positive for us both on the night and in the tournament outright market, with Price not hugely well supported pre-tournament.”