Weekend Review: Spalletti’s Azzuri splutter as North Macedonia have a Bar-ty

It was a winning weekend for the bookies, as many of the favourites in the UEFA Euro 2024 Qualifiers slipped up, leaving punters perturbed. 

England (1/2) dropped their first points in qualifying after Ukraine (6/1) held the Three Lions on a hot afternoon in Wroclaw. 

Ukraine took the lead midway through the first half, as Arsenal full-back Oleksandr Zinchenko capitalised on some poor England defending to meet Yukhym Konoplya’s cutback. 

The Three Lions did equalise just before half-time through Kyle Walker, which was the full-back’s first senior international goal in 77 caps, a statistic that favoured the bookies well.

Kindred Group’s Ali Gill said: “No surprise that the best result of the weekend was England being held to a draw by Ukraine in Poland. 

“On top of the singles and the masses of accas taken with it, the two goals meant the goals’ line went our way and, the cherry on top, the man who got England’s goal hadn’t scored in 76 previous outings for England. Across the board, a tough result for punters.”

Elsewhere in England’s group, the bookies must’ve been delighted to see Italy (1/4) drop points away in North Macedonia (9/1). 

The Azzurri went up early in the second half through Ciro Immobile, but Enis Bardhi sent the home crowd into raptures ten minutes from the end with a peach of a free kick.

The other home nations had quite poor results in qualifying as both Ireland (5/1) and Northern Ireland (3/2) fell to defeats against the Netherlands (3/5) and Kazakhstan (8/5), respectively. Scotland (2/5) was the only home nation to win this weekend as they edged closer to qualifying for next year’s tournament with a resounding 3-0 victory away in Cyprus (8/1). 

Betfred’s Alan Firkins commented: “Scotland made it five wins from five in qualifying, easily beating Cyprus, and they can qualify if Norway vs Georgia ends in a draw on Tuesday. Scotland are an 80/1 chance to win Euro 2024.  

“Italy were the coupon busters, 1/4 faves, but could only manage a 1-1 draw away to North Macedonia.” 

Meanwhile, in horseracing action, there was an upset at the Sprint Cup at Haydock as the hot favourite Shaquille (11/10) finished last, much to the delight of the bookies. It was Regional (10/1) that won the race by a neck despite facing a strong challenge by Shouldvebeenaring (50/1), with Believing (66/1) coming in third. 

There was some luck for punters as English and Irish Derby winner Auguste (11/4) won the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown with another Aidan O’Brien-trained runner, Luxembourg (4/1), coming in second and Nashwa (9/2) in third. There was more delight in Leopardstown for punters, as Tahiyra (5/6) was at the top of her game to win the Matron Stakes, which takes the three-year-old’s Group One tally to four. 

Betway’s Chad Yeomans said: “On Saturday, Shaquille getting beat in the Sprint Cup at Haydock was arguably the best result of the weekend and one that definitely allowed our racing traders to breathe a sigh of relief. 

“Auguste Rodin winning the Irish Champion was a bad loser for us as it was when the same team of Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore teamed up with Broadhurst in the finale. 

“Tahiyra also stamped her claim as the best three-year-old filly, with another super performance when winning the Group 1 Matron Stakes in emphatic fashion. She went off 5/6 and was heavily supported all through the day,” he added.

Looking ahead to this weekend’s action, Firkins remarked: “All eyes are trained on Doncaster at the weekend and the Betfred St Leger. Gregory narrowly heads the market at 3/1 from his Voltigeur conqueror at York, Continuous (7/2), but Aidan’s Continuous looked super smooth on the Knavesmire, and the trainer was in red-hot form during Irish Champions weekend.

Over in tennis, the year’s final major went to Novak Djokovic, who beat Daniil Medvedev in straight sets to win his 24th grand slam title at the Men’s US Open at Flushing Meadows. History was made in the Women’s US Open final as Coco Gauff won her first grand slam title, beating Aryna Sabalenka. 

Gill said: “Over at Flushing Meadows, Novak Djokovic won his 24th grand slam in straight sets. Punters had far from written Medvedev off, and we actually managed to squeeze some profit out of the match. In the women’s draw, teenager Coco Gauff made her own history in winning her first major in another match that just about went our way.”

Lastly, in golf, Rory McIlroy fell at the last hurdle of the Irish Open, leaving punters downtrodden as the Northern Irishman lost to Swede Vincent Norrman. 

Yeomans commented: “At the Irish Open, popular favourite Rory McIlroy touched evens early on in his final round at The K Club and had many punters licking their lips as benign conditions looked perfect for him to sweep home. It was not to be however, as McIlroy found the water four times as he floundered to a closing round of 74.”