Weekend Review: The late late show saves Spurs as City continue perfect start

It was an almost perfect weekend for punters as the Premier League returned following the international break.

Bookies will be ruing the extended stoppage time being served this season as it allowed Spurs and Aston Villa to wrest victories from the jaws of mediocrity, giving bettors a welcome boost.

Spurs (1/4) benefitted from a whopping 12 minutes of added time to overcome Sheffield United (9/1) at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Gustavo Hamer provided the sucker punch to Spurs in the 72nd minute, giving the newly promoted side a shock lead, but the real drama was still to come. 

Richarlison opened his Premier League account for the season in the eighth minute of injury time to equalise for Spurs, nodding in an Ivan Perisic corner.

The Brazilian then turned supplier, feeding Dejan Kulusevski, who smashed it past Wes Foderingham to send the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium into delirium. 

Aston Villa (19/20) needed two stoppage time goals from Douglas Luiz and Leon Bailey to seal all three points after coming from behind at home to Crystal Palace (3/1).

Elsewhere, Manchester City (3/5) also came from behind at the London Stadium to continue their 100% start to the season. 

West Ham (9/2) went ahead through James Ward-Prowse before goals from Jérémy Doku, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland finished the game off.

The other half of Manchester spent Saturday evening far less happy, as Manchester United’s (19/20) poor start to the season continued after losing 3-1 at Old Trafford to Brighton (5/2).

There were also wins on Saturday for Liverpool (7/10), Fulham (13/20) and Newcastle (3/5).

Sunday was a different story, with only one goal scored across the two games. Chelsea (3/4) were held 0-0 away at Bournemouth (3/1), while Arsenal (2/5) ended their Goodison Park hoodoo thanks to a Leandro Trossard strike. 

Francisco Cano, head of trading at LiveScore Group, said: “It was a rollercoaster weekend with a punter-friendly day on Saturday and great results for us on Sunday. Several big favourite teams started losing 0-1 on Saturday, and they all managed to come from behind and win the game. 

“These results, including the wins of the top teams, caused the large majority of the accas to win; therefore, this Saturday was one of the days that customers won more in the last few years.

“A special mention to the English Premier League: the biggest payouts were on the City and Liverpool games,” he added.

Kindred Group’s Ali Gill added: “All told, it was a weekend for the punters in the Premier League, as despite a couple of what would usually be classed as shocks, but perhaps less so this season, results went largely the way of the backers.  

“Chelsea’s 0-0 draw with Bournemouth was the exception, and fingers certainly got burnt there, but that was pretty much the sole bright spot.

“Liverpool, City and Spurs all left us deep in the red, with wins for Villa over Palace and Fulham over Luton also leaving punters miles ahead.

“Despite being ‘Man Utd at home’, Brighton’s 3-1 win at Old Trafford actually just about cost us a few quid, such are the issues and lack of form for ten Hag’s side, but that one could pretty much be described as a draw for backers and layers.”

The bookies’ woes continued on the continent as all but one of Europe’s top five leagues saw punter-friendly results.

In Spain, Barcelona (3/10) comfortably beat Real Betis (7/1) 5-0, while Real Madrid (7/10) had to come from behind to beat Real Sociedad (15/4) thanks to goals from Federico Valverde and Joselu.

In the Bundesliga, there were comfortable wins for RB Leipzig (1/4) and Borussia Dortmund (5/4), while the big crunch match between Bayer Leverkusen (4/1) and Bayern Munich (1/2) ended in a 2-2 draw.

Jose Mourinho’s Roma (2/5) were the big winners in Serie A this weekend, trouncing Empoli (15/2) 7-0 at the Stadio Olimpico.

Inter Milan (23/20) smashed AC Milan (5/2) 5-1 in the Milan derby at the San Siro while Juventus (9/10 also picked up a win, beating Lazio (16/5) 3-1.

The only league providing the bookies with respite was Ligue 1, as PSG (1/2) lost 3-2 at home to Nice (9/2) and leaders Monaco were held by Lorient.

This weekend, it was draws galore in France, with over half of all games ending all square.

Bet365’s Steve Freeth commented: “We know it’s a marathon, not a sprint, but we’re in the red in four of the five major European Leagues with only PSG helping us out in Ligue 1.

“Talking of Europe, it was happy days for backers of Barcelona, Inter and Juventus, and punters signed off with Roma winning 7-0. Yes, that’s right, Jose Mourinho’s Roma and Real Madrid joining the ever-growing band of teams winning from behind over the last few days,” he added.

In horseracing, the Doncaster St Leger went the way of the second favourite Continuous (3/1), which gave trainer Aidan O’Brien his seventh St Leger victory. Continuous pipped Frankie Dettori’s Arrest and King Charles III’s Desert Hero to the post. 

O’Brien also hinted that following Continuous’ victory at Doncaster, it could head for Europe’s richest race, Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, at the end of the month.

Betfred’s Alan Firkins said: “We had two big losers in the book for the Betfred St Leger, and they finished first and second.

“That apart, it was a fantastic four days at Donny, complete with a Royal visit, which will live long in the memory. Leger hero Continuous is now 8/1 for the Arc,”

Gill remarked: “Doncaster held the St Leger on Saturday, and despite it being overall a set of results for layers, the race itself went the way of 3/1 second favourite Continuous.

“Despite losing favouritism to second placed Arrest, Continuous was very well-backed on the day and no surprise that one left us in the red.”

As the Rugby World Cup in France rumbles on, with England making it two wins from two after a 34-12 victory over Japan, Firkins commented: “Our customers are lapping up the Rugby World Cup, and there’s precious little in the outright betting between France, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand at the head of the market. England are 11/1, Wales 33s, and it’s 66/1 about the Scots. Bring on the knockout stuff.”