Weekend Review: City and Liverpool both lose as bookies benefit from unpredictable Premier League
Reigning champions and league leaders both defeated at home on same day for first time since October 1988
Manchester City’s run of 21 successive wins came to a crashing halt at the hands of arch-rivals Manchester United to leave layers counting their winnings from the shock scoreline.
Pep Guardiola’s men were brought back to reality thanks to goals from Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw as Manchester United tightened their grip on a Champions League spot.
Elsewhere, Liverpool’s wretched form continued with a sixth consecutive home loss at the hands of relegation-threatened Fulham, courtesy of a fine Mario Lemina strike.
𝐁𝐈𝐈𝐈𝐈𝐆 performance from the boys!
UP. THE. REDS.
🔴 #MUFC
#️⃣ #MCIMUN@Chevrolet— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 7, 2021
Kindred Group’s Ali Gil said: “Tough to call which was the bigger shock in football terms, high flying Manchester City on a 21-game winning streak being beaten at home by Manchester United, or a hugely out-of-form Liverpool team being beaten at home again, for a sixth time in a row, by relegation-threatened Fulham.
“The Liverpool loss was our best result of the weekend overall, with Arsenal’s draw to Burnley and City’s loss being not too far behind, leaving very few accas alive and kicking by the end of the weekend as well,” he added.
Betway’s Chad Yeomans said: “There were plenty of Betway punters who thought that Liverpool would sweep past Fulham but their poor home form continues as they slumped to their sixth straight home defeat.”
Expected victories for Leicester, Tottenham and Southampton took the shine away from the bookmakers, as bettors regained some ground in the weekend stakes.
Gill said: “A very well backed Leicester’s win over Brighton was some reprieve for punters, as was Spurs’ win over Crystal Palace and Southampton’s victory over Sheffield United.”
Betfred’s Alan Firkins commented: “Just a few days after Fred paid out early on City winning the Premier League, his beloved United ended the Blues’ tremendous unbeaten run. Great result for the books – as was Liverpool’s demise, with yet another reverse at Anfield.”
Full-time.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 7, 2021
Additionally, Firkins told EGR how one Betfred customer won more than £31,000 after landing a 20-fold accumulator on matches producing more than 1.5 goals.
William Hill’s Rupert Adams revealed how one racing punter missed out on £1.7m by one result as part of a £25 eight-fold goliath bet, instead having to settle for a handsome £205,000 after Tommy’s Oscar proved a let down.
Also in horseracing, Cloth Cap cemented its place as the favourite for April’s Grand National after an impressive performance in the bet365 Premier Chase at Kelso.
⭐️ Cloth Cap jumps for fun once again!
The likeable Cloth Cap follows up his Ladbrokes Trophy victory with success in the Listed bet365 Premier Chase for @tommyscu & @JonjoONeill at @KelsoRacecourse pic.twitter.com/k78EUK7nv8
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 6, 2021
Firkins said: “Trevor Hemmings’ Cloth Cap, carrying those famous Hedgehunter silks, jumped and stayed for fun on Saturday up at Kelso, and is now 6/1 favourite for the Grand National, from 14s. It was a positive end to what’s been a tremendously difficult week for the sport.”
Finally, in the darts, Ladbrokes’ Alex Apati revealed the bookmaker had a positive weekend at the Ladbrokes UK Open, where James Wade secured the 10th major title of his career.
Apati said: “Elsewhere we thought we were on to a costly Ladbrokes UK Open as Gerwyn Price and Michael van Gerwen both reached the semis – although neither progressed to the final which meant it was a good weekend on the darts front too.”