Weekend Review: City a class apart as punters power ahead in Premier League
Pep Guardiola’s side turn Manchester blue while Arsenal emerge as new favourites for top four finish
It was a weekend for the punters in the Premier League as pre-match favourites duly obliged by securing expected wins as the top four and relegation battles continue to heat up.
In the game of the weekend, Manchester City (2/5) demolished a lacklustre Manchester United (6/1) 4-1 at the Etihad, with a brace each for Kevin de Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez ensuring City kept Liverpool at arm’s length in the race for the title.
Jadon Sancho produced a neat finish against his former club to bring the scores level in the first half, but Pep Guardiola’s men flicked the switch and put United to the sword in devastating fashion.
Liverpool (1/4) scraped past West Ham (10/1) 1-0 at Anfield to keep the title race alive thanks to a Sadio Mane goal, while Chelsea (1/2) remained in third after a 4-0 win away to Burnley (6/1).
Kindred Group’s Ali Gill said: “A punters’ weekend in the Premier League as shocks were few and far between.
“Liverpool only putting one past West Ham left us ahead in that game, but otherwise it was pretty much plain sailing for backers as we were left in the red in six of the nine games played over the weekend, with Chelsea’s demolition of Burnley being the worst Premier League result in the book,” he added.
MY TEAM! 💙 Manchester is blue! 💙 pic.twitter.com/uLIRktaQJJ
— Jack Grealish (@JackGrealish) March 6, 2022
Newcastle (7/4) continued to pull away from the relegation zone after a 2-1 win against Brighton (9/5) with the newly-monied Magpies up to 14th in the table.
However, Norwich (21/20) and Watford (11/2) were left staring the Championship in the face after a 3-1 loss to Brentford (7/5) and 3-2 defeat to Arsenal (1/2), respectively.
Bet365’s Steve Freeth said: “Not many draws in the top two flights of English football to shout about. Despite victories for both Leicester and Liverpool, their results were okay for us with the lack of goals. Our worst result on the Saturday was Newcastle’s victory over Brighton.
“The Manchester City masterclass, and Arsenal’s 3-2 win at Watford, were far from ideal, but it would be great to have a nail-biting title race between now and the end of the season,” he added.
Following City’s domineering performance, Betfred’s Alan Firkins revealed to EGR the latest odds for the title and top four finishes for the likely contenders.
He said: “City are unchanged at 1/4 for the title, it’s 11/4 Liverpool, and almost any price the rest. United’s top four hopes took a hit – they’re out to 10/3 to secure one of the Champions League spots, with Arsenal now in to 1/2.”
Goodnight, Gooners 👋 #WATARS pic.twitter.com/y6syQRexf8
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) March 6, 2022
Additionally, in what would be a truly historical achievement, Freeth revealed how a few optimistic Liverpool fans had backed the Reds to win the quadruple.
Freeth said: “Klopp’s side may not have been at their brilliant best but there are a hundred or so customers on Liverpool for the quadruple at odds of 1500/1 and 1000/1. They’re certainly getting a run for their money with the Reds now 40/1 to be the first side to pull off such a feat.”
In European football, there were positive results for the bookies as some top teams failed to turn up, but Spain brought pain as Real Madrid, Atletico and Barcelona all secured wins.
In Germany, Bayern Munich (2/5) could only muster a 1-1 draw at home to Bayer Leverkusen (5/1), while RB Leipzig (53/100) were also held to a 1-1 draw to SC Freiburg (11/2).
PSG (7/10) fell to a 1-0 defeat to away to Nice (15/4), with the Parisians conceding an 88th minute winner from Andy Delort.
In Spain, Real Madrid (1/2) beat Real Sociedad (5/1) 4-1, Atletico (6/5) ran out 3-1 winners away to Real Betis (5/2) and Barcelona (11/25) came from behind to secure a 2-1 victory against 10-man Elche (11/2).
FULL TIME! #ElcheBarça pic.twitter.com/xxi9jgJ9n3
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 6, 2022
Freeth said: “We had some good results in Europe with PSG, Bayern Munich and Leipzig dropping points.
“We did have a bad weekend in Spain with Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Celta Vigo topping of our liabilities in La Liga, but we had some joy in Serie A with the low scoring games at Napoli, Roma and Genoa being well received,” he added.
Elsewhere, in horseracing, with Cheltenham just days away, the weekend’s action was a rather low-key affair.
Virgin Bet head of trading Janis Strauts said: “Small but competitive fields were the order of the day, where the soft, heavy ground at Doncaster nullified the favourite’s chances, with only one winning favourite from 10.
“Customers battled back in the evening at Southwell, but by then the damage had already been done,” he added.
Firkins commented: “There was some fabulous jumping action on terrestrial TV on Saturday, and with only one winning favourite we certainly had the better of things.
“Cheltenham’s gloriously on the horizon – could be a different story at Prestbury Park of course, with some serious hotpots lining up, especially from the Emerald Isle,” he added.