Weekend Review: Weekend of two halves as Premier League “mixed bag” throws up more surprises
Southampton, Newcastle and Arsenal spoil the party as Cyrname reinforces King George VI Chase credentials
A “mixed bag” of Premier League action left bookies and punters level after another weekend of unexpected score lines.
Southampton’s rollercoaster 4-3 victory over Aston Villa and Newcastle’s shock 2-1 win against Everton acted as the major surprises from the weekend.
Elsewhere, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal earned a 1-0 win over rivals Manchester United thanks to a penalty from captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang following a clumsy foul from Paul Pogba on Spanish fullback Hector Bellerin.
Waking up this morning like…
🕺 @Aubameyang7 pic.twitter.com/PxjXSLz0Ok
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) November 2, 2020
Betfred’s Alan Firkins said: “Usual, exciting mixed bag on the football front – in the trenches Saturday but popping back out into the light the following day.
“Even though Manchester United were short enough, Arsenal still had plenty of admirers. [It was a] tale of two halves on Merseyside – Liverpool’s late winner was a big blow, but Everton’s loss at Newcastle was a blessing.”
Betway’s Chad Yeomans concurred with Firkins, telling EGR that Sunday arrived as a saving grace.
He said: “Saturday was definitely in favour of the Betway punters, with all three favourites doing the business Sunday was a little better for us with favourites Manchester United, Aston Villa and Everton all losing, however, Tottenham were well-backed in the day’s final game.”
Ladbroke’s Alex Apati added: “Big weekend for football results – not a lot of people saw that Arsenal score coming which was handy for us! Especially considering Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City had all won already.
Goodnight, #SaintsFC fans 😘 pic.twitter.com/wsdyfdAkRB
— Southam(P)ton FC (@SouthamptonFC) November 1, 2020
“Only four games saw both teams score in the Championship on Saturday – another good result for us. Looking ahead to tonight, we could really do with a draw in the Leeds vs Leicester match to cap off a great weekend on the football front,” he concluded.
Elsewhere, in horseracing, Cyrname romped home to victory in the Charlie Hall Chase over the weekend as the Paul Nicholls-trained horse asserted itself as a firm favourite for the King George VI Chase.
Yeomans said: “Cyrname was 5/4 for the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby on Tuesday morning, but was very easy to back all week and ended up going off 3/1 on Saturday, and it is fair to say that his victory wasn’t in doubt from the second they jumped off.
“He is now 100/30 joint-favourites with his stablemate Clan Des Obeaux for the King George on Boxing Day,” he added.
Different class!
Cyrname – what a performance in the @bet365 Charlie Hall Chase 👏 @WetherbyRaces @PFNicholls @CobdenHarry pic.twitter.com/WVBDupse1i
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) October 31, 2020
William Hill’s Rupert Adams said: “Not a great weekend on the racing. On Saturday Cyrname and Regal Encore were both poor results to end ITV coverage. Sunday saw seven winning favourites from eight races at Huntingdon and there is no coming back from that.”
Finally, Oleksandr Usyk ousted Derek Chisora in a points win, with the Ukrainian now eyeing a challenge to Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight crown.
Firkins said: “The world and his wife were on the Usyk points win, but it was great to be involved as title sponsor.”