Weekend Review: Liverpool take a bite out of the Cherries as Premier League returns

The first Premier League weekend of the 2025-26 season will have pleased punters after favourites across the board obliged, although a couple of results did give the bookies a bounce.

The action kicked off on Friday with reigning champions Liverpool (3/10) leaving it late to secure a 4-2 win over Bournemouth (7/1).

New forward Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo gave the Reds a 2-0 lead, only to see Antoine Semenyo bag a brace to draw Bournemouth level heading into the final 10 minutes.

With a draw (5/1) looking likely, Federico Chiesa struck with two minutes remaining to send the Kop into a frenzy and Mohamed Salah made sure Arne Slot’s side started the campaign with a win when he put the game to bed in the 94th minute.

TEAM ✊❤️ pic.twitter.com/sye9fU9dvl

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 16, 2025

Man City (1/2) responded to their disappointing 2024-25 season with a comprehensive 4-0 win over Wolves (5/1).

New boys Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki marked their debuts with goals and Erling Haaland found the back of the net twice.

Newly promoted Sunderland (5/2) made light work of West Ham United (5/4), winning 3-0 at the Stadium of Light, while last season’s Championship winners Burnley (5/1) were humbled by the same scoreline against Tottenham Hotspur (11/20).

On Sunday, Chelsea (4/5) and Crystal Palace (3/1) played out a goalless draw (11/4), the second 0-0 draw of the weekend after Aston Villa and Newcastle.

The marque fixture of the weekend saw struggling Manchester United (3/1) lose 1-0 to Arsenal (19/20), with Riccardo Calafiori nodding in after the home side failed to deal with a corner.

Kicking off our campaign with three huge points ✊ pic.twitter.com/DHNKTWce5f

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 17, 2025

With a host of favourites winning across the weekend, bet365’s Steve Freeth said it was two days that belonged to the punters.

He remarked: “The return of the Premier League had punters jumping for joy. Odds-on favourites Liverpool, Spurs, Man City, Nottingham Forest and Arsenal all obliged.

“We had some respite in the form of Aston Villa, Brighton and Chelsea dropping points, but the opening weekend belonged to the punters.

“Our worst result was Manchester City’s victory at Wolves. Ordinarily, backers of a Haaland hat-trick (14/1) would’ve been frustrated at the sight of the two-goal Norwegian being replaced by Rayan Cherki, but the Frenchman’s strike on 81 minutes meant we paid over a thousand wagers that would’ve been settled as losers thanks to the ‘Sub concession’ and the Cityzens scoring four goals tells its own story.”

It was a similar story for Betfred’s Alan Firkins, with Liverpool favourites to retain the league (2/1) and Haaland (10/11) starting the season strongly in the race to claim the league’s golden boot award.

He said: “Sitting top industry price about Liverpool taking another Premier League crown, and with Fred giving it an extra nudge a few times in recent weeks, they’re comfortably our biggest liability, but the entertaining 4-2 opening day win against Bournemouth provided plenty of food for thought.”

Opening day @ErlingHaaland 🤯🔥 pic.twitter.com/stKj0xplPl

— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 17, 2025

For FDJ UNITED’s Ali Gill, the Premier League’s return delivered some positive results after Liverpool’s win over Bournemouth, with the low-scoring game at Old Trafford a welcome bonus for the Unibet parent company.

He said: “Liverpool’s 4-2 win over Bournemouth, with goals and a selection of big names on the scoresheet, was one of three games we lost on over the weekend as we started out the long season with a good set of results.

“No surprise Man United’s 1-0 loss to Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon was the headline and, despite contrasting seasons last season, with just the one goal that was very comfortably our best result for the book across the whole weekend of sport.

“On the flip side, Man City’s 4-0 demolition of Wolves was the worst result we saw right across the board.”

Midnite senior trader Alex Firth added: “We saw a fantastic return to the Premier League on Friday night with Liverpool showing their fire power as well as their vulnerability at the back.

“Manchester United looked like a side reborn with new signings Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo causing Arsenal plenty of trouble, but it was a familiar story for United with a goalkeeper error ultimately costing them the game. The 1-0 correct scoreline was available to punters at 8/1.”

 Across Europe, operators fared better in Spain thanks to Espanyol (5/1) beating Atlético Madrid (3/5) 2-1, in what was an acca-buster of the highest order.

Freeth noted that bet365 finished “marginally in front” in Europe, after a slow start saw Bayern Munich and Barcelona notch up wins.

He said: “Fans of continental football filled their boots on Saturday night as 1/2 Bayern Munich lifted the German Super Cup with Kane and Diaz on the scoresheet, plus 2/9 Monaco beating Le Havre and 1/2 Feyenoord excelling against Excelsior.

“Barcelona were comfortable winners versus Mallorca with Lamine Yamal scoring and assisting. Worryingly, we have laid Yamal at 7/1 to score 15 or more and 50/1 on him bagging 20+ which is not an ideal start.

“We finished marginally in front in Europe on Sunday after a slow start. Nico Williams scored and then assisted a late winner for 8/15 Athletic Bilbao, but 8/13 Atlético Madrid were turned over by Espanyol, who were 40/1 in-play before their fightback.

“PSG won at Nantes, but they only managed four shots on target and had Vitinha on the scoresheet in a 1-0 win for the visitors which was profitable for bet builders. In fact, there were seven 1-0 wins in Ligue 1 – we’ll take that every week.”

Gill added: “In Spain, Barcelona kicked off with a 3-0 win Mallorca which lined punters pockets, while Atlético Madrid’s 2-1 loss to Espanyol killed a lot of accas and was all round great for the book.”

Betfred’s Firkins also commented on this week’s four-day Ebor Festival at York, with a particular mention for Danon Decile who races in the Juddmonte International on Wednesday.

The Shogo Yasuda-trained horse heads into the competition having won both his races this year, in Japan in January and the United Arab Emirates back in April.

“All racing roads lead to York’s four-day Ebor Festival this week, and Wednesday’s Juddmonte International gets us all misty about the likes of Frankel, Sea The Stars and, my personal favourite, Halling. 

“This year’s renewal features a fancied Japanese runner, the talented four-year-old colt Danon Decile, and he might be the one to serve it up to likely favourite Ombudsman. Not to be missed.”