Weekend Review: Liverpool’s domestic dip continues after Brentford blow 

Brentford (3/1) beat Liverpool (17/20) 3-2 in a thriller at the Gtech Stadium on Saturday night, condemning the defending Premier League champions to a fourth league defeat in a row.  

Goals from Dango Ouatarra, Kevin Schade and Igor Thiago proved enough for the Bees to edge out Arne Slot’s side, despite strikes from Milos Kerkez and Mo Salah.  

The result enabled Arsenal (2/5) to further cement their position at the top of the table with a 1-0 win at home to Crystal Palace.  

Eberechi Eze’s goal secured all three points against his former side.

Sunderland (6/1) produced a dramatic comeback to stun Chelsea (9/20) in the 93rd minute and win 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.  

A Matty Cash goal was enough for Aston Villa (16/5) to halt Manchester City’s winning run, as Erling Haaland drew a blank for the first time in 12 games.  

Manchester United’s (19/20) recent good form continued with a 4-2 win at home to Brighton, as summer signing Matheus Cunha netted his first goal for his new club. 

It was a productive weekend for the league’s other newly promoted teams, with Leeds (4/5) winning 2-1 at home to struggling West Ham, and Burnley (17/5) picking up a 3-2 win away at bottom of the table Wolves.  

Newcastle (3/5) left it late to beat Fulham 2-1 at St James’ Park, while Spurs (9/4) ended the weekend in third after a 3-0 win away at Everton. 

Bet365’s Steve Freeth explained how the bookmaker enjoyed the weekend after a difficult set of midweek results.  

He said: “Not for the first time this season, we were rescued by the Premier League having suffered another Champions League midweek mauling. 

“Arsenal won 1-0, Manchester City lost 1-0, Chelsea were defeated by Sunderland, Liverpool lost again, while outsiders Spurs and Burnley both score three away from home and Manchester United won for the third successive time! 

“Bournemouth’s win at odds-on at home to Nottingham Forest has them in second spot in the Premier League and trading at 4/1 for a top-four finish having been 33/1. Third-placed Tottenham are now 10/3 and Sunderland are 25/1 from a pre-season price of 200/1, with the usual contenders continuing to drop points. 

“The two ‘W’s’ have only one ‘W’ to their names and are currently occupying the bottom two spots with Wolves at 1/4 for relegation with West Ham at 8/13 following another disappointing display. The concern for the pair is that the promoted trio are, unlike them, winning games on a regular basis.” 

Betfred’s Alan Firkins remarked on how Arsenal have solidified as odds-on favourites to win the league this season, with Liverpool and City struggling for consistency.

He said: “Manchester City’s recent revival was halted at Aston Villa – a well worked Matty Cash goal the difference – while Sunderland took pride of place and moved to fourth in the table with a sensational late show at the Bridge, beating Chelsea 2-1. 

“Lots for the traders to appreciate then, and a top four that now reads Arsenal, Bournemouth, Spurs and Sunderland. Liverpool are seventh, with Manchester United (who dealt with Brighton at Old Trafford, 4-2) a point and a place ahead of them. 

“Latest PL odds have Arsenal 4/9, City 9/2, Liverpool 15/2, United 20/1 and it’s 40s bar. Surely it’s Arsenal’s to lose right now?” 

Brian O’Keeffe, spokesman for BOYLE Sports, added: “It was a huge weekend for Arsenal – and for anyone who backed them before the start of the season – as they are now as short as 4/9 to win a first Premier League title in over 20 years.  

“Losses for closest challengers Manchester City and Liverpool have seen them drift out to 9/2 and 7/1, respectively, while Manchester United’s new-found winning form has seen them installed as fourth favourites at 20/1. It’s certainly looking a lot rosier for Ruben Amorim than it was a couple of weeks ago – United are 2/1 to finish in the top four.” 

Across Europe, Real Madrid edged out Barcelona 2-1 in a fiercely contested El Clásico tie at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Goals from Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham secured the points for the home side, while Marcus Rashford assisted Fermin López’s first-half equaliser.  

Barcelona ended the match with 10 men after Pedri was sent off in second half stoppage time.  

In Germany, Bayern Munich (11/50) ran out 3-0 winners away at Borussia Mönchengladbach.  

Dortmund (9/25) defeated FC Köln 1-0 at home, while Bayer Leverkusen (19/20) saw off 10-man Freiburg 2-0.  

In Serie A, Napoli (13/5) maintained top spot with a 3-1 win at home to Inter.  

AC Milan were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Pisa, while Juventus succumbed to a 1-0 loss away at Lazio (5/2).  

With regard to bet365’s performance across Europe this weekend, Freeth noted: “In Spain we had Jude Bellingham up against Marcus Rashford, with both making an impact as 5/6 Real Madrid beat their rivals 2-1 to go five points clear at the top of La Liga.  

“The ‘to Score or Assist’ market is always popular and 5/6 Bellingham did both, while even-money Rashford provided the assist for Barcelona’s equaliser, .

“Bet365 customers profited in the Bundesliga where all seven odds-on favourites obliged and the short ones in France, 2/9 Lille and 1/3 PSG, bagged nine goals between them. 

“Jamie Vardy did us a favour in Serie A with the 9/1 poke opening the scoring with his first Serie A goal, as hosts Cremonese held 4/9 Atalanta. We paid out on both 15/8 Bologna and 19/20 Verona despite them not winning as the pair qualified for our ‘2 Goals Ahead Early Payout’, but another defeat for an out-of-sorts Juventus ensured we finished the weekend on a high as the 6/5 shots lost at Lazio.” 

Meanwhile, in horseracing, 7/4 favourite Ace of Spades romped home in the William Hill Each Way Extra Handicap Hurdle at Aintree, beating out Moonbow (4/1) and Serious Operator (9/2).

At Cheltenham, Give It To Me Oj (4/9) won the Masterson Holdings Hurdle ahead of Hamlet’s Night (6/1) and Loriko (15/2).  

Jordan Wilmott, sportsbook experience manager at Midnite, said: “In racing, the Group 1 William Hill Futurity Trophy at Doncaster comes as the last Group 1 in the UK for the flat season, with Aidan O’Brien dominating proceedings. The Ante-post favourite Benvenuto Cellini was as short as 8/13 throughout the week but could only managed third in the race, returning a 7/4f, with O’Brien training the first three home in the race where Hawk Mountain the 18/5 shot took the spoils at Town Moor under the in form Ronan Whelan. 

 “Cheltenham returned with high-class jump action as the November meeting is just around the corner. Give It To Me Oj (4/9f) managed to fend off Hamlet’s Night up the dreaded Cheltenham hill to take the Masterson Novices’ Hurdle, and in the following race Pied Piper went as short as 1.01, seemingly travelling much the best when coming upside the eventual winner Leave Of Absence, who found more for pressure taking the spoils at 9/2 for Rex Dingle. 

“Aintree saw the Old Roan chase on Sunday, the Grade 2 event went the way of Paul Nicholls and Freddie Gingell with Hitman (9/1) taking the race by two lengths – the aptly named selection named after the late Ricky Hatton managed to track the leaders and pounce going clear, with the owner Ged Mason declaring that the £80,000 prize money will be donated to the Hatton Foundation.”