Weekend Review: Crazy Caicedo sees red in Arsenal derby draw

Arsenal (6/4) and Chelsea (2/1) played out a draw (2/1) in Sunday’s London derby, which also saw the Blues reduced to 10 men when Moises Caicedo was shown a straight red card.

The home side still found a way to go ahead thanks to a Trevoh Chalobah’s header minutes into the second half.

However, Chelsea were pegged back 10 minutes later when Mikel Merino headed home, with neither side able to find a winner in the final 30 minutes.

The draw for the Gunners saw their lead at the top reduced to five points from Manchester City, after Pep Guardiola’s men secured a last-gasp victory over Leeds.

Sunday also saw Manchester United (5/2) come from behind to beat Crystal Palace (11/10) 2-1 at Selhurst Park and Liverpool (3/5) beat West Ham (4/1) 2-0 in London.

There were also comfortable wins for Brighton (3/2) over Nottingham Forest (2/1) and Aston Villa (1/2) condemned Wolves (6/1) to another defeat to leave the latter rooted to the bottom of the table without a win all season.

Commenting on Sunday’s action, Betfred’s Alan Firkins said: “Stacks of thrilling Premier League action to savour at weekend, with Chelsea’s 1-1 draw at home to leaders Arsenal a decent one for both the trading desk and the chasing pack.

“Chelsea played with 10 men from the 38th minute and not for the first time this season looked a brave, outstanding unit who were arguably a little unlucky not to take all three points.

“Manchester City withstood a fierce Leeds fightback to win at the Etihad (3-2), and are now second, five points behind the Gunners. Villa are joint-third with Chelsea, just a point behind City, and very little separates the next 11 in the list.”

It was a Saturday for the punters as all Premier League games saw both teams score and bet365 pay out on Sunderland (9/4) versus Bournemouth (13/10) after the Cherries went ahead 2-0, only for the Black Cats to turn it around and win 3-2.

Everton (7/4), fresh off their midweek win over Manchester United, were quickly brought back down to earth with a 4-1 loss to Newcastle (7/4) and Fulham (2/1) held on to beat Tottenham (13/10) 2-1.

Bet365’s Steve Freeth said: “Twenty-two goals scored across the five Premier League games played on Saturday with BTTS landing in all five matches as well as paying out on 13/10 Bournemouth before Sunderland’s fightback due to our ‘2 Goals Ahead Early Payout’ with significant losses suffered in the English top-flight.

“Fortunately, the goal count was far lower on Sunday with the highlight being at Stamford Bridge. A Christmas card on its way to Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez after his stunning performance. 

“The Gunners remain clear at the top and are 1/2 for the title, but they will view this as two points dropped after Moises Caicedo’s first-half red card.

“While 1/2 Aston Villa, 6/4 Brighton and 4/7 Liverpool all delivered for favourite backers on Sunday, all three games were low-scoring affairs won to nil.

“In years gone by, I might have complained about Manchester United winning from behind, but that’s no longer the case with punters losing faith in Ruben Amorim’s Reds who went 9/1 in-play at Selhurst Park before securing all three points.”

Ahead of the busy Christmas period, BOYLE Sports spokesperson Lawrence Lyons highlighted how tight it is in the top eight, with nine points separating leaders Arsenal and reigning champions Liverpool.

He said: “As we enter the festive period, Arsenal’s gap at the top of the Premier League table has been cut to five points following the Gunners’ battle for a point at Stamford Bridge.

“Chelsea drop to third with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City leaping above them into second place thanks to Phil Foden’s last-gasp winner.

“The battle for European football is incredibly tight with just three points separating third to ninth, but Liverpool (8/15) remain the favourites to join Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea in the top four.”

Across the continent, Barcelona (1/4) came from behind to beat Alaves (9/1) 3-1 and move a point clear at the top of La Liga after Real Madrid (2/5) were unable to complete their comeback against Girona (6/1) and drew 1-1.

It was a weekend of teams going behind only to turn it around. Bayern Munich (1/10) left it late to win 3-1 against St Pauli (16/1) thanks to goals beyond the 90th minute from Luis Diaz and Nicolas Jackson.

There was one upset on the cards in Germany, with bottom of the table Heidenheim (5/1) beating Union Berlin (3/5) 2-1 to pick up their second win of the season – even more impressive given that their goals came in the 90th and 96th minute.

In Italy, results across the board meant the bookies came out on top thanks to Inter (1/4), Milan (7/10) and Juventus (1/5) winning – as well as Napoli (2/1) overcoming Roma (7/4) 1-0.

Freeth added: “Raphinha was pictured consoling Hansi Flick despite Barcelona’s 3-1 win against Alaves with the hosts maintaining their perfect record at home after going 1-0 down (4/6 in-play).

“And it’s hardly plain sailing for Xabi Alonso right now with 4/11 Real Madrid dropping points at Girona. On Saturday we also saw 2-0 victories for both Athletic Bilbao (Evens) and Atlético Madrid (1/4) and additionally we paid out on 29/20 Mallorca as they went 2 Goals Ahead before squandering their lead in injury time.

“Bayern Munich (1/10) were another European giant that went behind early, but they left it agonisingly late with former Premier League players Luis Diaz and then Nicolas Jackson securing the three points for a side that touched 9/2 in-play late on.

“However, we did have one coupon buster in the Bundesliga in the shape of bottom of the table Heidenheim who looked destined to stay there when 1-0 down heading into stoppage time at Union Berlin.

“In Serie A, Lautaro Martinez scored a brace at Pisa putting 1/4 Inter back on track after they had lost back-to-back matches against Milan and Atlético Madrid. This followed 8/13 Milan’s win the day before, and Kenan Yildiz also scored both goals as 2/9 Juventus beat Cagliari.

“The final game of the weekend saw 21/10 Napoli move level with the Rossoneri at the top of Serie A after a 1-0 win at Roma. This low-scoring game, combined with the results involving Arsenal and Real Madrid, ensured that our comeback was complete – a feat that looked extremely unlikely after Saturday’s results.”

At the races, it was a sad state of affairs for Constitution Hill who fell at the second hurdle in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle up at Newcastle. It was his third fall in its last four starts.

The mistake puts into question his future as a jump racer, with trainer Nicky Henderson saying the horse was fine but can’t be asked to continue jumping in this state.

Golden Ace, who went off at 22/1, picked up the win after The New Lion also fell in the final stages.

Elsewhere, Panic Attack (16/1) claimed the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury by six-and-a-half lengths.

Firkins added: “It was a huge weekend for racing, with Constitution Hill sadly only getting as far as the second obstacle in Newcastle’s Fighting Fifth Hurdle.

“The former champion, one of the all-time greats, has us all with our hearts in our mouths approaching every flight nowadays and his serious jumping issues remain. I’d love to see him in staying tests on the flat going forward, and wish the magnificent champion and his connections well.

“The old Hennessy Gold Cup (Coral) was won in impressive fashion by Panic Attack (16/1), a fabulous nine-year-old mare who’d won the old Mackeson Gold Cup (Paddy Power) at Cheltenham just a fortnight ago – a sensational double for brothers Dan and Harry Skelton.”