Weekend Review: Haal-oween havoc haunts Bournemouth

West Ham (15/4) picked up their first win under new boss Nuno Espirito Santo, beating Newcastle 3-1 at the London Stadium, in one of the bookies’ best results of the weekend.

Jacob Murphy’s opener for the away side was cancelled out by Lucas Paquetá, before a Sven Botman own goal and an injury time strike from Tomáš Souček sealed the points for the Hammers.

Liverpool (16/25) put an end to a run of four straight league defeats, bouncing back to beat Aston Villa 2-0 at Anfield. 

Mo Salah’s 250th goal for the club and Ryan Gravenberch’s deflected effort proved to be enough for Arne Slot’s side to return to winning ways.  

Manchester City (21/50) went up to second in the table following a 3-1 win at home to in-form Bournemouth, thanks in part to another Erling Haaland brace.

Manchester United’s winning run was halted by a 2-2 draw away at Nottingham Forest, while Chelsea (5/4) came out 1-0 winners away at Spurs in a fiercely contested London derby. 

Those results also were helpful for the operators in an otherwise punter-friendly weekend of Premier League football.

Arsenal (11/50) maintained their lead at the top of the table with a 2-0 win away at Burnley, while Brighton (19/20) ran out 3-0 winners at home to Leeds.  

Crystal Palace (11/10) beat Brentford 2-0 at Selhurst Park, while Fulham’s (4/5) 2-0 home win over Wolves signalled the end of Vitor Pereira’s tenure at the Midlands club.  

FDJ UNITED’s Ali Gill explained how the bookmaker fared against the weekend’s results.  

He said: “Man City’s 3-1 win over Bournemouth topped the overall turnover table and saw the punters finish the weekend by lining their pockets, as it came out very comfortably as our worst result of the whole weekend.

“Liverpool finally got back on track with a 2-0 win over Villa, but all told only two goals, nothing for Villa and players perhaps seeking a bit of value on the back of Liverpool’s poor run and a tough game, meant we managed to come out just about ahead there.  

“Layer-friendly results as Man United drew 2-2 with Forest, and Spurs versus Chelsea finishing 1-0 was another strong result for the book.” 

Bet365’s Steve Freeth said it was a “flat” weekend for the operator after being handed a “bloodied nose on Sunday”.

He added: “On Saturday, coupon customers would’ve generally had a good day, but one factor that worked in our favour was that all six of those favourites won to nil leaving bet builder-backers frustrated, and that’s what made all the difference for us.

“There were goals on Sunday with Erling Haaland grabbing another two in a 3-1 win making the Norwegian 5/4 to break his own record of 36 Premier League goals in a season. West Ham also managed three in the same scoreline, leaving Hammers fans rubbing their eyes after a rare home win.”

BOYLE Sports spokesperson Brian O’Keefe remarked on how the results affected the odds for the Premier League title.  

He said: “It was another impressive performance from Mikel Arteta’s men at Turf Moor on Saturday as the Gunners made it five Premier League wins in a row and they remain odds-on (4/9) to lift the title.  

“Manchester City returned to winning ways thanks to a brace from Erling Haaland and remain Arsenal’s closest challengers at 4/1 while Liverpool picked up a much needed three points at home to Aston Villa. But, with the Reds already seven points adrift of Arsenal, they are 13/2 to make it back-to-back Premier League titles.”

Midnite senior trader Alex Firth noted: “Arsenal continued their assault on the Premier League and their win over Burnley leaves the Gunners six points clear at the top of the table and odds-on favourites for the titles at 4/9.”

Across Europe, a Kylian Mbappé brace and a goal from Jude Bellingham helped Real Madrid (7/50) to a 4-0 win at home against Valencia.  

Goals from Marcus Rashford and Lamine Yamal helped seal a 3-1 win for Barcelona (1/5) at home to Elche, while Atlético Madrid (8/25) ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at home to Sevilla.

In Germany, Bayern Munich (1/ 4) continued their 100% start to the season with a 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen, while Borussia Dortmund (11/20) won 1-0 away at Augsburg.  

In Serie A, defending champions Napoli (19/20) were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Como. 

AC Milan (13/10) won 1-0 at home to Roma, while city rivals Inter (9/25) picked up a 2-1 victory away at Verona.

Despite conceding to Jamie Vardy, Juventus (1/ 2) ran out 2-1 winners away at Cremonese. 

In France, PSG (4/25) left it until the 94th minute to secure a 1-0 victory at home to Nice. 

Regarding results on the continent, bet365’s Freeth said: “You’ll do well to find a losing favourite in La Liga this weekend. Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham were once again on the scoresheet for 1/7 Real Madrid as were Marcus Rashford and Lamine Yamal as 2/11 Barcelona beat Elche.  

“Backers of 7/4 Real Sociedad were ‘basquing’ in glory after their injury-time winner over Athletic Bilbao, while there were also victories for 1/3 Atlético, 8/11 Villarreal, 27/20 Celta de Vigo, 7/5 Alavés and 8/15 Real Betis.

“With 21/20 Getafe also winning on Friday, the favourites nine-fold runs on to Osasuna at Real Oviedo on Monday night and it already pays over 150/1.

“A Kane-less Bayern Munich continued their perfect record in the Bundesliga, with the 1/4 shots winning 3-0 with Nicolas Jackson on the scoresheet and 1/6 PSG left it frustratingly late with Goncalo Ramos scoring the only goal in the 5th minute of injury time.   

“In Serie A, 10/11 Napoli dropped points and 4/6 Atalanta lost on Saturday, although 1/2 Juventus secured victory despite the best efforts of Jamie Vardy who seems to have found his feet in Italy.  

“There were a few groans when 4/11 Inter scored an injury time winner at Verona on Sunday and when 19/20 Bologna won from behind at Parma, with 13/10 Milan rounding off a great fightback for punters who landed a number of telling blows over the day.”

In horseracing, the Willie Mullins-trained Ethical Diamond (28/1) took home the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf in Del Mar, California, beating out Rebel’s Romance (11/5) and El Cordobes (178/10).

In the Breeders’ Cup Classic, 7/2-backed Forever Young romped home ahead of Sierra Leone (39/10) and 17/5 favourite Fierceness.  

Betfred’s Alan Firkins remarked: “It was much tougher going for punters at Del Mar in California for the annual Breeders’ Cup bonanza. Fast ground and tight turns were the order of the day, and the biggest shock arguably was Willie Mullins’ Ethical Diamond, who hurtled around the field close home with energy to spare to beat Godolphin’s Rebel’s Romance and lift the BC Turf. 

“The five-year-old gelding took York’s Ebor handicap smoothly under Will Buick back in August and has been hurdling, too – not your average profile for the Turf but then WP Mullins is anything but your average trainer.  

“Young Dylan Browne McMonagle, Ireland’s new champion jockey, rode an absolute peach; full of confidence as the 28/1 shot won like an odds-on chance. 

“Forever Young took the Classic for Japan by a diminishing half-length from last year’s hero Sierra Leone, who agonisingly just needed another couple of strides after a stalking ride and a slightly wide home turn challenge, which probably made the difference.”