Weekend Review: Liverpool late show leaves Newcastle with Bank Holiday blues

Liverpool (13/10) edged out Newcastle 3-2 in a fiercely contested thriller at St James’ Park.  

The defending champions took a two goal lead thanks to strikes from Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike, while Anthony Gordon was sent off for the home side in first-half stoppage time.  

Goals from Bruno Guimarães and William Osula drew the game level, before 16-year-old substitute Rio Ngumoha netted the 100^th-minute winner for Arne Slot’s men on his Premier League debut.

The weekend’s action began with Chelsea (4/5) thumping West Ham 5-1 at the London Stadium, to pile more pressure on Hammers boss Graham Potter.  

Spurs (9/2) continued their good form at the Etihad stadium with a 2-0 victory against Manchester City (11/20).

There were 2-0 home victories for Burnley (7/5) against Sunderland (9/4) and for Everton (2/1) against Brighton (7/5), in the first Premier League game at the Toffees’ new Hill Dickinson Stadium.  

Bournemouth (4/5) and Brentford (12/5) ran out 1-0 winners at home to Wolves and Aston Villa, respectively, while there were 1-1 draws in the games between Fulham and Manchester United and Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest. 

Betfred’s Alan Firkins explained how the weekend’s results have shaped the early markets for the Premier League title.  

He said: “Spurs should really be long odds-on every time they go to the Etihad these days if form really is the overriding basis for the odds compilers to work their magic.  

“Routine 2-0 win then over a disappointing Manchester City, and the Blues have drifted to 9/2 in the Premier League outright market – headed by Liverpool and Arsenal (both 7/4) – then it’s 8/1 Chelsea, and 25s bar.” 

FDJ United’s Ali Gill noted that the weekend results were largely in favour of the operator. 

He said: “All told a good week in the Premier League as a few results went our way, but things were looking much rosier on 100 minutes at Anfield last night as 10-man Newcastle looked to have salvaged a very well earned draw against Liverpool. 

“But, eventually a 3-2 win for the Reds was a great end to the long weekend for punters as they came out well ahead in that one. Outside of that, City losing at home to Spurs, and another relatively poor Man United performance at Fulham were strong results for the book, City in particular taking accas down too.” 

Alex Firth, senior trader at Midinte, added: “Friday night saw another bad result for West Ham, who have started the season looking like a team in real trouble.  

“Chelsea fans must have been worried as Cole Palmer walked off in the warm-up and was ruled out for the game, but they needn’t have been as they pushed on to decimate West Ham 5-1 which was available at 50/1. 

“Perhaps the most exciting event of the Bank Holiday weekend was Liverpool’s 3-2 win over Newcastle. They looked well in control at 2-0 up against 10 men but again their leaky backline saw Newcastle draw level until the 100th minute when 16 year old Rio Ngumoha snatched victory on his Premier League debut. Liverpool touched 16/1 just before the winner.” 

Across Europe, Barcelona (1/5) staged a dramatic comeback to emerge 3-2 winners away at Levante.

Real Madrid (13/50) ran out comfortable 3-0 winners away at newly promoted Real Oviedo, with Kylian Mbappe scoring twice. 

In Germany, Harry Kane bagged a hat-trick as Bayern Munich (1/4) thrashed RB Leipzig 6-0.  

Borussia Dortmund (9/10) were held to a 3-3 draw away at St Pauli, while Bayer Leverkusen (7/10) lost 2-1 at home to Hoffenheim. 

The first Serie A gameweek kicked off with Inter Milan (2/5) putting five past Torino, while reigning champions Napoli (13/20) won 2-0 away at Sassuolo.  

Meanwhile, AC Milan (3/10) fell to a shock 2-1 home defeat to newly promoted Cremonese, while Juventus (2/5) kicked off their campaign with a 2-0 win against Parma. 

Bet365’s Steve Freeth remarked on a mixed bag for the operator across Europe. 

He said: “We were frustrated by Barcelona’s comeback at Levante, having paid out on the hosts when they took a 2-0 lead on the stroke of half-time. Marcus Rashford’s substitution was followed by three goals for the visitors and we also paid on Espanyol before Sociedad fought back for a 2-2 draw.  

“While Vini Jr and Mbappe filled their boots in Real Madrid’s 3-0 win over Real Oviedo, it was their city rivals, Atletico, who helped us for the second consecutive week with Elche holding the 2/7 shots. We were doffing our caps to newly promoted pair Cremonese and Pisa in Serie A, as the 15/2 shots shocked Milan on Saturday with 4/9 Atalanta being held on Sunday.  

“Harry Kane’s hat-trick in Bayern Munich’s 6-0 hammering of Leipzig finished with the inevitable outcome, but that pain was eased by Hoffenheim winning at Leverkusen and dropped points for teams like Freiburg, Mainz and Stuttgart.  

Meanwhile, in horseracing, 5/1 favourite Ethical Diamond landed the Ebor Handicap at York, ahead of Ascending (12/1) and Queenstown (25/1).  

At Goodwood, Just Keep Flying (9/1) won the Maiden Fillies’ Stakes ahead of Vronti (4/1) and favourite Club Class (13/8).  

Gill added: “On Saturday at York, the Ebor went the way of impressive 5/1 favourite Ethical Diamond. With a couple of well fancied horses disappointing and some big prices in the places, that result was one for the punters, but only just, and there wasn’t much in it.  

“The City of York Stakes later on the same card saw even money favourite Rosillion finish down in fourth, in a result which left a healthy margin for traders.”