Weekend Review: Man City crowned champions after layer-friendly Saturday

Manchester City won their third Premier League in a row on Saturday evening without kicking a ball after title rivals Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest (9/2).

The Gunners simply had to win at the City Ground to keep their faint title hopes alive, yet a strike by Forest’s Taiwo Awoniyi after 19 minutes was enough to secure victory for Forest and their place in the Premier League next season. 

The result meant Man City’s odds for their Sunday encounter with Chelsea drifted all the way from 1/4 to 8/11 before kick-off as manager Pep Guardiola was able to rest key players.

Despite knowing the title was already theirs, City extended their winning streak to 12 matches with 1-0 scoreline at the Etihad Stadium thanks to a strike from deputising forward Julian Alvarez, sparking wild celebrations before the trophy presentation on the pitch.

It was City’s fifth title in six years, although Arsenal fans will be left thinking their side let the Premier League slip through their fingers after sitting pretty at the top of the table for a record 248 days.

Betfred’s Alan Firkins said: “Instead of another must-win in the east Manchester sunshine on Sunday it was coronation-time for City, courtesy of those events in Nottingham the previous evening.

“Arsenal were heavily backed at fancy prices to take the title many months ago and though for a long time that looked more than feasible, in the end they just ran out of steam – saving us a considerable sum in the process.”

Firkins said City are now just 8/15 to pull off the treble, with Man United their opponents in the FA Cup final and Inter Milan waiting in the Champions League final.

Steve Freeth of bet365 commented: “Questioning Arsenal’s bottle feels wide of the mark despite being top for 248 days and eight points clear on 1 April.

“Manchester City have made fools of many a side under Pep Guardiola, but the Citizens never went bigger than 7/4 for their fifth title in six years and they’re 4/6 favourites to win it again in our 2023-24 outright market.”

Elsewhere, Saturday was a day for the layers with just a single winning favourite from six matches in the Premier League.

Besides Arsenal losing at 8/15, their north London rivals, Spurs (10/11), bust plenty of accas Saturday lunchtime by enduring a 3-1 loss at home to Brentford despite being 1-0 up courtesy of a sublime Harry Kane free kick.

The result meant Spurs missed out on qualifying for Europe and capped a miserable season for the club.

Meanwhile, Liverpool (1/2) could only manage a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa at Anfield as Roberto Firmino signed off with a late equaliser in what was his final appearance for the Reds.

Fulham and Crystal Palace played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage, Man United (4/9) won 1-0 away at Bournemouth and Brighton’s 3-1 victory over Southampton meant the Seagulls have qualified for Europe for the first time in the club’s history. 

Everton have to thank Colombian defender Yerry Mina for a last-gasp equaliser in the 99^th minute against Wolves that could prove to be a crucial point in the Toffees’ bid to avoid the trap door.

On Sunday, fellow strugglers Leeds United suffered a 3-1 defeat to West Ham, leaving the Yorkshire club two points behind Everton with just one game to go.

Newcastle (1/3), who need just a point to qualify for the Champions League next season, play Leicester City (13/2) tonight in what is a do-or-die match for the Foxes with them being three points adrift of safety.

Reflecting on the action, Kindred Group’s Ali Gill said: “Results across the weekend, by and large, went our way, with Arsenal’s continuing capitulation and loss against Forest ending as the best overall result in the book across the weekend.

“Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with was another one that went nicely our way, and although City’s celebration win over Chelsea was a punter-friendly result, overall results were layer-friendly.” 

Freeth described it as an “excellent set of results” on Saturday for the bookmaker.

“This was thanks to a low-scoring Manchester United win, in-form Liverpool failing to beat Aston Villa, further draws at Fulham and Wolves, plus the highlight of them all, Arsenal’s defeat at a rocking City Ground – the faltering Gunners doing us a huge favour for a second weekend running.

“Punters started Sunday on the front foot with goals in the games at West Ham and Brighton, but any hopes of a fightback were extinguished by another low-scoring game at the Etihad with a much-changed Manchester City prevailing 1-0 in the sunshine before lifting the trophy.”

Away from the football, there was high-class action on the Flat with the highlight being Saturday’s Lockinge Stakes at Newbury.

The 12-runner Group 1 went the way of 3/1 favourite Modern Games ridden by William Buick and trained by Charlie Appleby.

However, Buick was left with a small gash on the back of his hand after runner-up Chindit seemed to take umbrage with Modern Games passing him in the final 100 yards and leaned over and bit Buick.

“Despite the second and third going to 22/1 and 33/1 shots respectively, this was one for the punters as we finished well in the red,” Kindred’s Gill remarked.