Weekend Review: Man United’s South Coast slip-up sinks accumulators

It was the bookmakers who came out ahead this weekend as they recovered some of their losses from the punter-friendly opening round of fixtures in the Premier League.

The second weekend of England’s top-flight got off to a predictable start, though, with Liverpool beating Burnley 2-0 at home in the lunchtime encounter, while Manchester City later demolished newly promoted Norwich City 5-0.

Yet punters didn’t get rich off those outcomes as Liverpool were 1/4 and Man City were an extremely skinny 1/10 on the 1X2 market.

In fact, optimists and those who hate money could have backed Norwich at 25/1, which is up there as some of the longest odds in Premier League history.

Elsewhere, Danny Ings scored a stunning overhead strike as Aston Villa (4/5) defeated Newcastle 2-0, and Brighton justified favouritism (7/10) with a victory over Watford by the same scoreline.

Meanwhile, Leeds and Everton played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at a packed Elland Road as the raucous home fans revelled in seeing their side in a Premier League game for the first time in 16 years.

Welcome back, Elland Road. We missed you. pic.twitter.com/9NERmVslvR

— MUNDIAL (@MundialMag) August 22, 2021

The less said about the 0-0 stalemate between Crystal Palace and Brentford the better.

The following day, the bookies had a huge result when Manchester United, who were full of confidence after a 5-1 thrashing of Leeds in their opening fixture, could only manage a 1-1 draw away at Southampton.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side had been 4/6 to take all three points on the South Coast, so dropping two points busted hordes of slips belonging to acca-backers, who had Man United down as their banker selection.

In the other game that kicked off at the same time, Tottenham won 1-0 away to Wolves at 17/10 courtesy of a Dele Alli penalty early in the fist-half after the midfielder was brought down in the box by the keeper.

After the hors d’oeuvres, Sunday’s main course was a derby between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates, the first time fans had returned to the North London stadium in more than 500 days.

Unfortunately for the home supporters, Chelsea (4/5) put on a dominant display as Romelu Lukaku netted from close range on his second debut for the club following his £97m transfer from Inter Milan.

Two defeats in their opening two matches leaves what has so far been a toothless Arsenal in 19th spot and facing the daunting prospect of going to the Etihad next weekend to take on champions Man City.

Emphatic. 👌 pic.twitter.com/2ZtHLZEsSv

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 23, 2021

Reflecting on the weekend’s action, Alan Firkins of Betfred said: “Passionate Premier League crowds inspired routine wins at the Etihad and Anfield at weekend, but there was just enough mystery around to keep the books afloat, mainly courtesy of Southampton’s brave and deserved point at home to Manchester United.

“Elsewhere, Leeds and Everton entertained equally in West Yorkshire, while Chelsea ominously flexed their muscles at Arsenal.”

It was Man United’s draw against the Saints that Kindred’s Alistair Gill singled out as being the result of the weekend.

“After punters took opening weekend, us layers took the spoils this weekend, largely courtesy of Southampton holding the dangerous-looking Man Utd to a 1-1 draw.

“With United dominant for large parts, both the pre-match and live outcomes on the game were layer friendly.”

Chelsea had been tipped by some, including Match of the Day pundits Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, for the Premier League title before the campaign started.

And the Blues’ impressive start, coupled with the acquisition of goal machine Lukaku, means the 5/1 available before a ball was kicked has long gone.

“ Tuchel’s men are now just 11/4 with Betfred for the title – with champions City out to 6/5 now from their opening day 4/6,” said Firkins.

Liverpool can be backed at 4/1, while Man United are generally now a 7/1 chance to secure their first title since 2013.

On turf of a different variety, York’s Ebor Festival entertained and enthralled with standout wins on the Knavesmire for Snowfall in the Yorkshire Oaks and Mishriff in the Juddmonte International.

Betfred said one shop customer had £50,000 on Snowfall who went off the 8/15 favourite.

The Aiden O’Brien-trained star filly ended up trouncing her opposition to ease off for a comfortable four-length victory in the 1m 4f Group 1 race.

Firkins added: “Snowfall now has the Arc firmly in her sights, and at 2/1 this daughter of Japanese superstar Deep Impact could be in Parisian clover come 3 October.”

🌨️ SPECIAL FILLY 🌨️

SNOWFALL remains unbeaten this season as she breezes to success in the Group 1 @DarleyEurope Yorkshire Oaks for Aidan O'Brien, Ryan Moore and @Ballydoyle 🏆 pic.twitter.com/FsuUZAbqjT

— York Racecourse (@yorkracecourse) August 19, 2021

On Saturday, 10/1-shot Sonnyboyliston, piloted by Johnny Murtagh, just held on to land the spoils in the 20-runner Ebor Handicap.

“The Ebor just about went our way, although in honesty it could be called closer to a draw,” Gill explained.

“Joint-favs Mt Leinster and Ilaraab being way out of the frame was a positive, but winner Sonnyboylisten was fairly well supported on the day and the extra places snuck Roberto Escobarr, who also saw a lot of action, into the paid places.”

Likewise, Firkins summed it up as “honours about even between layers and punters” over the course of the popular four-day meeting.