Weekend Review: Pouncing Parrott perplexes punters amid draw galore in Premier League

Trading rooms were jumping for joy after a host of draws in the Premier League, with Arsenal and Liverpool serving up slices of solace for the punters.

Liverpool’s 2-0 away win at Ipswich on Friday meant the weekend kicked off strongly for backers, but Saturday’s score draws put a damper on those hopes.

Newcastle drew 2-2 at home to Bournemouth, Brentford and Sunderland played out a 1-1 in West London and Brighton and Leeds finished by the same scoreline.

Spurs still couldn’t score as they notched up a 0-0 at Nottingham Forest, while Hull’s strong start to the season continued with a 0-0 at home to Aston Villa.

A low-scoring Manchester City win against Coventry City, albeit with an Erling Haaland winner in the 1-0 victory, was also a positive for the books.

Bet365’s Steve Freeth said: “You don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to work out how the trading went this weekend at bet365, with a number of big clubs – both home and abroad – unable to justify their status as odds-on favourites.

“Only Arsenal’s win over Chelsea made a dent in the Premier League in what was a favourable set of results.”

Arsenal won 2-1 against Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea after going behind the second minute to a fine Morgan Rogers strike.

Goals from Kai Havertz and Martin Ødegaard saved the day for the champions on Sunday.

Manchester United were also denied a win on Merseyside thanks to a stunning debut strike from Ainsley Maitland-Niles as the new signing salvage a point for his new club Everton in the 2-2 draw.

Betfred’s Alan Firkins remarked: “By my reckoning there were six draws in the Premier League over the weekend, and that’s generally both the death knell for many a well-crafted acca plus a welcome boost to every football trading desk.”

FDJ United’s Ali Gill said: “Overall, a very solid weekend of Premier League action as far as the trading team were concerned, as draws were the order of the day across the three days with six from the 10 games played.

“Although bookended with punter-friendly results from Liverpool on Friday and Arsenal on Sunday, in between things largely went our way.

“Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Chelsea was the worst result in the book, but score draws for Newcastle, Brentford, Brighton and Man United, and 0-0 draws for Forest and Villa, meant a tough go of it for punters.”

Freeth added: “2/1 was the biggest that Arsenal got to after going 1-0 down to Morgan Rogers’ early opener, with the Gunners at 8/11 for the title and 25/1 to remain unbeaten.

“Saturday saw five draws on the Premier League coupon, one early payout as Bournemouth threw away a 2-0 lead at Newcastle, a 2/11 shot winning 1-0 in the form of Manchester City and outsiders Crystal Palace winning at Fulham.

“There was a story to that 3-2 result at Craven Cottage with a defender credited with a hat-trick despite scoring just two. Ben Chilwell replaced Tyrick Mitchell after the left-sided defender had scored two goals. Chilwell then scored the winner, leaving one bet365 customer delighted having backed Mitchell at 500/1 to bag a treble.”

Over on the continent, José Mourinho fell to his first defeat since returning as Real Madrid manager as Los Blancos fell to a 1-0 loss away at Real Betis.

Ireland star Troy Parrott got the winner for the Andalusians in a result that, as Gill said, was “unsurprisingly very loudly cheered from the trading room”.

PSG’s stuttering start continued with a 2-1 home loss to Monaco. The Parisians are yet to win in Ligue 1 this season.

Freeth remarked: “Troy Parrott stole the headlines from Kylian Mbappé as the striker hit the winner for Real Betis against 4/9 Real Madrid, with the world-class Frenchman missing a late penalty.

“Ligue 1 was littered with surprises, starting with PSG, as the double Champions League winners continue to search for their first win of the season. Lens and Nice dropped points on Saturday and 10/11 Marseille, who were beaten at home to Paris, a result that saw the visitors climb to second in the table.”

The bet365 man also said “one of the best results of the European weekend” came as 1/5 Bayern Munich were held 0-0 away at Schalke.

Looking ahead to next weekend’s action, Firkins pointed to the Betfred St Leger Festival and the potential for Derby winner Christmas Day to complete a double not seen since 1987.

He said: “Christmas Day has been our market leader to create a little bit of history, for trainer Aidan O’Brien and ‘the lads’.

“His Derby win was achieved on attritional ground with the field strung out like staying chasers, so he shouldn’t want for lack of stamina.

“Ironically his sire, Camelot, won the Derby himself by five lengths but agonisingly failed by three-quarters-of-a-length to land the Leger and indeed the fabled Triple Crown, as he’d won the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket too. Family honour may well be retrieved on Saturday afternoon.”

In Formula 1, Kimi Antonelli ended a 60-year wait for an Italian to win the Grand Prix at Monza in a barnstormer of a drive from the youngster.

BOYLE Sports’ Brian O’Keeffe said: “Over in Monza, Kimi Antonelli produced one of the drives of the modern era to win his home Italian Grand Prix from 19th on the grid.

“The 20-year-old carved his way through the field, put himself in the fight for the lead early on and took control in the closing laps in front of an ecstatic home crowd. Antonelli has now extended his championship advantage to a commanding 1/6.”