Weekend Review: Premier League pleasers and Grand National upset leave bookies beaming
Manchester City and Liverpool play out 2-2 draw as 50/1 outsider Noble Yeats gives retiring amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen the perfect ending
A 2-2 draw between Liverpool and Manchester City capped a great weekend for the bookies as 50/1-shot Noble Yeats won the Grand National at Aintree.
In what was billed as the biggest game of the season, City took an early advantage after Kevin de Bruyne’s deflected effort gave his side a 1-0 lead by Diogo Jota levelled the scores less than 10 minutes later.
A fine Gabriel Jesus finish put City (19/20) 2-1 ahead at halftime but a crisp move less than a minute into the second half saw Liverpool (14/5) equalise for a second time after Sadio Mane latched onto a Mo Salah pass to dispatch the ball pass Ederson.
Raheem Sterling thought he had put his side 3-2 in front only for VAR to intervene and ensure the game ended in a 2-2 draw as City maintained a slight edge in the title race.
Unfortunately we didn't get this important win, but great game everyone. Let's keep fighting! ??????#gratidão#alômãe#doperi pic.twitter.com/RA4BZwYE71
— Gabriel Jesus (@gabrieljesus9) April 10, 2022
Betfred’s Alan Firkins said: “It was a privilege to be at the Etihad on Sunday to see a gripping encounter between two of the planet’s finest. The draw in these titanic clashes is invariably a decent result in the ledgers, and Liverpool have now eased slightly to 2/1 for the title. City are 4/11.”
Kindred Group’s Ali Gill added: “A good weekend of Premier League action for layers as results went our way. Of course, the big one on Sunday, which topped our turnover list overall for the weekend, ending in a draw was ideal. Four goals slightly less so, but all told that was a great result for the book.”
Elsewhere, Manchester United (9/10) fell to defeat to relegation-threatened Everton (3/1) after an Anthony Gordon goal gave the Toffees a 1-0 win while Brighton (5/1) dented Arsenal’s (13/20) Champions League hopes with a 2-1 win at the Emirates.
Gill said: “Relegation threatened Everton beating top four chasing United ended as our best overall result of the weekend in what was an almost perfect result, with Arsenal losing to Brighton another one which left us with a very healthy position.”
Matchbook’s Aidan O’Sullivan said: “We were a standout price on Manchester United (1.93) away at Everton on Saturday as the Matchbook layers got off to a great start to the weekend as the Red Devils obliged with arguably their worst performance of the season. City and Liverpool saw a real even split of the money, but a couple of lucky punters got involved in the 2-2 draw at a price of 21.0.”
? @anthonygordon ?#EVEMUN pic.twitter.com/WrzIDXJsoo
— Everton (@Everton) April 10, 2022
Elsewhere, in the Grand National, 50/1-shot Noble Yeats was ridden to victory in amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen’s final ever race to bring a fairy tale feel to proceedings at Aintree.
The 39-year-old held off favourite Any Second Now, with Delta Work finishing third and Santini ending up in fourth.
Last year’s winner, Minella Times, ridden by the impressive Rachel Blackmore, fell at the ninth fence.
Firkins said: “Sam Waley-Cohen rides off into the sunset with a Grand National to accompany his Cheltenham Gold Cup, and again we came out of the Aintree experience well.
“Going eight places e/w on Thursday and Friday proved popular, and that encompassed in the end the likes of well-supported Any Second Now, Delta Work, Fiddlerontheroof and Longhouse Poet,” he added.
A 50/1 shot touching off the well-backed Any Second Now in the Grand National and Mahrez missing a great late chance for favourites Man City against Liverpool
Those two moments probably represented an eight figure swing for bookies
— Simon Clare (@SiClare) April 10, 2022
Janis Strauts, Virgin Bet head of trading, said: “Noble Yeats’ 50/1 Grand National shock success resulted in an excellent Grand National day, one of the least fancied runners in the most popular punting race of the year.
“At one stage during the run in, the worst was feared, as 15/2 favourite Any Second Now challenged, but Noble Yeats managed to prevail to a fairy tale win for retiring jockey Sam Waley-Cohen.”
Finally, at The Masters in Augusta, world number one Scottie Scheffler won his first major after fending off Rory McIlroy and Cameron Smith on his way to the green jacket.
Smarkets’ Pascal Lemesre: “Over £7.5m was traded across our products on The Masters as Scottie Scheffler confirmed his status as the world’s best golfer with a near-faultless display at Augusta National.
“Early in the final round, Cameron Smith was briefly rated almost as likely as Scheffler to win, however the American then chipped in on the third hole to reassert his dominance and never looked back.”