Weekend Review: Punters stay on top as Man City maintain 100% start

Punters continued their Premier League winning streak over the weekend, with favourites across the board helping punters hold the “upper hand”.

The most entertaining match came on Saturday when Manchester City (1/4) beat Ipswich 3-2 at the Etihad.

Goals came via Phil Foden and an Erling Haaland brace, while the away side found the back of the net through Daizen Maeda and a late Zian Flemming penalty.

Enzo Maresca’s men finished the weekend three points clear of reigning champions Arsenal, who needed a Noni Madueke goal in the final 10 minutes to beat a stubborn Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

Saturday also saw wins for Chelsea (5/4) against Everton, Liverpool (6/4) beating nine-man Brentford and 10-man Fulham (3/5) and Aston Villa (2/1) overcoming Hull City and Newcastle, respectively, in 1-0 wins.

In Sunday’s results, Bournemouth (1/1) beat Sunderland 2-0 and Brighton (2/5) dispatched rivals Crystal Palace 5-0, helped by a spectacular goal from the halfway line from Diego Gomez.

In the weekend’s only stalemate, struggling Manchester United drew (9/4) against Leeds in what was Daniel’s Farke’s men’s third consecutive 1-1 result.

Betfred’s Alan Firkins said: “Hard to identify any great Premier League shocks at weekend, as punters very much held the upper hand in the main.

“Performance-wise Brighton provided arguably the pick, slamming Palace 5-0 at the Amex Stadium, and third place in the table is a just reward for some spectacular displays.

“Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has made the most impressive start to a Premier League managerial career to date by winning his first seven matches in the competition, courtesy of a 3-2 home triumph against Ipswich in front of a stadium-record 60,000.

“The Gunners won 1-0 at Forest, while Chelsea and Liverpool both had sound away wins at Everton and Brentford respectively.”

The stalemate at Elland Road and a slew of low-scoring fixtures eased the pain “slightly” for operators, bet365’s Steve Freeth noted: “This week has again taken a familiar path: battered and bruised from the goal frenzy that is the UEFA Champions League, but the pain eased slightly in the Premier League with a number of low-scoring matches.

“It was honours even at Elland Road in what was one of a number of good results across the coupon, but we took some eye-catching business on Eddie Howe being in charge at Old Trafford on New Year’s Day during the first half – when Manchester United were leading 1-0.

“Arsenal managed to find a winner late on at the City Ground, but we’d have taken a 1-0 win with [the Gunners] scoring with their only shot on target.

“The shortest price on the slate, Manchester City, did oblige with Erling Haaland scoring a brace, and Liverpool won away at Brentford, but ultimately, we had enough on the coupon to keep us in front.

“A Super Boosted Joao Pedro may have registered a shot on target, but he stayed off the scoresheet, leaving it to fellow Pedro, Neto, to score a brace with Chelsea earning their first clean sheet since January at Everton.

“A similar story on Tyneside, where a flood of goals had been expected, but it was visitors Aston Villa who left with all three points following a 1-0 win. Favourites Fulham also secured victory by the same scoreline courtesy of a solitary goal from Alex Iwobi. 

“Diego Gomez was 11/1 to score from outside the area, which he did with quite a few yards to spare, as Brighton hammered rivals Crystal Palace 5-0 and Bournemouth finally recorded a three-point haul.”

Outside of the Premier League, customers enjoyed even more success as European giants Bayern Munich (1/4), Barcelona (2/5), Real Madrid (1/4) and PSG (2/5) all won.

Italian side Inter (1/2) also maintained their lead at the top of Serie A thanks to a 3-1 win away to Bologna.

Freeth added: “It was better for punters away from these shores, with the European giants continuing their winning ways, as well as their knack of scoring plenty of goals, as Bayern Munich hit six, Barcelona scored five, Real Madrid four and PSG bagged three, the same as Serie A table toppers Inter at Bologna.”

 A bruising Saturday for layers 

On the horseracing front, British Champions Day at Ascot took place on Saturday, with Ombudsman (5/4 favourite) going one better this year and pulling clear to win the Champion Stakes by three-and-three-quarter lengths in impressive fashion. 

Last year’s winner, Calandagan, finished second at 5/2 and well-fancied Bay City Roller took third at 17/2. Connections look set to run Ombudsman in the $5m Breeders’ Cup Turf at the end of October, in what will be the Godolphin-owned five-year-old’s final race. 

“Just two favourites from seven obliged on Saturday’s Champions Day card at Ascot, and there were 22/1 and 33/1 winners to contend with, too,” said Firkins.

“Ombudsman confirmed himself as one of the very best 10f horses of his generation by sluicing up in the G1 Champion Stakes for Will Buick and the Gosdens, and speculation is rife that he might just have a Breeders’ Cup swansong on Saturday week at Keeneland.

“Whether he goes or not, he’s won 10 of his 14 starts and this now five-year-old son of Night of Thunder out of a Dansili mare finished second in another three – a tremendous credit then to himself, and connections.”

Brian O’Keeffe, BOYLE Sports spokesperson, commented: “Ombudsman produced a devastating performance at Ascot to cap a bruising Saturday for the bookmakers. Mount Atlas [winning the Long Distance Cup at 33/1] offered a brief moment of respite, but ultimately the results fell firmly the punters’ way as they came out on top on British Champions Day.”