Weekend Review: Slot's Liverpool slip to second as Arsenal now lead Premier League title race

Premier League holders Liverpool (13/10) suffered late heartache on Saturday evening when they were downed 2-1 by Chelsea (9/5).

The Blues took the lead in the first-half through Moisés Caicedo, only for Liverpool to level midway through the second half thanks to Ryan Gravenberch.

With both teams pushing for a winner, it was the home side who secured all three points courtesy of Brazilian teenager Estêvão, to condemn Arne Slot’s side to their third defeat in a row.

The loss leaves the Reds a point behind Arsenal (1/5), who ran out comfortable 2-0 winners over West Ham (12/1), with goals from Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka enough to open up a one-point gap at the top of the table.

With new leaders sitting atop the Premier League, Arsenal are now favourites (10/11) to lift the coveted trophy come May and secure their first title in over two decades.

Commenting on the change, Betfred’s Alan Firkins said: “Punters held the whip hand at weekend in the Premier League bar the, on reflection, not-so-shocking demise of former title favourites Liverpool at Chelsea.

 “It was Arne Slot’s third defeat in easily his toughest week as Liverpool head coach, and the second-half display in particular confirmed Chelsea as a growing domestic force.

“The Scousers remain curiously out of sorts, as the integration process involving their expensive new recruits seems to be taking far longer than the management team would have expected.

“Big shake-up in the Premier League outright market then – it’s now Arsenal leading the pack at 10/11. Liverpool are out to 11/4, it’s 4/1 Manchester City, 25s Chelsea, and 40/1 bar.”

Boyle Sports’ Brian O’Keeffe likewise noted the Gunners are now favourites to lift only their second piece of silverware under Mikel Arteta and end their run of three consecutive second-place finishes.

He added: “After Arsenal’s routine 2-0 victory over West Ham on Saturday, the Gunners sit top of the Premier League for the first time this season and are now odds on (10/11) to win their first Premier League title in over 20 years.

“Liverpool’s poor week continued at Stamford Bridge after Estêvão’s last-gasp winner sunk the Reds to three defeats in a row in all competitions. Arne Slot’s men are now out to 11/4 to win back-to-back Premier League titles.”

Overall, it was a bad weekend for bookies, with a host of favourites winning across the board.

Manchester United (3/5) resembled a functioning unit by beating Sunderland (4/1) 2-0, Newcastle (1/2) did the same against struggling Nottingham Forest (5/1) and Man City (3/5) continued their winning streak with a 1-0 win over Brentford (4/1) in the Sunday afternoon kick-off.

Aston Villa (11/20) picked up their second win of the season, beating newly promoted Burnley (5/1) 2-1, while high-fliers Bournemouth (1/1) overcame a 1-0 deficit against Fulham (3/1) to win 3-1 and finish the weekend in fourth place.

Midnite senior trader Alex Firth said: “Friday night’s action started with a dull first-half before exploding into action, with Bournemouth coming back from 1-0 down in the 70th minute to win 3-1 thanks to a brace from Antoine Semenyo which was available to back at 14/1 pre-match.

“A less enthralling Saturday than we have seen in previous weeks with just the four matches on.

“However, the feature match of the day, Chelsea versus Liverpool, certainly didn’t disappoint, with Liverpool on the receiving end of another very late Premier League defeat thanks to a back-post finish from Brazilian youngster Estêvão.

“Chelsea drifted out to as big as 14/1 before the goal went in.

“Earlier on Saturday, Manchester United got a much-needed three points and Arsenal took themselves to top-spot with a 2-0 victory over struggling West Ham. Arsenal are now a shade of odds on to claim the title.”

For bet365, the 180 in fortunes follows last weekend’s favourable results for the bookies.

Steve Freeth remarked: “Although last weekend was our best to date this season, the final round of fixtures before the latest international break offered very little for us, with the odds-on shots winning comfortably.

 “Arsenal (1/6), Manchester United (8/13), Aston Villa (8/15) and Newcastle (1/2) were all successful, with Manchester City (4/7) completing a 6/1 five-timer.

“13/10 Liverpool were defeated at Chelsea, with substitute Estêvão scoring an injury time winner after replacing Pedro Neto.

“Ordinarily, this would’ve frustrated backers of the Portuguese, however not with our ‘Sub On Play On’ offer, which included just under 30,000 wagers on a Shot on Target and several thousand Anytime bets on him being ticked as winners despite Neto being substituted on 75 minutes.

“6/4 Tottenham won at Leeds, 8/5 Everton won from behind to end Crystal Palace’s long unbeaten run with the Toffees touching 22/1 in-play, but 11/10 Brighton could only draw at Wolves in what was a rare winning game for us in the English top-flight.”

Across Europe, bettors enjoyed further success. Bayern Munich (2/5), Real Madrid (2/5) and Inter Milan (3/20) all won, beating Frankfurt (5/1), Villarreal (5/1) and Cremonese (14/1), respectively.

Sevilla’s (5/1) 4-1 win over Barcelona (1/2) did give operators some respite over the weekend, as did Toulouse’s (11/4) 2-1 victory over Lyon (1/1).

Further relief arrived in the form of Juventus (7/4) and Milan (7/4) playing out a goalless draw (2/1), along with Atlético Madrid (4/5) being held to a 1-1 draw (11/4) against Celta Vigo (7/2) and PSG (11/10) also drawing 1-1(5/2) when they took on Lille (5/2).

Freeth said: “On the continent, we had Harry Kane maintaining his scoring run in the Bundesliga and Kylian Mbappé doing likewise in La Liga with backers of the big names being in clover.

“The favourites theme continued on Saturday’s European coupon with 1/3 Bayern Munich, 2/5 Real Madrid and 1/6 Inter all securing victories.

“However, take a bow Sevilla for inflicting a 4-1 defeat on the previously unbeaten 2/5 shots Barcelona on Sunday. In all honesty, I was bracing myself for an inevitable Barcelona comeback but it never materialised, much to the relief of the trading room.

“In France our ‘2 Goals Ahead Early Payout’ offer was triggered for both 6/5 Rennes and 27/10 Nice before both matches ended 2-2. However,  we did have a favourable result with 21/20 Lyon losing at home to Toulouse.

“In Serie A, Rasmus Højlund scored a late winner for 1/2 Napoli, 7/5 Roma won from behind at Fiorentina and 4/6 Bologna beat Pisa 4-0 .

“The game of the weekend between Juventus and Milan ended in stalemate, as did the late games involving 21/20 PSG and 4/5 Atlético Madrid as we finished the weekend much stronger than we started it.”

Meanwhile, in the horseracing, Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe favourite Minnie Hauk (3/1) was beaten by Daryz (12/1), who left it late to triumph.

It was a mixed result for the bookies, who also had to contend with punters enjoying success elsewhere, including seeing favourite Asfoora take the Prix de l’Abbaye and Diamond Necklace secure the Prix Marcel Boussac.

Firkins said: “Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe produced a great finish in the Parisian sunshine between favourite Minnie Hauk – representing Ireland and Aidan O’Brien’s Ballydoyle juggernaut – and Francis-Henri Graffard’s Daryz, for the home team, racing in the legendary silks of the late Aga Khan.

“I was there to see narrow victor Daryz finish last in York’s Juddmonte International Stakes in August, but this time travelling another 300 yards or so, and on the prevailing soft ground, worked the oracle for the 12/1 shot.

“Getting popular 5/2 favourite Minnie [Hauk] beat meant a good result for the racing desk but four well-backed favourites obliged on the card to give our customers plenty to cheer.”

Midnite’s Firth added: “In the racing world it was one of the feature races of the whole year in France, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on Sunday.

“Well-backed favourite Minnie Hauk was sent off 9/4 for Aidan O’Brien but was narrowly denied by the home team, with Daryz claiming racing stardom for Francis-Henri Graffard.

“The day wouldn’t be complete without an Aidan O’Brien winner, who picked up both two-year-old Group one races on the card.”