Favourites sweep Premier League weekend as bookmakers absorb losses
Manchester City's unbeaten start and a run of winning favourites left bookmakers Betfred and bet365 reporting a weekend tilted in punters' favour, according to EGR.
Favourites dominated across the Premier League over the weekend, extending a winning run for punters that bookmakers said left them on the back foot, EGR reported.
Manchester City, priced at 1/4, beat Ipswich 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium in front of a stadium-record crowd of 60,000, with Phil Foden and an Erling Haaland brace securing the win despite goals from Daizen Maeda and a late Zian Flemming penalty for the visitors. The result kept Enzo Maresca's side three points clear of champions Arsenal, who needed a Noni Madueke goal in the final ten minutes to beat Nottingham Forest 1-0.
Chelsea (5/4) beat Everton, Liverpool (6/4) won away at a nine-man Brentford, Fulham (3/5) saw off a 10-man opponent, and Aston Villa (2/1) won 1-0 away at Newcastle, while also beating Hull City by the same scoreline. Sunday produced further favourites-friendly results, with Bournemouth (1/1) beating Sunderland 2-0 and Brighton (2/5) thrashing Crystal Palace 5-0, a scoreline helped by a long-range goal from Diego Gomez. Manchester United's goalless run continued with a 9/4 draw against Leeds, their third successive 1-1 result.
Betfred's Alan Firkins told EGR there was little to trouble bookmakers across the round. "Hard to identify any great Premier League shocks at weekend, as punters very much held the upper hand in the main," he said, noting Brighton's win over Palace as the standout performance and praising Maresca's run of seven wins from seven as his club's best-ever start by a Premier League manager.
bet365's Steve Freeth said the string of low-scoring results offered some relief after a heavier Champions League round. "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," he said.
Freeth pointed to specific markets that moved in the operator's favour, including Chelsea's Joao Pedro failing to register on a boosted market before teammate Neto scored a brace, and Diego Gomez's 11/1 price to score from outside the area landing during Brighton's win over Palace. He added that bet365 took notable action on Manchester United leading 1-0 at half-time against Leeds before the match finished level.
Beyond England, favourites again prevailed, with Bayern Munich (1/4), Barcelona (2/5), Real Madrid (1/4) and Paris Saint-Germain (2/5) all winning, while Serie A leaders Inter beat Bologna 3-1. Freeth said the pattern extended to goal volume, with Bayern scoring six, Barcelona five, Real Madrid four and PSG and Inter three apiece.
On the racing side, British Champions Day at Ascot produced a tougher outcome for bookmakers. Firkins said only two favourites obliged from seven races on the card, with 22/1 and 33/1 winners also landing. Ombudsman, sent off 5/4 favourite, won the Champion Stakes by three-and-three-quarter lengths, with last year's winner Calandagan second at 5/2 and Bay City Roller third at 17/2. Connections are expected to target the Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland as what would be the five-year-old's final race for Godolphin.