Read what bet365's Steve Freeth had to say following an action-packed weekend of football that saw Manchester United lose 3-0 to Bournemouth.
Weekend Review
The money poured in for a Bournemouth side that opened at 16/5 and went off at 15/8 following confirmation that Bruno Fernandes had dropped to the bench. Punters were justified in supporting the visitors and, while the home fans stuck with Michael Carrick throughout the shambles, it soon became apparent that the game would be about by how many goals the Cherries would win. Eddie Howe is odds-on to be in the Old Trafford dugout at the turn of the year.
We profited on Saturday from Aston Villa recording a fourth consecutive home win against Manchester City, although we did pay out on a Super Boosted Erling Haaland to score at Evens from 4/7.
Likewise, we gained from Saturday’s late game, as Tottenham recorded two wins in five days with a rare victory at Chelsea. Routine low-scoring wins for favourites Arsenal and Fulham, as well as Liverpool on Sunday and Brentford being held at Hull was also helpful.
The wind was the winner over a miserable weekend on the weather front, with no game producing more than three goals on the Premier League coupon, highlighted perfectly by the final game, Sunderland 0 Leeds 0!
We’re still waiting to see whether the late surge for Kylian Mbappe in the Ballon d’Or was correct, but his brace at Camp Nou won the El Clasico for Real Madrid and the returning Jose Mourinho. Los Blancos were without Thibaut Courtois, who started the game at 3/1, and the victory sees them cut Barcelona’s lead to three points at the top of La Liga. The game itself had bits for both bookmakers and punters with Mbappe and Raphinha on the scoresheet, six cards and shots from all the superstars, but just three goals helped enormously.
Things got much better for bet365 customers in Serie A, as favourites Bologna, Como and Lazio all won on Saturday. We also paid out on Napoli, despite their 3-3 draw, after the hosts had gone two goals clear with Scott McTominay bagging a brace.
It was more of the same on Sunday, as 2/5 shots Inter fell 1-0 behind and drifted to 50/1 in-play before a turnaround in injury time, with Marcus Thuram and Piotr Zielinski both scoring, followed by wins for 5/4 Genoa, 1/2 Juventus and 4/5 Milan.
Trading Talk
For a team that opened at 13/2 to win the Premier League, things have turned very sour very quickly at Old Trafford. The fans were pretty unanimous in their backing of Michael Carrick after Manchester United’s most recent drubbing, voicing their frustrations at the club’s hierarchy, but he is understandably on the drift to remain in charge at the turn of the year. Some fans are turning their noses up at Eddie Howe; perhaps they are unaware of their position in the footballing food chain right now. Howe leads the field ahead of Nagelsmann and Conte.
Whoever is in charge, Manchester United have to face Chelsea (a), Villa (h) and Liverpool (a) in their next three Premier League games, and we’re asking how many points they will take from that trio of matches. It’s just 8/1 that they lose all three, which, looking at their season to date, you wouldn’t put past them.
You wait ages for one, then two come along at once! It was some week for the often-derided Tottenham Hotspur, with two wins in five days and, more importantly, a victory at Stamford Bridge. Spurs also have some winnable games on the horizon, with the likes of Palace, Leeds, Ipswich, Sunderland and Fulham to play before the North London Derby in early December. De Zerbi’s side are just 9/2 for a top-four finish and 3/1 to end the season above Chelsea – it might be a good season after all.
Any odds displayed were correct at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation and T&Cs apply to all offers.
