The Premier League season is underway and Steve Freeth has reflected on the opening round of fixtures.
Weekend Review
bet365’s Steve Freeth said: “The return of the Premier League had punters jumping for joy as odds-on favourites Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and Arsenal all obliged. We had some respite in the form of Aston Villa, Brighton and Chelsea dropping points, but the opening weekend belonged to the punters.
“bet365 customers were celebrating after just 125 seconds into the new season as a Super Boosted Hugo Ekitike fired a shot on target (2/5 – Evens). We paid out on Liverpool on 50 minutes due to our 2 Goal Ahead Early Payout offer as the £79m signing assisted Cody Gakpo to make it 2-0.
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“A spirited Bournemouth fightback saw the Cherries draw level and with Mohamed Salah and Florian Wirtz neither scoring nor assisting, we’d have taken the full-time whistle. However, Wirtz’s replacement, Federico Chiesa, scored to trigger the Sub On Play On offer on the German and then to add insult to injury, Salah scored in injury time, resulting in a significant swing.
“Our worst result was Manchester City’s victory at Wolves. Ordinarily, backers of a Haaland hat-trick (14/1 best) would’ve been frustrated at the sight of the two-goal Norwegian being replaced by Rayan Cherki, but the Frenchman’s strike on 81 minutes meant we paid over a thousand wagers that would’ve been settled as losers thanks to the Sub concession and the Citizens scoring four goals tells its own story.
“Forest may have struggled for goals in pre-season but they were backed into 9/10 from 11/10 by kick-off to beat Brentford and we paid out before half-time as they sailed into a 3-0 lead on the banks of the River Trent.
“The 0-0 at Stamford Bridge eased the pain and while 10/11 Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Old Trafford wasn’t great for multiples, it was very helpful for Bet Builders with Riccardo Calafiori scoring the only goal and Viktor Gyokeres being hooked on the hour with his replacement, Kai Havertz, also having little say in proceedings.
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“Fans of continental football filled their boots on Saturday night as 1/2 Bayern Munich lifted the Super Cup with Harry Kane and Luis Diaz on the scoresheet, plus 2/9 Monaco beating Le Havre and 1/2 Feyenoord excelling against Excelsior. 1/3 Barcelona were comfortable winners versus Mallorca with Lamine Yamal scoring and assisting. Worryingly, we have laid Yamal at 7/1 to score 15 or more and 50/1 on him bagging 20+ which is not an ideal start.
“We finished marginally in front in Europe on Sunday after a slow start. Nico Williams scored and then assisted a late winner for 8/15 Athletic Bilbao but 8/13 Atletico Madrid were turned over by Espanyol who were 40/1 In-Play before their fightback.
“1/5 PSG won at Nantes but they only managed 4 shots on target and had Vitinha on the scoresheet in a 1-0 win for the visitors which was profitable for Bet Builders. In fact, there were seven 1-0 wins in Ligue 1 – we’ll take that every week!”
Trading Talk
One of the biggest winners of the weekend were Tottenham, and while Thomas Frank’s men will face much sterner tests than Burnley, they dispatched the newly promoted side with ease as Mohammed Kudus impressed.
Freeth added: “It’s rare these days to see a transfer between West Ham and Tottenham, but Kudus to Spurs for landing the Ghanaian and the winger was outstanding against Burnley creating five chances and assisting Richarlison for both of his goals.
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“Kudus is now 16/1 from 80/1 to finish with the Most Assists in the Premier League after his scintillating start and some of you will have also noticed that he was sharing corner duty with Pedro Porro which can only help in this market.
“Sunderland were the best backed team in our pre-season handicap market with their price shortening from 15/1 into 8/1 with a whopping 52-point start. Their Top Newcomer price tumbled from an opening show of 4/1 into 9/4 in pre-season and they were punted from 33/1 into 16/1 for a top-half finish before a ball was kicked – they’re now trading at 12/1.
“£170m of new talent and a manager that has signed a new contract has Black Cats backers purring.
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“Nothing says knee-jerk reaction more than a big price move in the PFA Player of the Year Award market after just one game, but Tijjani Reijnders backers holding 66/1 vouchers will be licking their lips after his goal and assist at Molineux.
“Admittedly, the Dutchman will have tougher games than his easy introduction in South Staffordshire, but we’ve seen enough to cut his PFA price into 12/1.”
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