Betting Week in Review 25/1/2023 Smith Stuns Eubank at Middleweight

by , 25 January 2023

In our betting week in review, the shock 4th round win for Liam Smith against Chris Eubank was good news for operators. In football, draws in the games featuring Liverpool and Newcastle proved profitable.

A picture of Anfield

Liverpool Fan Smith Keen on Anfield Fight © Pixabay.

Smith Ends Eubank Jr’s Long Unbeaten Run

The rivalry between bitter enemies Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith was settled spectacularly at the weekend, with Smith, the underdog, stopping Eubank in the fourth round.

After the debacle around Eubanks last proposed fight, a fight with another rival, Connor Ben Jr that, was called off at the last moment due to a failed drug test, boxing betting fans were looking forward to this fight. The two boxers had stoked the fire, with Eubank claiming his opponent lacked class and Smith responding with homophobic taunts.

The bookmakers priced the fight heavily in favour of Eubank, bet365 had priced him at 37/100, a Smith win was priced at 231/100, and the draw at 1607/100.

With the fight at the AO Arena in Manchester, just a short trip from Smith’s hometown of Liverpool, most fans were rooting for Smith, with Eubank cast as the pantomime villain.

The fight itself appeared to be going as expected. The first three rounds were cagey, with little between the fighters. Eubank’s jab was finding Smith, but the 34-year-old’s head movement and eagerness to get close to his rival didn’t make it easy for Eubank.

It was the manner of the victory in the fourth that took the boxing world by surprise. Eubank Jr, 33, had not tasted defeat since 2018 and had never been stopped in his 34-fight career. However, Smith caught Eubank with a succession of left hooks and landed an uppercut during a combination that sent Eubank falling backwards. Although Eubank Jr did try to continue, it was apparent the fight was over as a contest, and the referee stopped the fight just as the towel was thrown in by Eubank’s corner.

There were ecstatic celebrations among Smith’s team and in the crowd when the fight ended, and the two fighters hugged in the ring after emotions calmed and Smith opened the door to a rematch in his post-fight comments. Eubank said he regretted some of the things he said in the build-up, and Smith admitted that things got a little bit out of hand.

Eubank later Tweeted that although he felt he could have continued, he respected the referee’s decision and indicated he would be exercising his contractual right for a rematch.

Smith, who played Sunday league football the day after the fight, is a keen Liverpool fan and his promoter Ben Shalom is eager to arrange a fight for Smith at Anfield. In addition, Smith’s brother, Callum Smith, could also feature on the under-card for the WBC light-heavyweight title.

Liverpool and Chelsea Stalemate, Eagles Deny the Magpies

It’s no secret that bookmakers love draws in the Premier League. So with that in mind, they would have enjoyed the games on Saturday with stalemates between Liverpool and Chelsea (0-0, Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest (1)), Leicester City v Brighton (2-2), and Crystal Palace v Newcastle United (0-0).

In the early game, Liverpool and Chelsea played out a 0-0 draw at Anfield in a match that showed both sides’ struggles in the Premier League.

Chelsea had a goal from Kai Havertz ruled out for offside by VAR, and new signings Mykhailo Mudryk and Benoit Badiashile made their debuts for the team. Liverpool had new signing Cody Gakpo featured but had a quiet game.

Both teams’ managers acknowledged that the game lacked quality and entertainment but was willing to take the point as a small step forward.

Liverpool is nine points away from the Champions League places and will need to find their missing spark soon if they hope to move up in the standings.

The point doesn’t really help Chelsea either, as they finished the weekend in 10th. Chelsea’s manager Graham Potter was happy with the team’s energy and clean sheet but acknowledged they had chances to take three points. New signing Mudryk made a positive impression, but Chelsea will feel the result was two points dropped.

In the 3 pm kickoffs, two of the four games ended in stalemate, a dream scenario for bookmakers.

In the 1-1 draw between Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, Nottingham Forest striker Sam Surridge scored his first Premier League goal against his former team, Bournemouth. Surridge scored the equaliser in the 83rd minute, denying Bournemouth their first win since November. The result left Bournemouth in 18th place in the league and in the relegation zone, four points behind Forest.

In Leicester’s 2-2 draw with Brighton, Evan Ferguson scored late in the game to earn Brighton a point after Leicester had come from behind to take the lead in the match.

Kaoru Mitoma opened the scoring for Brighton with a well-taken curled shot from outside the area. Then, Marc Albrighton, who had just come on the pitch as a substitute, fired past Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez for the equaliser.

Harvey Barnes put the home side ahead when he confidently finished Luke Thomas’ header, raising hopes that the Foxes would earn their first win in five games. But 18-year-old Ferguson rescued a point for Europe-chasing Brighton with his third Premier League goal when he met Pervis Estupinan’s cross to head into the far corner. The result moves Brighton up to sixth in the league, while the Foxes are 14th but just one point above the relegation places.

In the late game on Saturday, Newcastle increased their unbeaten run to 15 games with yet another 0-0, their third goalless draw against Crystal Palace this season. The Magpies had the better chances, with Vicente Guaita enjoying a fine game for the home side, denying Joelinton on several occasions. Newcastle, who moved up to third, have lost just one game in the Premier League so far.

The Eagles are yet to win a game in 2023 but have put in decent recent displays. They battled to a draw with Manchester United four days before this fixture. Palace are 12th, clear of the relegation zone by seven points.

One area of concern will be an injury to Palace’s top scorer, Wilfred Zaha.

Zaha has scored six goals in all competitions this season, a third as many as Palace have in the Premier League (18).

In the other games played on Saturday, Ollie Watkins’ header in the 77th minute earned Aston Villa a 1-0 win over bottom-of-the-table Southampton. Villa are enjoying a resurgence under new manager Unai Emery, and these three points moved them up to seventh in the Premier League table, level on points with sixth-placed West Ham United. Southampton remains at the bottom of the league table with 11 points from 18 games.

West Ham defeated Everton 2-0 in a match dubbed as El Sackico thanks to a first-half double from Jarrod Bowen. It was West Ham’s first Premier League win in three months and led to the eventual sacking of Everton manager Frank Lampard.

Everton’s owner Farhad Moshiri was attending his first game in 14 months, and banners were raised proclaiming ‘Sack the Board’ and ‘No Communication, No Plan, No Vision’. The club announced Lampard’s sacking on Monday.

Manchester City & Arsenal win, Leeds Draw Against Brighton

Leeds United and Brentford drew 0-0 at Elland Road, with Brentford goalkeeper David Raya putting in an excellent performance to keep a clean sheet. Leeds had the better chances and forced Raya into several good saves. – Brentford failed to produce a shot on target, but their defensive work was enough to extend their unbeaten record to eight games. The point was enough to lift Leeds up to 15th place, a point above the drop zone, while Brentford moved to eighth.

With Arsenal and Manchester United playing on Sunday evening, Manchester City had the chance to close the gap on Arsenal in their game against Wolves. They did so 3-0 thanks to – Erling Haaland, who scored his fourth Manchester City hat-trick and took his total tally for the season to 31 in all competitions.

Arsenal responded brilliantly, beating the Red Devils thanks to an Eddie Nketiah goal scored in the 90th minute when the scoreline was 2-2.

Marcus Rashford had scored the first goal for Manchester United in the 17th minute, but Arsenal hit back seven minutes later through Eddie Nketiah. Bukayo Saka had put Arsenal ahead eight minutes after the break before Manchester United levelled thanks to a smart header scored by Lisandro Martinez. Nketiah’s late winner sparked wild celebrations at the Emirates Stadium, and the win gives Arsenal a five-point lead at the pinnacle of the Premier League with a game in hand.

The Premier League takes a break this weekend as the FA Cup resumes at the fourth-round stage. We’ll bring you previews for selected games later in the week.

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