Betting Week in Review 3/1/2023 The Premier League Returns

by , 3 January 2023

After a month-long break due to the winter World Cup the Premier League has returned, and it didn’t take long for surprise results. Arsenal has continued where it left off and has taken full advantage of slip-ups from their nearest rivals. Brentford continues to be the surprise package, drawing against Tottenham and beating Liverpool. Join us as we recap the best of the festive action.

Emirates Stadium London

Arsenal Increased Premier League Lead © Pixabay.

The Gunners Enhance Their Title Hopes

Few Arsenal fans wanted a halt to the Premier League, as their team had been on an unbeaten streak since the beginning of September. Such is their form; they have only dropped points on two occasions this season, a 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford and a 1-1 draw against Southampton in October.

For once, there is an air of expectation at the Emirates stadium, which hasn’t existed since the reign of Arsène Wenger, which ran from 1996 to 2018. Mikel Arteta has defied expectations so far this campaign, masterminding wins over Tottenham (3-1), Liverpool (3-2), Leeds (0-1) and Chelsea (0-1), to name just a few.

Arsenal’s first fixture after the World Cup was on Boxing Day against local rivals West Ham, a game the Gunners won 3-1 thanks to goals from Bukayo Saka (53′), Gabriel Martinelli (58′) and Eddie Nketiah (69′). Showing a never say die spirit after West Ham had taken the lead thanks to a penalty scored by Said Benrahma (27’) after a foul on Jarrod Bowen by William Saliba.

Arsenal also won in their second game, a 4-2 win over Brighton on New Year’s Eve. The London club stormed into a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Eddie Nketiah before Kaoru Mitoma pulled one back for the home side. However, Gabriel Martinelli eased the nerves before Evan Ferguson scored for Brighton to make the last ten minutes tenser than they should have been.

Arsenal is back in action tonight. They welcome high-flying Newcastle to the Emirates. A win against the third-placed team will see them open up a ten-point gap in Manchester City, who play Chelsea on Thursday. City beat Leeds United 3-1 in their first post-World Cup game but was surprisingly held 1-1 by a resilient Everton on New Year’s Eve to lose ground. At 83/20 with bet365, it was one of the biggest shocks since the league resumed.

Conte Under Pressure As Tottenham Lose Ground

While Arsenal is continuing their excellent run, their City neighbours Tottenham have had a Christmas to forget, failing to win in their two league games since the World Cup and are now outside the vital Champions League spots.

On Boxing Day, they took the short trip to Brentford but were somewhat fortunate to escape with a point after battling from 2-0 down to earn a 2-2 draw with their neighbours. Brentford looked on course to seal a historic win after goals from Vitaly Janelt, and Ivan Toney had given the home side a commanding 2-0 lead. However, Tottenham showed great grit and determination to fight back, scoring two goals in six minutes (Harry Kane & Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg) and could have stolen the three points had Kane’s late header not hit the crossbar.

Tottenham fans who witnessed the Spur’s fightback against Brentford are likely to have expected a win in their next game, a home clash against an inconsistent Aston Villa a few days later. However, Villa pulled off a shock 83/20 win with Emiliano Buendia and Douglas Luiz scoring in a 2-0 win.

In other notable games – Liverpool had a week of highs and lows, beating Leicester 2-1 but then suffering a shock 3-1 loss to Brentford, which exposed a need for midfield reinforcements. On the other hand, their rivals Manchester United stormed into the top four with wins against Nottingham Forest (3-0) and Wolves (0-1). Finally, Leeds United was heavily beaten 3-1 by Manchester City but earned a very credible 0-0 draw against Newcastle United, who currently sit in third. Chelsea beat Bournemouth 2-0 but was held 0-0 by league strugglers Nottingham Forest.

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