Matchweek 4 of the 2023/24 EPL season saw a 28-year hat-trick record broken, Declan Rice prove his worth, and Spurs entertain yet again.
A hat-trick of hat-tricks
A hat-trick over the course of a standard EPL weekend is relatively uncommon. Throughout the last season, on just seven occasions did a player bag three or more goals in a Premier League outing. THREE hat-tricks over the course of a weekend, then, is extremely rare. And all on the same day? Crazy stuff.
Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min and Brighton’s Evan Ferguson each scored three apiece on Saturday in a remarkable day of football. And while Haaland’s feat against Fulham was not completely out of the blue at $6.75, any punters that backed the latter two were rewarded with huge odds. Rising star Ferguson was a hefty $50 pre-match to bag three goals while Son — who was handed the captaincy but yet to score under Ange Postecoglou at Spurs — was at a whopping $55. The stunning day of action broke a 28-year EPL record. The last time three players scored a hat-trick on the same day was in September 1995, when Alan Shearer, Robbie Fowler and Tony Yeboah all did so for Blackburn, Liverpool and Wimbledon respectively.
Ferguson 🤝 Son 🤝 Haaland
Just the second time in Premier League history that three hat tricks are scored on the same day ✨ pic.twitter.com/JbIWMirWHh
— B/R Football (@brfootball) September 2, 2023
Rice proves worth
It wasn’t as if Declan Rice had to prove to Arsenal fans he was worth the whopping £105m the club paid for him to sign in the summer. They already knew they had a bonafide star and potential future captain. But scoring a 96th-minute winner against arch rivals Manchester United on home turf ($6.50 anytime goalscorer with Palmerbet) in just his fourth EPL match for the club certainly helps fans feel they’ve got their money’s worth. A 3-1 win scoreline to the Gunners ($1.78 H2H) belied the drama at the Emirates.
It so easily could have been three points heading to the red half of Manchester. Alejandro Garnacho appeared to have stolen a winner for United in the 88th minute (on what would have been a $4.10 anytime goalscorer) only to be ruled offside by the barest of margins. Arsenal quickly regathered and, after Rice sent the crowd into a frenzy, Gabriel Jesus then put the cherry on top with a cool finish in the 101st minute ($2.60 anytime).
A loss would have opened up a five-point gap between them and hot title favourites Manchester City. But the win keeps the buffer at just two points, as Mikel Arteta’s men shorten from $7.00 into $6.00.
“RICE, RICE, BABY!” at the Emirates! 🍚 pic.twitter.com/clw9fyNdRl
— Eduardo Hagn (@EduardoHagn) September 3, 2023
No Kane no worries as Spurs bang in five
There were concerns Tottenham might struggled to score goals after club legend Harry Kane left for Bayern Munich. Four games into the 2023/24 EPL campaign, those concerns have very much subsided. Spurs put in their most devastating attacking performance under Aussie Ange Postecoglou to date on the weekend, hammering Burnley 5-2 away from home ($7.75 at -2.0). Son Heung-Min’s aforementioned hat-trick ($55 to score 3+) was coupled with goals to James Maddison ($2.75 anytime goalscorer) and Cristian Romero’s brilliant strike from the edge of the box ($11.50) as Spurs came from a goal down. They showed, again, that they’re a side to be reckoned with this campaign.
The high-scoring victory ($19 pre-match at over 6.5 goals) has created further excitement around Ange-ball. In four games his side have scored as many goals as champions Manchester City (11). And, after starting the season as $4.20 Top 4 hopes have already come into $3.00.
Cristian Romero. Pick that one out.@CutiRomero2 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kOkhb10tRi
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 2, 2023