In this feature Spreadex Sports look at five bets/markets to look out for in the week ahead. This week, we will look at some of the best World Cup, cricket, and Championship bets and prices*!

*the below prices are indicative and may be subject to fluctuation

FOOTBALL - 2022 world cup

1. The World Cup action in Qatar has reached the semi-final stages and a range of permutations and possibilities are still possible. Two of the remaining sides (Croatia and Morocco) could produce a first-time winner, Morocco could be the first-ever African finalists - or winners - while there could be a repeat of the final four years ago, a first successful defence of the World Cup trophy in over 50 years, or a first World Cup trophy for Messi's Argentina since the Maradona-inspired success in 1986.

We have a range of aggregate special spread betting markets ahead of the semi-finals, including Goals Cubed, Goals Squared, Corner Bonanza, Fastest Goal, Fastest Booking and much more!

2. In terms of our Player Markets, there is still plenty to play for with the Golden Boot and Golden Ball race far from decided. France's Kylian Mbappe leads the goalscoring race with five so far, but his teammate Olivier Giroud is only one behind, as is Argentina's Lionel Messi. Mbappe is at 1/2 to win the race, while Messi is available at 11/4 and Giroud at 13/2.

3. With Morocco facing their toughest test so far against the defending champions France, the consensus opinion is that this may be where the fairytale run ends for the North Africans. However, after knocking out Spain and Portugal in the previous two rounds - without conceding - as well as their group exploits against Croatia and Belgium, their winner odds of 10/1 look about fair. Probably the most impressive feat has been the Moroccans' defensive performances, only conceding one goal all tournament and that being an own goal to boot. Their current Tournament Goals Conceded spread stands at 4.3 - 4.6, would you buy or sell?

CRICKET

4. Pakistan take on England in the 3rd Test in the early hours of Saturday morning, having lost the first two by 74 and 26 runs respectively. Will England be able to make it three wins on the bounce and continue their dominance? Pakistan begin as slight favourites on the spreads, with a 25:10:0 Index price of 11.8 - 13.3, while England start at 10.7 - 12.2. On this market, a team earns/market settles at 25 for the winning team, 0 for defeat, and 10 if there is a draw. Check out our pricing pages closer to the start of the match for our full range of markets including batsman and bowler markets!

FOOTBALL - CHAMPIONSHIP

5. This weekend sees the return of a full round of Championship fixtures, with all the Spreadex partnered clubs in action. League leaders Burnley continue their title charge hosting Middlesbrough, Huddersfield host Watford looking to escape from relegation trouble, Sunderland travel to Hull looking to continue their decent run of form, West Brom welcome Rotherham to the Hawthorns and Norwich take on a tough test against Blackburn in the Saturday evening kick-off.

Could there be a clean sweep of victories here? A £10 five-fold accumulator fixed odds bet for Burnley, Huddersfield, Sunderland, West Brom and Norwich all to win can be backed at 54/1 and return £540!

Note - Spread Betting losses can exceed deposit