Some midweeks can be drab affairs on the sporting front, but this week was an absolute belter. There were some scintillating European ties, as well as fierce battles on the domestic front as promotion and relegation spots began to take shape.

Over the Irish Sea, punters were getting stuck into the Punchestown Festival as the last major National Hunt meeting of the season got underway. Below; we review the midweek action and find out where the big winning markets occurred.

Please remember that unlike fixed odds betting, losses can exceed deposits when spread betting.

MANCHESTER CITY v REAL MADRID - GOALS x SHIRTS (SETTLED AT 917)

Manchester City have played their part in some high-scoring matches in recent weeks and when Kevin De Bruyne opened the scoring with just two minutes on the clock, you felt that this game would be another thriller.

Gabriel Jesus prodded City further ahead after 11 minutes, but the hosts couldn’t shake off Madrid and the Spaniards kept finding a way past Ederson as a Karim Benzema brace and a lovely goal from Vinicius Junior kept them in the tie.

With a  final score of 4-3, it was always likely to be a match that suited buyers and that was the case in our Goals x Shirts markets. Phil Foden bagged City’s third wearing number 47 whilst Bernardo Silva and Vinicius both contributed 20 each to the shirt total which ultimately came out at 131.

With a pre-match spread of 219-243 against a final makeup of 917, buyers would have been belting out ‘Blue Moon’ as they collected 674x their stake.

SWANSEA CITY v BOURNEMOUTH – TOTAL GOAL MINUTES x CORNERS (SETTLED AT 3509)

There were many devastated individuals when it was announced that the tea-time favourite Neighbours would come to an end after 37 years in June. However, those looking for their drama fix need only cast their eyes from Ramsay Street to the Championship where there have been plenty of twists and turns in another rip-roaring season.

The latest episode of this long-running soap saw Bournemouth travel to Swansea where they quickly succumbed to a three-goal deficit. With Forest winning at Fulham, the Cherries were looking nervously over their shoulders, with their lead over Steve Cooper’s side potentially being cut to three points.

However, Cooper’s former side Swansea have a habit of capitulating and for the second time in three matches, they threw away a three-goal lead to draw as a Dominic Solanke effort was bookended by vital goals from Kieffer Moore.

It was a lucky escape for Bournemouth, but it was a great day for those who had bought on our Total Goal Minutes x Corners spread which was 1250-1350 before kick-off. A total of 11 corners and 319 total goal minutes left the spread to settle at 3509. Buyers landed a win equal to 2159x their stake.

Mighty Potter - 50-25-10 RACE INDEX (SETTLED AT 50)

Sir Gerhard was a horse included in many ante-post multiples for the Cheltenham and won as an 8/11 favourite should when beating Three Stripe Life home in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle.

That confidence was rolled over into the Punchestown Festival when only four rivals lined up in the Turners’ Novice Chase to face a horse who had been beaten in just one of eight races under rules.

There had also been whispers all day for Dysart Dynamo, who was also expected to run well after falling in his race at Cheltenham. However, it was Mighty Potter who came out on top on the day as buyers danced with delight having collected the maximum 50 points versus a pre-race spread of 1.2-4.8 leaving them winning 45.2x their initial stake.

Please note that these are examples of winning bets from the past week, and it is important to remember that spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital and can result in losses larger than your initial stake/deposit.