International football has taken centre stage recently and it was a mixed bag for the home nations as England scrapped to a draw in Munich despite being on the back foot for large portions of the contest. Scotland cruised past a poor Armenia side, but there were defeats for Wales and Northern Ireland.

Unbeaten Lancashire Lightning lead the way in the northern section of the T20 Blast whilst in the south there is a massive six-way fight for two quarter-final berths with Surrey and Somerset a couple of points clear in the top spots.

This weekend sees more international football, another round of Super League fixtures whilst in rugby union, the three major leagues in the northern hemisphere are all at the play-off stage. Before all of that, however, we review the previous big winning bets from the major events over the last week.

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

BELGIUM v POLAND – TOTAL GOAL MINUTES (SETTLED AT 455)

A couple of the Belgian players have spoken out about the Nations League in recent days, but any dissent was kept firmly off the pitch on Thursday as the Red Devils dismantled Poland.

The visitors actually managed to take the lead after 28 minutes through Robert Lewandowski who took his goal tally to 76 for the national side. Axel Witsel levelled the match up before half time and from then on it was one-way traffic as the Belgians laid siege to Bartlomiej Dragowski’s goal.

Kevin De Bruyne put the hosts in front just before the hour mark before a brace from Leandro Trossard and Leander Dendoncker put the result beyond all doubt. There was still time though for 22-year-old Vitesse forward Lois Openda to find the net on his debut as he rounded off the scoring in the 93^rd minute.

It was a dream evening for those who had bought Total Goal Minutes with the final spread settling at 455 against a pre-match spread of 138-148 as buyers landed a win equal to 307x their stake.

YORKSHIRE VIKINGS v LANCASHIRE LIGHTNING – SIXES SQUARED (SETTLED AT 625)

After a thrilling tie between these two sides at Old Trafford recently, hopes were high that the reverse fixture at Headingley would be a thriller, and those who filled the famous old ground were certainly not let down.

Some lightning-quick scoring late in the Lancashire innings saw them end their innings on a seemingly unassailable 213/5. Tim David and Dane Vilas brought the firepower with both men finishing with a strike rate of at least 200.00 thanks in no small part to the ten sixes they added.

After a slow start – including a second over maiden – Yorkshire found their range as Adam Lyth, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, and David Willey sent fans in the terraces ducking for cover. With the hosts going well, Lancs needed a breakthrough, and the wicket of Willey looked to swing it back in their favour as Yorkshire needed five runs to win off the final delivery.

Dominic Drakes had struggled to get the ball off the square in his previous seven deliveries launched one towards the Western Terrace, but unfortunately for the home fans, it fell just short of the rope and into the grateful grasp of Tom Hartley.

With so much thrilling action it was a good day for buyers on the Sixes Squared at 231-271. Buyers needed 17 sixes for profit and they were rewarded with 25 as they bagged a win equal to 354x their stake.

NEW SOUTH WALES v QUEENSLAND – MATCH MULTI-POINTS (SETTLED AT 160)

One of the greatest events in rugby got underway on Wednesday as New South Wales and Queensland renewed acquaintances in State Of Origin.

The Blues went into the match as four-point favourites, but they trailed 6-4 at thanks to Valentine Holmes’ successful conversion.

Queensland suffered two heavy defeats in last year’s series which cost Paul Green his job in charge of the Maroons. This year, Billy Slater is in charge and he will have been thrilled by his side’s performance as they added two further tries in the second stanza through Holmes and Manly half Daly Cherry-Evans.

Souths forward Cameron Murray scored a late consolation for New South Wales, but it wasn’t enough as they went down 16-10 in the series opener.

Despite being an entertaining match, there weren’t as many points as expected and those who sold points markets would have enjoyed watching the match unfold. Before kick-off, the Multi-Points market was 324-360 and with a final makeup of 160, sellers converted a win of 164x their 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.