Pre-season has ramped up over the last week and whether it be tweets from the Washington Post about Haaland’s broken leg causing panic amongst City fans (it turned out to be US Interior Secretary Deb, rather than ‘Nordic meatshield’ Erling) or Darwin Nunez scoring four for Liverpool against Leipzig, there has been plenty to keep us entertained.

The World Matchplay has also been wowing fans in Blackpool with some stunning arrows from our friends on the continent leaving Gerwyn Price as the sole British representative heading into Friday’s session.

Finally, England said farewell to a legend (sort of anyway) as Ben Stokes retired from 50-over cricket, though the World Cup hero will continue in Test and T20 formats.

With thrills and spills from all over the world, we bring you three big winning spread bets from the last few days.

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

LEVANTE v WOLVES – CROSS-BOOKINGS (SETTLED AT 3000)

In summers to come – when sports content sites are struggling for things to write about – someone will produce a ‘Top Ten Maddest Pre-Season Matches’ article and Thursday’s clash between Levante and Wolves will be nailed on for a top 3 finish.

Having played against Alaves the previous evening, Wolves played a rotated side against a Levante side who were fired up for the occasion, with challenges flying in all over the place. Yerson Mosquera was brought down by Enis Bardhi near the two benches and a coming together between the pair saw the referee give both players a red card as the arguments continued with the players making the walk to the changing rooms.

Daniel Podence was the next Wolves player to take umbrage with the rough stuff being dished out by the Spaniards and another bout of pushing and shoving saw the referee dish out another two cards on the stroke of half-time.

In the raging Benidorm heat, neither side were keen for a half of 9v9 so it was agreed that both sides could be restored to their full complement for the second-half. The scoreline was almost secondary to the drama, but a late Toti Gomes goal wasn’t enough for Wolves as they lost 2-1 in a match where the referee blew for full-time after just 86 minutes.

It was carnage on the Costa Blanca, but if you bought Cross-Bookings you were in the money. Before the match the spread was 50-70, but with Levante getting 60 booking points and Wolves 50, the market settled at 3000 as buyers won 2930x their stake.

LEEDS RHINOS v WIGAN WARRIORS – LEEDS MULTI-POINTS (SETTLED AT 432)

A depleted Leeds Rhinos side made their first home appearance for 62 days against Wigan on Thursday in front of a raucous Headingley crowd. The visitors were double-digit favourites on the handicap, but after succumbing in the heat to Toulouse last Saturday, Rohan Smith’s side were fired up for this one.

The much vaunted Jai Field-Bevan French pairing were kept quiet for the majority of the game as the Yorkshire outfit defended stoutly and were threatening with the ball in hand. Converted tries from Liam Sutcliffe and James Bentley put the hosts 12-0 up and although French replied with a score in the corner, the hosts were in the mood.

The Rhinos led 24-6 at half-time and they added three converted tries in the second half to record a stunning 42-12 victory over their high-flying opponents. Defeat for Wigan puts them out of the race for the League Leaders’ Shield, but the Rhinos are now well in the play-off mix.

With 24 first-half points and 18 in the second stanza, Leeds’ Multi-Points make-up was 432. Pre-match the spread was 64-76 as those siding with the Blue and Amber took home a win of 356x their stake.

MEN’S 1500m FINAL – JAKE WIGHTMAN 50-25-10 (SETTLED AT 50)

The World Athletics Championships have been thrilling viewers over the past week and there was joy for British fans in the 1500m in both the men’s and women’s events.

Laura Muir put in a brilliant, battling performance to claim bronze in a thrilling battle overnight on Monday, but she was surpassed by the heroics of Jake Wightman later in the week.

In men’s middle-distance running, one name stands above all: Jakob Ingebrigtsen. The 21-year-old Norwegian broke the Olympic record last year in Tokyo and was made the 37-40 favourite for the race in Oregon.

Heading into the final 400m, Ingebrigtsen had the field stacked up behind him and he was passed by Wightman as they entered the final bend. With 200m to hold on, the man from Nottingham had made his move early, but he ground out the win down the home straight with Ingebrigtsen trailing 24-hundredths of a second behind.

Mohamed Katir claimed the bronze, but this was all about Wightman who was unfancied before the race and priced accordingly at 3-5. A gold medal will have tasted so sweet, but buyers will also have been given a treat as they landed a win of 45x 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.