It was another fairly disappointing weekend for British football fans this weekend as England and Wales could only draw whilst Scotland were well beaten by the Republic of Ireland. Late goals from Paddy McNair and Jonny Evans salvaged a draw from Northern Ireland at Windsor Park against Cyprus, but they remain winless in 14 Nations League matches.

In cricket, Joe Root and Ollie Pope led a superb fightback for England at Trent Bridge whilst Saracens and Leicester booked their places in the English club rugby union’s showpiece event with wins over Harlequins and Northampton respectively.

Royal Ascot is looming on the horizon this week and with plenty of punting opportunities to come, we review where the big winning spread bets were from the major events of the weekend.

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

ENGLAND v ITALY – SHIRTS x BOOKINGS (SETTLED AT 0)

It is safe to say that England have not been at their best during this period of Nations League matches and their jaded squad look like they need a break rather than another match against Hungary on the horizon.

Saturday’s match with Italy was a drab affair that was not helped by the lack of fans, save for 2,000 or so schoolchildren who were allowed into Molineux. The Three Lions have been stuttering going forwards and despite two good chances falling to Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling, neither was able to convert.

Perhaps the only people who will have enjoyed sitting through the match would have been sellers on the Shirts x Bookings market which was at 775-900 before kick-off in the Black Country. With neither side able to hit the back of the net, the market settled at zero and sellers landed a win equal to 775x their stake.

AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX – FERRARI MULTI-FINISHING POSITIONS (SETTLED AT 144)

Ferrari ceded further ground to Red Bull on Sunday at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as neither of the Flying Horse’s drivers managed to complete the event. Charles Leclerc suffered an engine-related issue, forcing a retirement and leaving Max Verstappen to win the race with Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez coming home in second.

That extends Verstappen’s lead at the top of the World Championship to 34 points and Ferrari’s mood won’t have been helped by a hydraulic failure for Carlos Sainz which also forced the Spaniard out of the running.

A bad day all around for Ferrari, but there would have been some joy if you had bought them on the Multi-Finishing Position market. This sees the finishing positions of the two drivers multiplied together with a maximum high position of 12 meaning the best result for buyers could be 144.

With both drivers failing to finish, the magic 144 was reached, and against a pre-race spread of 15-20, buyers won 124x their stake.

SALFORD RED DEVILS v WIGAN WARRIORS – BEVAN FRENCH SUPER MEGA MINUTES (SETTLED AT 353)

Matt Peet’s Wigan side haven’t suffered a Challenge Cup hangover as the Cherry and Whites press on to add to the trophy they won at White Hart Lane. Alongside Huddersfield and Catalans, they are amongst the sides in the slipstream of St Helens at the top of Super League.

They probably weren’t at their best when they made the trip to Salford on Friday but after a subdued first half, they got going in the second half.  One of the catalysts for the improvement was Bevan French with the former Parramatta flyer helping himself to a hat trick.

One of the big winning spreads from the match was a buy on Bevan French Super Mega Minutes (first try minutes count as normal, but the second try’s minutes count double and the third’s treble) which was 51-56 before kick-off. With French scoring all his tries after half time it was a good evening for buyers who won 297x 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.