Big Betting Winners from Monday's Action

Is Ronald Koeman going to get sacked at Barcelona?

The pressure is growing on Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman. After last week’s 3-0 Champions League home hammering at the hands of Bayern Munich, Barca fell behind early against winless Granada and had to rely on an injury-time equaliser to grab a point in front of a disapproving Nou Camp.

Headed Goal Minutes (settled at 92)

We mentioned yesterday that Headed Goal Minutes was proving a popular market, and having seen Koeman’s team selection and tactics, that might prove to be the case for as long as the Dutchman remains in charge. Both goals in the 1-1 draw with Granada were headers, Barca conceding in the 2^nd minute before centre-back Ronald Araujo’s injury time equaliser saved a point. Araujo was playing as a makeshift striker, and with another centre-half in Gerard Pique thrown up front and big Luuk de Jong already there, Barca launched an aerial bombardment, with 45 crosses sent over in open play. Afterwards Koeman was quizzed about the change of style and responded by saying, “If you see the list of players, what do you do? Play tiki-taka?”. Buyers at 24-27 banked 63 times their stake.

Cross-Bookings (settled at 1500)

Eight bookings, split three for Barca and five for visitors Granada, meant anyone buying Cross-Bookings (555-645) made a tidy 855 times their stake. The Cross-Bookings market is made up by multiplying one team’s booking points by the others. Interestingly, buyers of Multi-Bookings (450-550), which multiplies the booking points in the first half by those in the second, made a much smaller profit of 150, with that market settled at 700. Only one yellow card was shown in the first half, but as things got more desperate, with Granada defending (and time wasting) for their lives, and Barca chasing the equaliser, seven second half yellow cards followed.

What happened in last night’s horse racing at Wolverhampton?

Franny Norton was the star of the show in last night’s meeting at Wolves despite only having three rides. He followed a 10/1 second on Hyde Park Barracks in the opener with a 10/1 winner, Basilicata, in the 7.00pm before piloting 40/1 shot Party Rebel to a shock win in the last.

Jockey Performance Franny Norton (settled at 60)

Norton’s spread was just 13.8-14.8, so buyers banked 45.2 times their bet as Franny managed two wins and a second from his three rides. The Jockey Performance index awards 25 points for a win, 10 for 2^nd, 5 for 3^rd and 0 for anywhere else.

Is England captain Eoin Morgan playing in the IPL?

Morgan’s Kolkata Knight Riders side got their IPL campaign back underway with an impressive thrashing of Royal Challengers Bangalore, captained by India skipper Virat Kohli. KKR skittled Bangalore for 92 before knocking off the runs for the fall of just one wicket in nine overs.

Andre Russell Player Performance (settled at 60)

West Indian all-rounder Russell starred with the ball as KKR skittled Bangalore, taking three wickets to comfortably put buyers of his spread (41-45) into profit. This market awards 25 points for a stumping, 20 per wicket, 10 for a catch and one per run scored, and unfortunately for those buyers who were looking to bank an even bigger return than the 15 times their bet, Russell’s batting wasn’t required as KKR knocked the runs off with ease.

Did the Green Bay Packers bounce back from their NFL opening weekend thrashing?

A home game with the Detroit Lions was just what the Packers needed after their opening 38-3 loss to New Orleans. The Packers beat the Lions 35-17 in Monday Night Football, avoiding their first 0-2 start in 15 years.

Aaron Jones TD Super Mega Minutes (settled at 253)

Running back Jones scored four touchdowns, though three of them were receiving, the most by an NFL running back in six years. Buyers of his TD minutes (27-30) made 96 times their wager, and buyers of SMM (46-56), which doubles the minutes of a second score and trebles that of a third, banked 197 times their bet.