Winning Bets from England's Draw, Scotland's Win, Murray's Defeat & More

How did the Home Nations teams do in the World Cup qualifiers?

Not great. England could only manage a 1-1 home draw with Hungary, Northern Ireland went down 2-1 in Bulgaria, and while Scotland won, they rode their luck against the lowly Faroe Islands before grabbing a late winner.

Hungary had lost home and away to Albania, with a 2-1 home win against Andorra in between, since losing to England 4-0 last month. They looked a much more organised outfit at Wembley though, and deserved their point.

Roland Sallai put Hungary ahead from the penalty spot after Luke Shaw’s foul, and while John Stones equalised eight minutes before half-time, England couldn’t find a winner.

Total Goal Minutes (settled at 61)

Harry Kane had scored in 14 straight qualifiers before last night, but anyone who has seen him play for Spurs this season can see he’s not at the top of his game. With Raheem Sterling struggling for playing time at Manchester City, there was some sellers of the pre-match spread, set at 160-170, despite England scoring four in the reverse fixture. Sellers at 160 made a profit of 99 times their bet.

Northern Ireland cannot qualify for the World Cup now after defeat in Bulgaria. They were going along well in a game that, while unlikely to lead to qualifying for next year’s tournament, could have a big impact on future qualifying groups, with Conor Washington giving them the lead in the 35^th minute. However, two excellent Todor Nedelev goals in 10 second-half minutes ensured Bulgaria took the three points.

Nedelev Super Mega Minutes (settled at 179)

If you didn’t know the name before last night’s game, anyone who saw Todor Nedelev’s two goals for Bulgaria will remember it now. If his instinctive left-foot finish from a cross in the 53^rd minute was good, his 25-yard screamer in the top corner 10 minutes later was world class. Anyone who bought Nedelev’s goal minutes (4-7) made 109 times their bet, and buyers of Super Mega Minutes (which doubles the time of a player’s 2^nd goal and trebles the minutes of a third) made 169 times their bet, with the pre-match spread at 7-10.

Anyone expecting an avalanche of goals as Scotland travelled to the Faroe Islands might have had their expectations tempered by visiting manager Steve Clarke, who had talked up the strides the Faroes have made, as well as admitting that Scotland’s 4-0 win in the reverse fixture flattered his team. As the game played out, it was the hosts who looked more likely to score, but that man Lyndon Dykes scored for the 4^th game in a row – the first Scot to do so in more than 50 years – to seal victory in the 86^th minute, and just about guarantee Scotland will finish in second place in their group and make the World Cup play-offs.

Goals Cubed (settled at 1)

There was plenty of selling of our spreads ahead of this game, and Goals Cubed, a market made up of the total goals multiplied by itself and multiplied by itself again, was one of many markets that the sellers cleaned up in. With a spread of 39-45, three or less goals would see sellers at 39 make a profit (three goals would give a Goals Cubed result of 27, two goals gives a Goals Cubed of 8 and one goal, as played out, gives Goals Cubed of 1x1x1, which is 1! Sellers therefore made 38 times their stake.

Were there any other big winners from last night’s football?

Cristiano Ronaldo looked as sharp as ever as he scored a hat-trick in Portugal’s 5-0 win over Luxembourg. His Super Mega Minutes spread was set at 131-156, but two penalties and a header in between ensured buyers were decent winners, the final total landing at 295 for a profit of 139 times their stake. This was Ronaldo’s 58^th hat-trick in all, his 10^th for Portugal, 8 of which have come since he turned 30. He now was 115 goals for his country.

Callum Robinson also scored a hat-trick last night to reward his Super Mega Minutes buyers as the Republic of Ireland thrashed World Cup hosts Qatar in a friendly. The West Brom man netted in the 4^th, 13^th and 53^rd minutes in the 4-0 win, giving Super Mega Minutes buyers (22-27) a profit of 162 times their stake.

Were there any standout horse racing performances yesterday?

William Buick closed the gap on Oisin Murphy to just four in the battle to be champion jockey with a hat-trick of winners at Leicester yesterday. With the title decided this weekend at Champions Day, it looked like Murphy was easing to his third straight jockey championship with his advantage of 6, but Buick winning their head-to-head at Leicester 3-1 yesterday has breathed new life into the race.

Buick Jockey SM Performance settled at 175

Buick had three winners at Leicester but also had three more go close, with two seconds and a third. The Jockey Performance market awards 25 points for a win, 10 for 2^nd and 5 for 3^rd, with the Super Mega (SM) Performance awarding double points for a second winner and treble for a third. As you would expect, Buick had some good rides booked and his SM Jockey Performance spread was 96-100. After finishing out of the frame in the first, buyers may have started to worry, but he won the 1.30 on 4/5 favourite Parlando, was 2^nd in the 2.40 on 7/2JF Midgetonamission and was 3^rd in the 3.15 on Evens favourite Maysong. He was out of the picture in the 3.50, but came back to win both of the last two races, Kentucky Kitten an 8/1 winner of the 4.25 before 5/1 shot Rhythm N Rock turned over Murphy’s odds-on favourite to take the last. Buyers of his SM Performance therefore won 75 times their bet.

Did Andy Murray win his Indian Wells 3^rd Round match?

Unfortunately, Murray is out of Indian Wells, defeated in straight sets by world number 4 Alex Zverev. The former world number 1 broke first in both sets, but both times allowed the younger man back into it and ultimately claim his first win against Murray, 6-4 7-6.

Murray Points (settled at 74)

We told yesterday how patriotic punters were getting with Murray in markets that they could profit in even if the Scot was knocked out, and that’s exactly what happened in Murray Points, which was set at 64-68. Buyers only won 6 times their stake, but given he lost in straight sets, a profit is a profit. If Murray could have won that second set tiebreak, buyers would have enjoyed the final set in the knowledge that every point he won would be adding to their profit.