Did Newcastle win their first game of the season to get off the bottom of the Premier League table?

A home match against Norwich, the team second bottom of the table, was surely the ideal time for Newcastle, the only team in the Football League yet to win a game this season, to get their first three points. Eddie Howe’s plans went out the window in the first 10 minutes however, as Ciaran Clark was dismissed for a professional foul, and his team did well to emerge with a point after a 1-1 draw. They actually led thanks to Callum Wilson’s 61^st minute penalty, but Teemu Pukki grabbed a deserved equaliser 11 minutes from time.

Penalty Goal Minutes (settled at 61)

With two of the most fragile defences in the Premier League on show, and both trying extra hard to impress their respective new managers, a penalty or two was always on the cards in this game, and Billy Gilmour’s decision to try and defend a corner with his arms above his head meant the visitors conceded one at St James’ Park, even if VAR was needed to confirm it. Callum Wilson calmly stroked it home on 61 minutes, locking in a profit of 46 times their stake for buyers, with the pre-match spread set at 12-15.

Is Raphinha still keeping Leeds out of the relegation zone on his own?

The Brazilian star has been the shining light for Leeds this season, and so it proved yesterday as he capped a man of the match performance with an injury time penalty to secure his team the three points with a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace. In a tight encounter that could have gone either way, Raphinha took on the responsibility when Marc Guehi was adjudged to have handled the ball as he tried to defend a corner and coolly netted the only goal of the game.

Raphinha Goal Minutes (settled at 90)

As we mentioned in yesterday’s blog, there was plenty of punters buying Raphinha Goal Minutes at 13-16 – in fact all of the bets mentioned in the blog were winners apart from Christian Benteke Goal Minutes, and he missed an absolute sitter! – and when Leeds were given a late, late penalty, it was the Brazil winger who stepped up to slot it home. Buyers of Raphinha Goal Minutes pocketed a profit of 74 times their bet, and it could have been more as he looked Leeds’ most potent weapon all evening.

Did Great Britain make the Davis Cup Finals this weekend?

Great Britain were knocked out by Germany 2-1 in a shock Davis Cup defeat yesterday which means they won’t be at the Finals in Madrid this weekend. With no fans allowed in the arena in Innsbruck due to the Austrian Covid lockdown, Team GB looked to be on track for the final four, where fans will be allowed at the weekend, with Dan Evans winning the opening rubber 6-2 6-1 against Peter Gojowczyk. With just one win needed from two games, and British number 1 Cameron Norrie to come against Jan-Lennard Struff - with Germany’s star player Alex Zverev not involved – it was a surprise that the doubles game even counted for anything. However, Norrie went down 7-6 3-6 6-2 and it was up to Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski, both top 20 doubles players who have won Grand Slams, to see off German pair Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz. Germany won a tight first set tie break 12-10, and when Salisbury and Skupski won the first five points of the second set tie break, the Germans won the next seven points to claim victory.

Salisbury/Skupski v Krawietz/Puetz Set 1: Cross Points (settled at 1935)

These two doubles teams looked well matched, with four big servers, and an awful lot riding on it that meant nerves would play a part too. Cross Points is made up of one pair’s points multiplied by the other pair’s, with closer matches naturally giving higher results, as both teams win more points. The spread for the opening set was 1027-1102, but with Salisbury and Skupski winning 43 points and Krawietz and Puetz winning 45, the result was 1935. Buyers of Set 1: Cross Points therefore made 833 times their bet.