What happened in the weekend’s big Premier League games?

Liverpool put on a five star show at Watford, spoiling Claudio Ranieri’s first game in charge of the Hornets by inflicting a 5-0 home defeat on them. The Reds’ front three of Mane, Salah and Firmino were all among the goals, and while Mane and especially Salah’s were goals that will live long in the memory, it was Firmino who scored three poacher’s efforts from a total of about 12 yards!

Firmino Super Mega Minutes (settled at 411)

It was always difficult to envisage this Watford defence handling the Liverpool front three in their current form, and so it proved. Firmino’s Super Mega Minutes, which doubles the minutes of a 2^nd goal and trebles the minutes of a 3^rd, was set at 28-34, so that 90^th minute hat-trick goal was worth 270 to buyers here, who made a total of 377 times their stake!

Who won the West Midlands derby between Aston Villa and Wolves?

With 10 minutes to go in this game, Villa were two goals up and looked to be cruising to the three points and the local bragging rights when the Wolves revival kicked in. Defenders Romain Saiss and Conor Coady both scored from close range to send the visiting fans wild before Ruben Neves’s injury time free-kick took a massive deflection and rolled in to complete a comeback they’ll be talking about for many a year in Wolverhampton.

Total Goal Minutes (settled at 372)

Wolves’ amazing comeback didn’t just please their fans, it went down well with buyers of Total Goal Minutes too. The spread for that market before kick-off was 110-120, meaning buyers pocketed 252 times their bet.

Who was crowned champion jockey on Champions Day?

Oisin Murphy retained his crown for the third straight year after William Buick’s brave challenge fell just short. In a fitting finale, the pair both headed to Ascot on Saturday for Champions Day, the traditional end of the flat racing season. Ironically Murphy, who went into the last day three winners clear, retained his title from the sidelines, when Sealiway won the Champions Stakes. Buick, who had cut the gap to two by riding Creative Force to victory in the British Champions Sprint Stakes earlier, could only finish 5^th on Adayar, meaning Murphy was the champ.

Jim Crowley SM Jockey Performance (settled at 155)

While all eyes were on Murphy and Buick, it was Jim Crowley who enjoyed most Champions Day success, riding a hat-trick of winners. He piloted 16/1 shot Eshaada to victory in the British Champions Filles & Mares Stakes, 2/1 chance Baaeed in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and 7/2 shot Aldaary in the Balmoral Handicap. Crowley’s Super Mega Performance, which awards double points for a 2^nd winner and treble for a 3^rd, was set at 29.5-31.5, meaning buyers won 123.5 times their bet. Ironically, champion jockey Murphy had no winners or places. Sellers of his Jockey Performance (14.5-16) would have won 14.5 times their stake.

Who is the new British number 1 tennis player?

Cameron Norrie took over as British number 1 after winning the Indian Wells title, known as the 5^th Major. The left-hander, now up to 16 in the world, beat Nikoloz Basilashvili 3-6 6-4 6-1 to become the first Brit to win this title, Andy Murray, Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski all having lost in the final. Norrie has now made six finals this season, a total only matched by Novak Djokovic.

Match Superiority: Nor/Bas (settled at 15)

Norrie was a 40/1 outsider with Spreadex fixed odds before this tournament began, but after some fine performances, and with top seeds dropping like nine pins, he came into the final as a slight favourite. His spread before the final in the Match Superiority market, that awards 10 points to the winner and 5 points per set won by, was 3-6. Patriotic punters who predicted Norrie would beat Basilashvili have made 9 times their stake, having bought at 6.

Who stole the headlines in the weekend’s Gallagher Premiership rugby union fixtures?

Saracens humiliated Bath at the Recreation Ground, winning 71-17, the most points Bath have ever conceded in a Premiership game. Sarries ran in 10 tries in all, and were 45-0 up at half-time, Max Malins and Maro Itoje both scoring hat-tricks.

Match Multi-Points (settled at 1935)

Unsurprisingly in a game with so many points and tries scored, buyers in all sorts of markets could celebrate this impressive performance by Saracens. The Match Multi-Points market is made up of first half total points multiplied by second half total points, and was set at 575-622. Sarries scored all 45 in the first half, and while they ‘only’ managed 26 in the second, Bath at least showed some spirit to score 17 themselves, giving a Multi-Points total of 45x43, 1935. Buyers at 622 made a profit of 1313 times their bet.

Who won Snooker’s Northern Ireland Open?

After three straight years of Judd Trump beating Ronnie O’Sullivan in this final, it was good to see some new names on Sunday night. And the Belfast crowd couldn’t have been happier as home favourite Mark Allen beat John Higgins 9-8 in a thrilling finale to a great week of snooker.

Multi-Frames (settled at 72)

You’ll often hear fixed odds punters saying they haven’t had a bet as the match is too close to call. They might have said that about Mark Allen v John Higgins, with Higgins maybe a slight favourite on neutral ground, but with Allen having the crowd on his side. The beauty of spread betting is that if you think it’s going to be a close game, you can find plenty of markets to buy without having to predict who will come out on top. Multi-Frames buyers copped the maximum return of 19 times their stake, given the spread was set at 47-53 and the final went all the way, Allen winning 9-8. Multi-Frames multiplies the two frame scores together, so 72 was the highest possible make-up in this best of 17 frame final. As you’d expect given there was the maximum number of frames, buyers in lots of other markets were in profit too. Buyers of Total Points, set at 1532-1572, for example, won 168 times their best, with 1740 points scored in the match.