The week of sport has barely begun but has already seen plenty of noteworthy action - and it’s only Wednesday! In the FA Cup, Blackburn shocked Leicester to reach the quarter-finals while Man City eased past Bristol City, while Fulham beat Leeds in one of the two all-Premier League ties in this stage of the tournament.

Elsewhere, in the cricket, England fell victim to a quite extraordinary one-run defeat to New Zealand in Wellington – just the fourth team in Test history to win a match after being made to follow on. And, across the pond, the NBA action saw an eye-catching result as the San Antonio Spurs defeated Utah Jazz on the road – which was the first win for the side in 17 matches!

In the tennis, Novak Djokovic survived a much tougher than expected match against Czech Tomas Machac at the Dubai Duty Free Championships. Can anyone stop the Serb this season?

As always, we have picked out three big winning spread bets from Monday and Tuesday.

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

LEICESTER V BLACKBURN – GOALS X CORNERS X BOOKINGS (SETTLED AT 1,560)

In what was the most surprising result of the FA Cup matches so far, Blackburn defied the odds to produce a fantastic 2-1 victory over top-flight Leicester to reach the quarter-finals. A goal in each half was enough for the Rovers, as Kelechi Iheanacho’s goal proved a mere consolation for the Foxes – who of course won this competition in 2021.

Tyrhys Dolan and Sammie Szmodics cashed in on awful defending to secure the victory and a great achievement for the Championship side, while Brendan Rodgers celebrated four years in charge at the King Power Stadium on Sunday and this defeat marked his 200th game.

But where was the profit for punters? With three goals in total, thirteen total corners, and four yellow cards bringing 40 booking points, the Goals x Corners x Bookings multi-market settled at 1,560. With the starting spread being 790 – 890, buyers of the market would have made 670x their opening wager!

NEW ZEALAND V ENGLAND 2^nd TEST – LAUNCH! (SETTLED AT 3,534)

In what was a quite historic occurrence at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, England’s last man James Anderson was caught down the leg side off Neil Wagner when England needed two runs to win. Anderson had joined number 10 Jack Leach with seven required, after Leach added 36 for the ninth wicket with Ben Foakes, who was caught at fine leg for 35.

Foakes, Leach and Anderson almost got them over the line, but ultimately England lost a Test after enforcing the follow-on for the first time and it was the fourth such defeat in a history spanning almost 150 years and 2,500 Test matches! The result also ended a run of six straight victories and denied them a seventh straight win, which was a feat last achieved by England way back in 2004. For New Zealand, their first win after following on earns a 1-1 draw in the series and protects an unbeaten home run that stretches back to 2017.

But where was the betting value to be had? The Launch! market certainly proved profitable for buying punters, with a make-up of 3,534 meaning those that decided to buy at the opening spread of 2,450 – 2,650 would have been left with a massive 884x their opening stake!

NOVAK DJOKOVIC V TOMAS MACHAC – TOTAL POINTS (SETTLED AT 194)

And finally, over in Dubai, Novak Djokovic returned to action in what on paper looked to be a very comfortable match-up against a young opponent from the Czech Republic who although talented, was not expected to win more than a few games against the formidable World Number 1 Serb.

The first set went the way of Djokovic 6-3, and all indications were an easy straight sets win to begin his quest for a sixth title in Dubai. However, Machac was not deterred by the early setback and produced some fantastic tennis to level the match by winning the second set 6-3. It was then a straight shootout and although Machac had his chances and managed to drag it to a tie-break, Djokovic’s class and experience ultimately told the story.

For punters foreseeing a long three-set match, buying on the Total Points market at a pre-match spread of 124 – 129 would have left them celebrating a 65x return on their opening 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.