Midweek was once again full of football action with the penultimate round of Champions League, Europa League and Conference League matches seeing its fair share of drama. Spurs drew in controversial fashion with Sporting Lisbon which meant they will have to secure their knockout stage place in the final group fixture, while Liverpool booked their ticket with a win over Ajax.

Amongst the other sport, there were shocks in the T20 World Cup action as Zimbabwe secured a one-run victory over Pakistan, while Ireland grabbed a shock win over England in a rain-affected match, albeit on somewhat of a technicality with the DLS Method.

As always, we have looked at the market make-ups and picked out three big winning spread bets from savvy punters.

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

AJAX V LIVERPOOL  – CROSS-BOOKINGS (SETTLED AT 0)

After another setback in the Premier League last weekend Liverpool needed some positivity, and gained this with another impressive Champions League performance, at least ensuring the Reds will be continuing their bid for silverware in the knockout stages. Securing a dominant 3-0 victory over Ajax in Amsterdam with goals from Mohamed Salah, Harvey Elliott, and Darwin Nunez, Jurgen Klopp’s charges could not have asked for much more.

But where was the profit for punters? With the match being played out in very disciplined fashion from both sides, the referee did not have to brandish a single card in the entire ninety minutes. With this, profit opportunity awaited for any sellers on various bookings markets. With Cross-Bookings having a pre-match spread of 425 – 495, sellers would have been celebrating a 425x return on their opening wager!

PAKISTAN V ZIMBABWE – LAUNCH! (SETTLED AT 616)

The T20 Cricket World Cup has already thrown up plenty of action, excitement and shock results, and another one took place here as the underdogs Zimbabwe secured a single-run victory over Pakistan here.

Pakistan were subjected to a second straight last-ball defeat in the tournament, and it is a defeat that leaves their hopes of reaching the semi-finals hanging by a thread. After Ireland shocked England at the MCG,  Group 1 was well and truly blown wide open. Pakistan, who suffered an agonising last-ball loss to India on Sunday, may miss out on the knockout stages even if they win their final three matches against Netherlands, South Africa and Bangladesh.

But where was the main profit for punters? The Launch! market was surely a great option – with a low make-up of 616 meaning selling punters would have been left with a 684x return on their stake from the pre-match spread of 1300 - 1400!

NAKASHIMA V WAWRINKA - WAWRINKA TO WIN MATCH (SETTLED AT 100) 

And finally, in the tennis action, 37-year-old Swiss Stan Wawrinka once again rolled back the years and followed up his win over world number three Casper Ruud with a hard-fought three set victory over American Brandon Nakashima at the Basel Open.

Looking to win this tournament in his home country for the first time, he looked to be in full control with a set and a break lead, and in fact serving for the match at 6-4, 5-4*. However, Nakashima broke twice in succession to win the second set 7-5, which meant Wawrinka had to secure the win in the third set.

With a pre-match spread of 40 – 45.5 on Wawrinka to win the match outright, buying punters who backed the Swiss would have been celebrating a 54.5x return on their 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.