Rangers landed the first domestic trophy of the year in Scotland when they defeated Aberdeen 1-0 in the League Cup Final and after Celtic slipped up again this weekend, the Gers will fancy their chances of a sustained title challenge.

In England, Manchester City’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace proved to be a coupon buster for those placing accumulator bets, with City now out to 29/20 in our Premier League winner odds.

For this betting blog, we review the big winning bets from the weekend, starting with a feisty affair in the capital.

Please remember Spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital and can result in losses larger than your initial stake/deposit. They may not be suitable for everyone so please ensure you fully understand the risks involved.

BRENTFORD v ASTON VILLA – CROSS-BOOKINGS (SETTLED AT 5525)

The Battle of The Gtech Community Stadium is hardly the catchiest of monikers but for football betting punters who placed buy bets in our bookings-related markets, there was plenty of profit to be made in West London yesterday.

The first half of Aston Villa’s clash with Brentford was fairly serene, with Keane Lewis-Potter opening the scoring on the stroke of half time for the hosts. In the second half, it really kicked up a gear with referee David Coote getting into the Christmas spirit by flashing ten yellow cards and two reds as Ben Mee and Boubacar Kamara were given their marching orders.

In the Cross-Bookings football spread betting market Villa’s total of 85 booking points was multiplied by Brentford’s 65 to leave the spread to settle at 5525. Before kick-off, the spread was 520-600 (and even dropped to 160-230 in play) as buyers won a whopping 4925x their stake.

SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP SATURDAY 16^TH DECEMBER – TOTAL GOAL MINUTES (SETTLED AT 192)

With Rangers and Aberdeen in League Cup final action, there were five matches in the Scottish Premiership this weekend and it was a group of matches which could be described as being for the purists.

For most of the major leagues, we offer aggregate markets across a day or weekend and for Saturday’s clashes north of the border, Total Goal Minutes was set at 656-681. Sellers in this particular football spread betting market would have been thrilled by the sight of 0-0 draws at St Mirren and Livingston appear on the vidiprinter, whilst Celtic’s 2-0 defeat against Hearts saw both goals scored in the first half.

Graham Carey’s second half strike saw St Johnstone past Hibernian but Joe Shaughnessy’s 97^th minute strike for Dundee against Ross County took some of the gloss off the win for sellers. That said, the spread still settled at 192 against a pre match spread of 656-681, leaving sellers to collect a big winning bet of 464x their stake.

WEST INDIES v ENGLAND – SIXES SQUARD (SETTLED AT 1156)

A thrilling win for England on Saturday has finally seen this T20 series with the West Indies come alight with a sensational knock from Phil Salt and a crashing cameo from Yorkshireman Harry Brook helping the tourists over the line with one delivery to spare.

Despite falling to 8-2, the hosts soon found their range and, in an innings, containing 16 sixes, they finished on a score of 222-6 with Nicholas Pooran top scoring with 82 runs. Chasing that down was a tough task, but Phil Salt and Jos Buttler set the tone in the powerplay with 11 sixes between them. Despite that, they needed some heroics in the final overs from Brook who smashed 31 runs from seven deliveries including three sixes in the final over alone to get them across the line.

With the Windies landing 16 sixes and England smashing 18, the Sixes Squared market settled at 1156 against a spread of 361-414 as buyers won 742x 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.