WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?

It was FA Cup semi-final weekend and a tale of two different matches as Manchester City cruised past Sheffield United whilst Manchester United were perhaps a touch lucky to beat Brighton on penalties having been on the back foot for large portions of the match.

Elsewhere Ronnie O’Sullivan emphatically silenced Hossein Vafaei with a 13-2 victory after a tetchy war of words between the pair and in Super League, the blind sell on Wakefield Multi-Points continues to produce profit after they were beaten 22-6 by table-topping Wigan.

As ever, we review the big winning spread bets from the weekend, including a thriller from northern Italy.

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.

KYREN WILSON v JOHN HIGGINS – WILSON/HIGGINS 10/3 (SETTLED AT -43)

We start the round-up at the Crucible where John Higgins produced a masterclass to batter Kyren Wilson 13-2 to power through into the quarter finals with a session to spare.

The Scottish world number 11 had blitzed his way to an 8-0 lead in the morning session and though he couldn’t keep his perfect record intact in the second session, it was still an exceptional day for the 47-year-old.

It was also a great day for those who sold the 10/3 spread which was initially favouring Wilson at 1.75-4.75 but after the Englishman lost by 11 frames ended up settling at -43. Sellers, therefore, came away with a win of 44.75x their stake.

BRIGHTON v MANCHESTER UNITED – STOP AT A PENALTY MISS (SETTLED AT 130)

In a game which saw sellers clean up on goals-related spreads, there were a few markets that provided some joy for buyers and they were based around a penalty shoot-out. Shrewd punters who had bought Stop At A Penalty Miss (number of penalties taken in a shootout until a miss, multiplied by 10) at 3.8-5.8 before kick-off were in the money.

Even buyers who played at 38-40 when the game was going to penalties ended up in the money with the unfortunate Solly March the first to miss when he blazed the 13^th penalty of the shootout over the bar.

It was the second time March has missed in a shoot-out this season and it left the Stop At A Penalty Miss spread to settle at 130 as pre-match buyers came away with a win of 124.2x their stake.

MONZA v FIORENTINA – SHIRTS x BOOKINGS (SETTLED AT 11340)

With plenty of high quality domestic action taking place this weekend a mid-table clash from Serie A may well not have caught the eye, but if you're a Shirts buyer, Monza’s match with Fiorentina was a classic.

The visitors took the lead through Christian Kouame who was wearing shirt number 99 before Riccardo Saponara doubled their advantage wearing the number eight shirt. Monza then hit back to win the game 3-2 contributing 82 Shirt number points to the total in the process.

Throw in a card happy referee who dished out 60 booking points and you have a recipe for success for those who bought Shirts x Bookings. Before kick-off, this spread was 3700-4050 but settled at 11340 leaving buyers winning a huge 7290x 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.