Who Made Big Money as the Champions League went Goal Crazy?

Who needs a European Super League when the Champions League can provide entertainment like it did last night?

There was 28 goals in the 8 games – half of them in the two games involving English clubs - but where was the big money bet and won?

What happened between Liverpool and AC Milan?

These two European heavyweights only seem to face each other in classics, and last night was no different. Liverpool started like a house on fire, forced a lead through Trent Alexander-Arnold’s deflected cross going in off fellow England international Fikayo Tomori and looked to be cruising towards half-time, despite Mo Salah’s missed penalty. Milan had other ideas, and two goals in two minutes saw the visitors ahead, and they could have made it 3-1 just after half-time, having a goal ruled out for offside. Back came Liverpool, and Salah grabbed an equaliser before, just like Istanbul 2005, the Reds captain stepped up when needed - this time it was Jordan Henderson wearing the armband, and he smashed in the winner.

Total Goal Minutes (settled at 213)

In a five-goal thriller – even with a missed penalty – buyers of Goal Minutes made a tidy profit. Before the game, the spread was set at 147-157, and anyone taking the overs banked 56 times their stake thanks to Henderson’s 69^th minute winner.

What happened between Man City and RB Leipzig?

As we outlined in yesterday’s bets of the day blog, Leipzig have struggled so far this season under new manager Jesse March, who replaced Bayern Munich bound Julian Nagelsmann. Bayern beat Leipzig 4-1 at the weekend, and we’d seen money for City, fresh from back-to-back 5-0 home wins, on the handicap. While City kept up their part of the bargain, scoring 6, their usually watertight defence shipped 3 goals, all to Christopher Nkunku, to reach a final score more suited to Emma Raducanu, winning 6-3. Handicap backers on the spreads still got the maximum return if they went for -2, but had to settle for a much smaller profit at -3.

Multi-Bookings (settled at 900)

Overs copped in just about every market in this nine-goal thriller. Buyers of Shirt Numbers (spread 59-63, settled at 154) won 91 times their bet, Goal Minutes (spread 155-165, settled at 471) won 306 times their stake, and Penalty Goal Minutes, a market we highlighted as attracting money yesterday given the amount of spot kicks on Tuesday night and Leipzig’s habit of conceding them, won 26 times their wager after Riyad Mahrez scored a 45^th minute penalty.  Multi-Bookings isn’t the first market you’d look at in a goal fest, but Leipzig lost their discipline as the goals kept going in, with former City defender Angelino getting his marching orders in the 79^th minute. Buyers of Multi-Bookings at 355 pre-match banked 545 times their bet as five yellow cards were flashed, two to Angelino.

Christopher Nkunku SMM (settled at 363)

While City’s forwards were having a field day, their defenders couldn’t cope with Christopher Nkunku, who kept Leipzig in the game with a stunning hattrick. Buyers of the Super Mega Minutes (SMM) spread, set at 5-8, made a massive 355 times their stake. SMM adds the goal minutes, but doubles the minutes of any second goal, and trebles that of a third. Nkunku’s Player Goal Minutes was set at 2.5-5, buyers there making 161 times their bet.

Who else caught the eye?

Ex-West Ham striker Sebastien Haller was on fire on his Champions League debut, scoring 4 times as Ajax won 5-1 at Sporting Lisbon. He is only the second player to score 4 on his CL debut; the other was Marco van Basten!

Hotshots (settled at 125)

While Haller buyers obviously banked nice profits if they bought his PGM or SMM, those who fancied the strikers to get the better of defenders in general, and bought the Hotshots market at 36 made a tidy 89 times their stake. The Hotshots group is made up of four named strikers, two from each side, with 25 points being awarded per goal they score (and 8 points if they don’t appear on the pitch). Haller’s 4 goals contributed 100 points, while Paulinho added 25 for his consolation for the home side.

Horse Racing

Sandown Favourites (Settled at 120)

It was a good day for favourite backers at Sandown, and buyers in the Favourites market, which had a starting spread of 87-91, made 29 times their stake. At one stage it looked like this could have been an even bigger result, with favourites winning 4 of the first 5 races, but the favourite was 2nd in the penultimate race and nowhere in the last. The Favourites market awards points depending on how the SP favourite does, with 25 for 1st, 10 for 2nd and 5 for 3rd.