One of the most eagerly anticipated weekends in English sport took place over the weekend as the FA CUP third round took place. However, it turned into something of a damp squib with Tamworth denied a replay at Tottenham thanks to a change in the rules and Plymouth Argyle springing the only shock of the round with an away win at Brentford.

Despite the lack of shocks, there was no shortage of winning spread bets and we start our weekend round-up at the Etihad where Manchester City ran riot.

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.

MANCHESTER CITY v SALFORD CITY – SHIRTS x BOOKINGS (SETTLED AT 8700)

Manchester City met their close neighbours Salford for the first time on Saturday and given their opponent’s close connection with the Class Of 92, home fans at the Etihad will have been especially pleased to run out 8-0 winners.

There were plenty of Manchester United fans in the away end as Karl Robinson’s side were totally outclassed by a City side who included plenty of academy prospects and fringe players.

Eight goals will always be good news for football spread betting punters who bought Shirt Numbers x Bookings at 3600-4100. However, a hat-trick from James McAtee wearing shirt number 87 on the scoresheet along with goals from Nico O’Reilly (shirt 72) and Divin Mubama (67) saw Shirt Numbers x Bookings make up at 8700.

Buyers can probably class themselves unlucky that there were only 20 Booking Points in the match, but a win of 4600x their initial stake will have no doubt softened the blow.

ADELAIDE STRIKERS v BRISBANE HEAT – SIXES SQUARED (SETTLED AT 676)

Any English cricketer who can swing a bat in anger is currently in sunnier climes playing in a T20 franchise league with competitions in Abu Dhabi, New Zealand, South Africa, and Australia taking place over the weekend.

Our attention for this betting blog focuses on the latter of that quartet where buyers on our Sixes Squared cricket spread betting market made a healthy profit on Brisbane Heat’s trip to Adelaide Strikers.

Before a ball was bowled, the spread was 223-251, but with Adelaide launching 14 deliveries over the rope, buyers needed just two maximums from Brisbane to break even. The Heat brought some firepower of their own as they scored 12 sixes in a – ultimately unsuccessful – run chase.

With 26 sixes scored, the Sixes Squared spread settled at 676 as buyers won 424x their stake.

JACOB FEARNLEY v NICK KYRGIOS – KYR/FEA SUPREMACY (SETTLED AT -25)

Staying down under, and Nick Kyrgios’ long-awaited return to Australian Open action was over before it had begun after the opinion-dividing Aussie was dumped out by Scotland’s Jack Fearnley.

The British number three had only ever won two matches at tour level previously, but he dealt well with the occasion and the vociferous home crowd to triumph in straight sets. Kyrgios, for his part, pulled out some party tricks to raise the noise in the John Cain Arena, but an abdominal strain seemed to take its toll on the Canberran.

Ahead of play, the Supremacy spread was narrowly set at 0-3 in Kyrgios’ favour, but a three-set Fearnley win (five points for each set won by and a ten point winning bonus) saw the spread settle at -25 as sellers collected a maximum win of 25x 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.