It is the time of year when some players step up to the plate (Pascal Struijk, Johnny Sexton and, Sam Kerr) and others crumble under the pressure (Mason Mount, Salomon Rondon, Camille Chat) as titles and cups are won and lost.

Liverpool had a belting weekend as they lifted the FA Cup and saw Manchester City drop points against West Ham whilst at the other end of the table Everton, Burnley, and Leeds could only manage a point between them as the bottom of the league tightens up.

Celtic finally bagged their league title at the weekend, Baeed blitzed the field in the Lockinge at Newbury, and Leinster and La Rochelle will compete for European club rugby’s greatest prize.

After a jam-packed weekend, we separate the wheat from the chaff and unearth where the big spread make-ups occurred.

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

RACING 92 v LA ROCHELLE – MATCH CROSS-POINTS (SETTLED AT 260)

La Rochelle will make their second trip to a European Rugby Champions Cup final in two seasons after they overcame Racing 92 in a tight, gritty affair in northern France. Played on neutral territory in Lens – the first time a professional rugby union clash has been held at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis – Ronan O’Gara’s side kept their heads to secure a famous victory.

Racing had led during various points, but the game swung on two yellow cards for Camille Chat and Cedate Gomes Sa which saw the Parisians down to 13-men for a period. Les Corsaires took full advantage and they made sure of their progress to the final with a last-minute try from Ihaia West.

A low-scoring game had sellers racing to collect their winnings and those who sold the Match Cross-Points market were in clover with Racing’s 13 points multiplied by La Rochelle’s 20 to make-up at 260. Against a pre-match spread of 501-554, sellers won 241x their stake.

LIVERPOOL v CHELSEA – SHIRTS x BOOKINGS (SETTLED AT 0)

The FA Cup final wasn’t exactly a thrilling affair, but if you are more of a seller than a buyer, you would have had a field day on most markets here.  There were only five corners in normal time, no booking points, and – as was the case when Liverpool and Chelsea met in the League Cup final – no goals.

So off we head to the multi-markets for the big sells of the day. Sellers on Goals x Corners x Bookings would have won 1100x their stake, those against Corners x Bookings won 380x their stake, and those selling Shirts x Corners won 345x their stake. The biggest spread win of the day would have been a sell on Shirts x Bookings which settled at 0 against a pre-match spread of 1450-1600, netting sellers a win of 1450x their stake.

It wasn’t all bad news for buyers though and there was some success for those spotting value on the penalties markets. Before kick-off our X-Penalties market was 3-5 and with both sides taking seven penalties the final spread made up at 49 with buyers winning 44x their stake.

PREMIER LEAGUE TV SPECIALS – BOOKINGS x CORNERS (SETTLED AT 5100)

Everton were left feeling blue and seeing red after they blew another chance to secure safety when they went down 3-2 at home against Brentford having been reduced to nine men after Jarrad Branthwaite and Salomon Rondon saw red. That match was live on Sky and contributed 80 booking points to the Bookings x Corners spread in the TV Specials group. Manchester City’s match was also live on Sky and provided the most corners from the three matches with 13 as Pep Guardiola’s side came back from 20- down to draw 2-2.

Burnley’s trip to Tottenham was the opening televised match on Sunday and whilst it wasn’t a thriller, 50 booking points and 10 corners certainly helped the combined total to settle at a whopping 5100. With the spread before kick-off at 3300-3800, buyers will have enjoyed all three matches as they landed a win equal to 2300x 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.