There’s a first time for everything, and if you are new to the football betting scene, then you have come to the right place! This betting guide from Betfootball will cover everything you need to know about betting on football matches, including the different options available, explanations of each, how to place these bets, and much more!
Single Match Betting
Perhaps the one that football fans like the most is single-match betting, which gives bettors the best odds as it represents the best and most obvious look at who the betting site thinks will win the outcome of a single match. So, for example, if Slovakia is playing Spain, the line for the bets will most likely favour Spain simply because, on paper, they are the superior team.
For example, Spain could be a 4/1 favourite over Slovakia, which is an 11/1 underdog. What this means is that people using the single match betting option for their match will see that Spain is the favourite in the game, and if money is placed on them to win, then the bettor will not get as much money back because of their odds whereas if Slovakia won the match, then more money would be won because of their odds. So for every £1 you bet on Spain, you will win £4 (if you place £5 on Spain, you will win £20).
When a bettor puts money on a single match bet, they are doing this because they are hoping that their selection will win the match outright. The lower the odds on a team for a match, the more likely they are to win and vice versa.
Both teams to score (BTTS)
Both teams to score is another one of the most popular bets to place on a game after the 1×2 bet. Both teams to score, or BTTS as it is commonly referred to, is exactly what it sounds like.
You have two options to bet on: both teams to score: Yes, or both teams to score: No. In a chosen match, if the bettor thinks both teams will score, they select yes, whereas if they think both won’t, they select the no option.
Half-time/full-time
This bet is for those bettors who believe a team is going to strike early and win comfortably. Unlike with the win-draw-win market, you are not just betting on a team to win after 90 minutes or on them to be leading at half-time.
As you are essentially dividing both halves into two games, your odds for this bet will be better than backing a team to win after 90 minutes.
Handicap (European)
The handicap market is for bettors who believe they are not getting enough value from the win-draw-win market. Most bookmakers offer markets from -5 all the way to +5 (+1 is the equivalent of a double chance bet)
These bets are most popular in games where one team is heavily favoured over another. For example, if Bayern Munich played a lower-league German team, Bayern started off at odds of 1/5, and the lower-league team was 9/1, Bayern is clearly expected to win. However, Bayern’s odds are not worth backing for those seeking a sizeable profit.
If the game ended 4-0 to Bayern, bettors who placed bets on Bayern -1 (win by two or more), Bayern -2 (win by three or more), and Bayern -3 (win by four or more) would have won their bets, whereas Bayern -4 ( Bayern win by five or more) was a loser.
Of course, the higher the bettor goes to 5 on the minus scale, the better their odds will be. On the plus scale, the closer you go to 1, the higher their odds will be.
First Half Score
This option makes for some great entertainment as a football betting selection. You are betting on the result up to halftime. Picking the score for the first half can be tricky but not impossible.
It is a hard bet to get right as you are counting on a team to score in the first half. So if it gets to the break and the score is 0-0, then you lose your bet. However, if a team does score, then your bet will win. With the betting option, you can also pick which team will score with some betting sites, which makes it even more intriguing.
This is another bet where knowing your teams inside and out will benefit you. You will often find trends in when a team scores or concedes, with some being prone to scoring/conceding in one half or the other. While this may not mean that you will win this bet every time, it will certainly increase your probability of them coming home.
Final correct score
This is one of the hardest football bets to get right, but the betting odds are worth the risk. By trying to pick the correct score for a match, you are asking for a lot to go right for you.
Let’s say a bettor has put £5.00 on an England v Croatia match and has picked the Three Lions to win 1-0. If England scores within the first ten minutes, then for the rest of the match, you do not want either team to score because if they do, you will lose your bet.
On the plus side, if you do get it right, then the odds and winnings are impressive simply because it is so hard to predict the outcome of a match. There are three ways the match can end: win, lose, or draw. It certainly does make for interesting viewing.
Number of Goals
Much like the yellow/red cards and corners, another betting market in football is the number of goals in a match.
With most sites, it is set as an over/under total and normally is not high. For the most part, it is set at 2.5 over or under, which is a tantalising prospect. Much like the correct score, the odds will be higher because it is hard to predict.
A game involving Germany and France has the potential to be high-scoring and go over the 2.5 mark set, but because of the quality of the teams, there is also a real chance it will be low-scoring, and that is where you have to take the risk.
Win Draw Win / 1×2 Bet
Technically a type of match betting, the Win-Draw-Win bet is a three-way bet in which you are guaranteed to win. It covers all the potential outcomes of a football game, i.e., a home win, an away win, or a draw.
If we use an example, say you are betting on a Premier League match between Liverpool and Arsenal using the Win-Draw-Win bet. This means you will be betting on Liverpool to win, Arsenal to win, and the possibility of a draw all at once. Of course, two of these bets can’t come home, but one definitely will. The ideal situation is that the one that does pays enough to cover the wager on two that do not—hence, you make a profit.
The Win-Draw-Win bet only applies to the regulated 90 minutes of a football game. This means that if the game goes into extra time, the wager will have already been completed.
Double chance
The double chance bet is basically a safer version of the draw no-bet option. There are three options when choosing a double-chance bet;
Unlike the draw no-bet option, if your team draws, you also win this bet. This, of course, means the odds for double chance will not quite be as strong as draw no bet, but the bet is a lot safer. Bettors will utilise this bet when they think of an underdog as a chance of causing an upset or at least grabbing a draw
Draw No Bet
This bet removes the possibility of a draw and leaves you to bet on one team winning to ensure your bet comes home. However, if there is a draw, then you get your stake back. Hence, you have coverage for everything except in the case of your backed team losing.
Yellow/Red Cards
Perhaps one of the most left-field things that a person can put money on is a caution, but if you know your football well, you will have a good idea of who is likely to receive one during a match.
Most betting sites offer several football betting options regarding yellow and red cards, such as the number of yellow cards in a match, the number of red cards in a match, and the total number of cards shown in a match.
It is a quirky yet entertaining piece of betting power, and you can have a lot of fun with it. Keeping with the England theme, you may want to place a bet on Harry Maguire being cautioned during the match, as he is a defender. Some betting sites might not give you the option to select an individual player but rather just the total number of cards that can be shown in either colour.
Most of the betting options will be over/under a certain amount. For example, over/under 5 cards are shown in the match with odds of €1.90, depending on the teams.
Corners
Like the yellow and red cards, betting on corners is another selection that increases your interest in a match. Although hard to pick, it is great fun. When looking at matches, it is important to look at who is playing as they will tell you a lot about whether or not you should go ahead with the bet.
If we look at the examples of a game between the Netherlands and North Macedonia, on paper, the Netherlands is by far the better side, so they should be in attacking areas more than Macedonia. So, the odds for the Netherlands and corners will likely be low because they are expected to be attacking more than their opponent.
Much like the yellow and red cards, most betting sites will give you the option of over/under a certain number. Whatever this number is should determine if you should bet on it. If the over/under is set at seven corners for the game, then odds are the Dutch will get seven corners awarded to them during the match.
The other option you will have is the total amount of corners for both sides and it will likely be over/under again.
Clean sheets
If you are looking for a bet that is more defensively focused than attacking, clean sheet betting is ideal. But what does a clean sheet mean in betting? Well, it simply means that you are betting on a team in the match not to concede a goal. Therefore, if you know a team concedes very few goals, then this could be considered to be one of the best football bets for you.
There are a few things to consider before making a clean sheet bet. The obvious one is that the team you bet on will have to not lose as, by nature, if they have lost, they would have conceded (with the exception of tournament football betting where there may be the exception of extra time or a penalty shootout which is usually excluded from the bet). The next is that you can still bet on a “bore draw” and benefit from both teams not conceding and, thus, achieving a clean sheet.
Often, it is the case that a team doesn’t even need to be the favourite in a game, though, for this to pay as many underdog teams play for clean sheets, particularly against bigger teams. As well as this, many teams may play for a clean sheet in a tournament as to avoid going out on the “away goal” rule or going out on a negative goal difference. In other instances, a favourite team may not be the best bet as they have a strong attack that scores a lot but may not have a solid defence, and so they also concede often.
An important element of clean sheet betting is that it requires a solid knowledge of the team you are betting on and tracking their previous form. Hence research is a keen element of your football betting strategy in this case.
First Goalscorer
One of the favorite betting selections and usually the best football betting odds will be the first goalscorer. Players like Robert Lewandowski, Olivier Giroud, Cristiano Ronaldo will be high on the betting lists to score the first goal for their team as they are the main attackers.
Betting on the first goal scorer is always fun but if a goal comes from an unknown source, i.e. a defender, then your bet will lose which and you must be ready to take the hit.
Who will score next
The one who will score the next bet is usually one from which the experienced bettors benefit. They know that in some games, you can bet while the match is live. If Harry Kane scores for England first against Scotland, then the bettor can make a live bet on who he/she thinks will be the team to score next and place a bet on that team.
Time of Goals
Perhaps one of the hardest things to get right is predicting the time goals are scored. Most betting sites will give you several options, e.g., between 0 and 25 minutes, 25 and 45 minutes, and so on. Predicting if a team will score is hard enough, let alone trying to pick the timeframe in which they will score is extremely hard, but again, because of the odds that will be on offer, it can be worth the risk.
Scoring in certain parts of the pitch
It seems betting sites have made it possible to bet on just about anything, but when it comes to scoring, there are numerous inventive ways to bet. Our last one is the scoring in certain parts of the pitch and, as the name suggests, a player scoring in a spot on the field.
Most goals happen inside the box or just outside, but from the left or the right is a little bit more unusual. Predicting this is hard, but if you want to play it safe, selecting a goal to happen in the penalty area pretty much covers you, although the odds will be lower because it is likely that will happen.
Accumulators
Can’t decide? Then why not combine a few of these options with accumulator betting? This is where people can make really big bucks. Accumulators, or multi-bets, are a selection of numerous options that people can bet on in a single match and then roll all of them into one “accumulator” bet for better odds.
You might like to place an accumulator bet that includes the odds of two different teams winning their matches. For example, you could include England and Denmark to win their opening matches at combined odds of about 17/10.
You might also want to create a bet slip that combines different bet types from the same match. An example of this type of bet is a person who selects Harry Kane as a goal scorer, and his odds might be 4/1. Next, they select England to win the match, and those odds could be 6/1. Lastly, they might put in there that both sides will score a goal in the game, with odds of 8/1.
For this kind of bet, you’d be well off checking out bet365 and its bet builder functions. These allow you to combine almost any bets from the same match into an accumulator.
So, all in all, the accumulator bet adds up those three odds and combines them to make one set of odds. It also makes for a more enjoyable footballing experience because you hope for many different things to happen during the match.
However, for your bet to win, all of the selections have to happen. So Harry Kane has to score, England has to win the match, and both sides have to score. If England wins 2-0 and Harry Kane scores, the bet will lose because the opposition did not score.
FAQs
CAN I BET WHILE A GAME IS BEING PLAYED?
Yes, you can, however, not all bets are available to you once the game starts. The final result, the number of goals, etc, are selections you can still bet on.
DO I NEED TO BE A MEMBER OF A SITE TO BET WITH THEM?
Yes, most of the time. A site will want you to create an account before you can bet. Some are free, while others might require a small fee. Check out this list of the best football betting sites in the UK to learn more!
