There are many different football betting markets available to you as a punter when placing bets on football in the UK, but you may not know exactly what they are or what they entail when you place a bet on them.
In our series of betting guides and information, we aim to provide you with the knowledge that can ensure you have the best chances of profit when you place your bets.
What are the different football betting markets available?
There are many markets for football betting we will start with the basics and then move on to the more advanced markets.
1X2 Betting/Match Result
the most common bet in football is the straight win bet on either the home team (1), draw (X), or the away team (2). This market is a simple win bet and therefore it doesn’t matter how many goals a team wins by, loses by, or the score for the draw as long as the result is what you bet on.
Both Teams To Score
another popular football betting market that is pretty self-explanatory if you place a bet on this market in a football match both of the teams must score a goal for it to win.
A popular selection for many football accumulators along with the match result straight win bets, it is the popular bet because both team’s scoring can happen literally at any point of the game, penalties, last-minute equalisers, etc all count as long as both teams have scored at the end of the match its a winner.
There are also variations on this bet with bets such as over 2.5 goals and both teams to score, this would require both teams to score and over 2.5 goals (basically 3 goals) in the game, odds will be higher on these variations as they are harder to get right.
Both Teams To Score And Match Result
the same bet as above yet you also have to predict the match result as well whether it’s both teams to score and a home win, draw, or the away team to win all must be correct for it to be a winner.
Over & Under Bets
bets such as over 2.5 goals or under 2.5 goals can be confusing as it’s not possible to score half a goal, basically if it’s over 2.5 goals in a game you will need there to be 3 goals at least in that game, likewise for under 2.5 goals you would need under 3 goals so no more than 2 goals in the game for the bet be a winner.
Correct Score
This is simply predicting what the full-time score will be it must be in normal time and not extra time or penalties which is the case for all football bets.
Goalscorer Bets
You can select which player you think will score first in a match and that player must score first for the bet to be a winner, likewise, you can have a player to score at any time in a game (the odds will be lower) but the same would apply.
There are other variants at higher odds such as a player scoring 2 or more goals in a game or 3 or more goals in a game.
Half-Time/Full-Time Result – This is great for teams that tend to be leading at half-time but throw it all away in the second half, basically you choose what the result will be at half-time and then the result at full time and both selections must be correct for the bet to win.
For example, Leicester HT Fulham FT, as long as Leicester is winning at half time but loses at full time the bet wins.
Corners
You can place bets on how many corners in a game too, as well as how many corners a certain team will have in the game, these bets are not as easy to get right as you may think.
Clean Sheet Betting
Yes, you can also bet on teams keeping a clean sheet, highly risky though because it only takes them to concede one goal for the bet to lose, and with penalties and VAR in football it’s not an easy bet to get right.
Half-Time Betting
All of the above bets can also be placed to happen before the game reaches half time, you will get increased odds as there is half as much time for the bet to win, the most popular would be teams to be winning at halftime.
Draw No Bet
A reduced odds bet because if you place a straight win on either the home or away team to win a match and the game ends at a draw your betting stake is refunded.
Card Betting
You can place bets on how many cards there are in a game or even if there is a red card in a game, this is useful if you’re watching a match live and you can see there is a lack of discipline from a team or player in particular.
There are many variations of this bet but the fundamental is if you pick a certain player to get carded they must get that card for you to win, and if you pick over 4 yellow cards in a game for example it doesn’t matter who is carded as long as4 or more are given out by the referee.
Asian Handicap Betting
The most confusing of football bets, and is a popular choice for punters across Europe and Asia.
-2.5 goals Asian Handicap for example if you place a bet on the home team to win, that home team for your bet will start with -2.5 goals at kick-off meaning for your bet to win they will need to win by 3 clear goals.
Let’s say you back Manchester City to beat Chelsea -1.5 Asian Handicap, you need to turn the -1.5 into a positive to win, therefore Man City will need to win by 2 clear goals meaning 2-0,3-1,4-2 would all be winners but 1-0 and 2-1, for example, would be a loser as they need to win by 2 clear goals.
-0.5 Asian Handicap – A team just needs to win the game
-1.5 Asian Handicap – A team is starting at a 0-1 disadvantage, so must win by two goals
-2.5 Asian Handicap – A team is starting at a 0-2 disadvantage, so must win by three goals
-3.5 Asian Handicap – A team is starting at a 0-3 disadvantage, so must win by four goals
The pattern continues. Asian Handicaps such as -4.5, -5.5, etc do happen sometimes but they are so rare they are not worth betting on.
Match Handicap
(European handicap) – Similar to Asian Handicap but easier to understand as it’s to a single number and there are no 0.5 goals to be seen, often -1 -2 -03 -4 goals can be selected for the home or away team to win.
For example, Chelsea to win a -2 goal handicap would mean they need to win by 3 clear goals for this bet to win.
Build A Bet
A new thing recently is bookies offering punters the ability to build a bet meaning they can add multiple markets into a single bet.
An example would be, Chelsea winning the match with over 2.5 goals in the game and 3 yellow cards in the match.
Often much higher odds but very little chance of actually landing these types of bets.
Which Market Is The Most Profitable In Football
This is a popular question and the answer is the straight win is the football betting market’s best to bet on, this is because it’s the easiest bet to get right it’s less complicated and doesn’t require a ton of factors to occur for it to be a winner.
Professional football punters keep it simple they don’t make exotic bets, Bookmakers want you to place extravagant bets because they know they have very little chance of coming in, and even if they do they make more profit from these bets than straight wins, the same goes for football accas.
Should you not be great at picking winners it’s definitely worth considering the services of football tipsters to help you succeed over the long term.
Thanks for reading our football betting markets betting guide, we hope you find them useful.
