Looking for a football betting strategy to up your game? This is the place to be. It's all about finding long-term success and using tools to keep your account in the green. We’ve got not just that, but tips and methods to give you your best shot at betting.
The Mastery of Football Betting
Trying to be a football betting master? Well, get in line. Everyone wants their bets to work, but it’s important to know the basics first. Betting markets are created by bookies and display the odds – or the probability – for a specific event to happen. You can bet against the bookie and, if you’re right, you’ll win some cash.
There are thousands of markets, from the classic match outcome, goals and assists, to niche markets, like handicaps, minutes, tackles and throw-ins. Now, here are a few ways to climb the betting ladder of success:
If you’re betting on football, you need to know the sport well. Not just the rules, but to understand the nuances of the sport, the history, the rivalry and that overall football feeling that could help you to recognise when to bet, and when to hold off.
Using data to make predictions is a must and our football stats pages will help you do that. Being able to crack any patterns and coming up with new angles of analysis is important too.
Avoid making rash decisions. Even if some odds look great, there might be a reason behind them. For example: Liverpool’s UCL away game to PSV saw their odds to win being over 2/1, which looked great, but they ended up fielding a weaker side and lost the match.
Once you get the basics, you need to start applying some strategies to get the most out of your betting.
Best Football Betting Offers to Kick-Off Your Game
Betting offers can give you extra funds and free bets to try out new markets or higher odds , while also being a safety net for lost wagers. Overall, claiming any available free bets and make good use of them is basically a football betting strategy.
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BetVictor – A football welcome bonus for the ages, as you can claim £30 when you bet a tenner. You’ll get 4 x £5 free bets on specified markets, and a £10 free bet on accas. It’s worth getting if you’re new to BetVictor.
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Parimatch – It’s an EPL Special, as it enables you to bet £5 on football and get £30 in free bets. £20 can be placed on specified Premier League markets, and £10 can be used on Big Bass Splash.
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Spreadex – Boost your odds with accas. The more legs you add to an acca, the larger the boost. If you add 20 legs, your odds will be doubled. Brilliant!
Best Football Betting Strategies
There are as many football betting strategies as there are football markets to bet on, so finding the best combo can make or break your wagers. Here’s a list of the best football betting strategies to improve your chances of making a profit.
1. Backing the Match Favourites
The tactic is simple – look for heavy favourites and bet on them. Any market with odds below 3/10 has decent chances of happening, thus the idea is that you can win these bets and slowly build your winnings.
The main issue is that you’ll take a long time to recover any losses due to the low winnings per match. While it’s not a guarantee, you’ll find this move in almost every football betting strategy guide for a reason.
2. Value Betting
Value bets can be the basis of any good football betting strategy – any bet where the odds do not match the probability of the result could be a valuable betting opportunity. What you need to do is find these markets and use them to your advantage.
Some good examples are when top teams play worse sides away. Take Wolves vs Liverpool, for example – we all know who’s favoured to win that, but some bookies might price Liverpool with higher odds. Identify these and capitalise on them.
3. Matched Betting with Free Bets
You’ll need some free bet promotions to do this right. Use your free bet on any market you think could have value and place a lay bet against it on an exchange betting site.
That way, you’re closer to secure a winning wager, either through your free bet or your lay bet. Make sure to use different bookies so you can get the best odds possible on both markets, maximising your profits. This is also a form of arbitrage betting and is one of the best betting strategy for football when – and if – done right.
4. Sure Betting
It works by researching through hundreds of bookies to find the best odds on a given market and betting on each outcome. If done right, you’re up for a profitable wager no matter the result.
This may seem complicated, but there are many sure betting sites that will help you through this, including calculators so you know where and how much to bet. Technically, it’s the best football betting strategy.
5. Applying Football Betting Systems
A football betting system is a set of bets made by linking several markets and creating a web of legs within a betslip.
Some are better than others. A Yankee bet is smaller, but could still give you a profit if you win two out of the four legs, depending on the odds. If you prefer a larger system, a Canadian bet is solid with 26 legs and five markets to choose. If this sounds like a lot, our football betting strategy guide can be found further down in this article.
6. Lay the Draw
A lay bet is a wager against a specific outcome on an exchange site. With this strategy, you place a lay bet on a draw so that you can make a profit regardless of the team that wins. Nonetheless, the draw will bring you a loss. It’s great in a close contest that both teams need to win, given the 2:1 probability on the match outcome (home win (W), away win (W) or draw (L)).
Lay trading is slightly more advanced and starts off the same, but if a team scores, the odds of a draw increase. If you back the draw at a higher price and a lower stake, the difference between the two wagers will bag you some profits. Now, this is one of the football betting systems that work when a lot of effort is put in.
7. Chasing Steam
Chasing steam is all about finding shifts in odds and exploring the slow action from the bookies. Basically, if you notice that a bookmaker is changing the odds on a particular market, you will search for a brand that hasn’t changed their odds yet, and make a profit of that.
It’s a simple football betting system to understand, but in practice, it takes a lot of time monitoring so many online bookmakers.
8. Follow Football Tipsters
Football tipsters offer professional advice that aims to give you long-term winnings. Each tipster uses their own methods and will manifest on their preferred markets, as they often specialise on specific events or sports.
Pro tipsters offer paid subscriptions that are said to guarantee profits, but you’ll need to follow them for a long time to make any winnings yourself.
9. Pareto
The Pareto Principle states that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the cause. This means that most of your winnings will come from just 20% of bets. This is more a mindset than a football betting strategy.
When betting, find what’s giving you 80% of value and make that your focus. The same can be said about research – devote 80% of your time to the most important markets, no need to cast a wide net.
10. Take Advantage of Welcome Offers
A welcome offer isn’t just a sweet gift, it’s an opportunity! It’s a great way to place some bets without taking on any of the risks. You can either play it safe and try to get some cash, or really go for it, with risky and high odds wagers.
Some welcome offers have restrictions, which means you might need to get out of your comfort zone. Use this to your advantage, by studying new markets or events that can give you a new betting edge.
Best Football Betting Systems
System bets are an upgraded version of an accumulator, taking at least three events and placing bets on all the possible outcomes. This could lead to significant profits if all the wagers are won. If not, you end up saving some of your stakes from winning bets. System bets can grow your profits exponentially. Let's look at the best ones.
1. Double Bet
This is a combination of two single bets rolled into one. If both win, you will win the entire stake. A double bet is simple and works exactly like a typical accumulator bet.
The odds are higher than two singles because the winnings from your first bet are placed on the second, increasing your possible profits. This is one of the most simple football betting system.
2. Treble Bet
A treble bet follows the same rules as an acca, but with three legs. All stakes need to be won to get any winnings. This football betting strategy is simple – each time a leg is won, the winnings from that leg go onto the second one, and so on. That means that winnings can skyrocket while remaining realistic.
3. Trixie Bet
This is our first proper football betting system. Like a treble, you must choose three outcomes, but four betslips are created this time. If you’re betting on teams A, B and C to win, your four bets will include: an A, B, C betslip, an A, B betslip, a B, C betslip and an A, C betslip.
That means that if one loses, you’ll still win a portion of your stake. If A loses, B, C is still a win. Will you make a profit? No, but you will be getting something back instead of losing everything.
4. Patent Bet
A patent bet is almost identical to a Trixie bet, with three events to bet on, but instead will create 7 betslips – 1 treble, 3 doubles, and an additional 3 singles.
If you’re betting on Liverpool, Barcelona and Bayern Munich to win, and only Barcelona and Bayern win, you’ll get winnings from the two single bets, and the double that involves both winning teams. Don’t be sad, 3 out of 7 ain’t that bad.
5. Yankee Bet
Take it up a notch by betting on 4 events. A Yankee bet is a football betting system that creates 11 separate bets from your four selections. That’s a total of six doubles, 4 trebles and a classic 4 leg acca.
This is one of the best football betting systems to use, as it’s big enough to get you some great winnings, but not too big to require a massive stake. Check out our Yankee bet calculator to get going.
6. Lucky 15
Yup, you guessed it – a Lucky 15 bet plays 15 bets. That’s the same structure as a Yankee bet, plus an additional 4 singles to give you a good chance to recover your stake.
It’s a proven football betting system, given that, at this point, winning two matches with high odds could already put you in the green. This will still depend on the size of your stake and the odds of each event.
7. Canadian Bet
A Canadian bet, sometimes called a super Yankee bet, takes it even further with 5 events. It’s a real whopper, with 26 total separate bets – 10 doubles, 10 trebles, five four folds, and a five-fold acca.
It’s a proven football betting system that needs a lot of research to get right. Using a Canadian bet calculator is a must, and you should be prepared to fork out a hefty stake.
8. Alphabet Bet
An Alphabet bet bucks the trend here. It's a bet on six selections consisting of 2 patent bets (14 legs total), one Yankee bet (11 legs total) and a six-fold acca. It’s still considered one of the football betting systems that work, but it doesn’t follow the classic pyramid style.
There are a few wagers that are omitted, like five-fold accas, which means that your bets are slightly more spread. That can add a safety net just in case one or two events go sour.
9. Heinz Bet
With six selections and a total of 57 bets, a Heinz bet is huge. It consists of 15 doubles, 20 trebles, 15 four-folds, 6 five-folds, and a six-fold. Remember, a £1 Heinz bet is actually a £57 punt, so make sure you’re sure of what you're doing.
With bigger system bets, going for markets with lower odds could give you a better chance of winning all legs, greatly increasing your profits.
10. Goliath Bet
Are you mad? Yes? A Goliath bet features a gargantuan 8 events and 247 bets. Even Jeremy Wade would struggle to reel that in. It’s built with 56 trebles, 70 four folds, 56 five folds, 28 six folds, 8 seven folds and an 8-fold bet.
Something so massive needs an extra bit of research, but winning slightly more than half of the events could be enough to make a profit, depending on the odds of each event. A football betting system guide here is a must.
Bonus Hint: Our Football Betting Tips
Our betting tips page will show you the very best betting opportunities from across 100+ leagues, cups and tournaments. We’ve paired these tips up with the best odds from all our featured bookies. Check it out and make your wagers count.
The Importance of Stats for Football Betting Strategies
The beautiful game, with all its upsets and unpredictability, can be easy to guess if you look in the right places. How? By researching and analysing stats. They’re the best way to find wagering opportunities and are a perfect match for football betting strategies.
Goal Betting
The one metric that really matters in football is goals. Thanks to that, goal betting is huge – match outcomes, correct scores, over/unders, BTTS, goal minutes or goal scorers are some of the metrics that are linked to goals.
Stats can be a great way to find patterns such as form or goals against a particular club, which can ultimately offer betting potential.
Foul Betting
Foul betting is a perfect market for stats. Some specific matches are expected to have a high number of tackles – stats help us to figure out which. A derby is standard, as well as relegation scraps and crucial ties. Looking at players works too – a defensive destroyer will make more tackles against better opposition, unless they’re on several yellows.
Context is key here, and stats are the best way to make successful foul wagers.
Corner Betting
Corner betting is quickly becoming a favourite amongst punters – simple and predictable, it’s a great pre-match or in-play choice. The way teams play has a huge effect on this, given that teams who play wingers and wing backs that put in more crosses will have more corners.
Mismatches are the same. Stronger teams, with more patient attacking styles, will get way more corners than that even-matched ‘midfield battle’ type of game or direct attacking teams.
Increase Your Chances to Win Football Bets
You’ve got the stats and strategies, but what's the best way to make use of them? Here are a few dos and don’ts to take your betting to the next level.
Do your research
Stats and news can greatly impact your betting decisions, or better yet, reveal an opportunity to bet that you might have missed.
Do manage your spending
If you want to do more than just bet willy-nilly, you need to create a plan. Calculate how much you're willing to spend and avoid over spending out of panic or form.
Do create accounts with multiple bookies
Bookies have different odds, promotions and, of course, welcome offers. Making use of more UK bookmakers will give you a better chance to find the best odds and offers.
Don’t bet using your gut
A hunch might be right occasionally, but a gut feeling will never compare to research and tips.
Don’t panic bet
When you’re going through a streak – winning or losing – you should avoid making rash decisions, as this could lead to bigger loses.
ThePuntersPage Final Say
You wouldn’t run around with a blindfold, would you? So, don’t bet without a betting strategy. Our tips, tricks, stats – and strats – will help reach the top of your wagering game. Don’t let this page slip and use it to your betting advantage.
Football Betting Strategy FAQs
There is no bet that is 100% guaranteed; however, placing low, flat wagers on heavy favourites is one of the safest options. Sure betting might guarantee results, but is complex to achieve.
There are various betting systems out there, but really and truly, they are only as complicated as you wish them to be. Simple betting systems could be as effective as the more elaborated ones.
It all comes down to your preference. What works for you might not work for me. We went for backing the favourites, since it’s super simple and can get results without a huge risk.
That depends on who you use them. Sure bets might guarantee winnings, but you’ll need to put the work in to manage.
Forget about that gut feeling and use some tried and tested methods – statistics and betting strategies. Using free bets and welcome offers are also worth a look.