If you are not sure who will win a football match, why not bet on the total number of goals that will be scored? You don’t even need to be exact; you can just bet on whether there will be over or under a certain amount of goals scored in the game.

Betting on the number of goals scored in a game is popular with regular gamblers for a couple of reasons. Firstly, you don’t have to predict who will win the match and secondly, it does not matter which team scores the goals.

How does it work?

Bookmakers and betting sites will typically offer you odds for there being over or under a set amount of goals in a game. A standard bet would over or under 2.5 goals as this represents an average figure for the amount of goals scored in a football match. By setting the figure at half a goal, the bookies are ensuring that you can only win or lose the bet.

The goals scored by both teams are added together to give the final figure. Betting companies will also offer odds for other results such as over 3.5 goals. You can also combine these bets with Both Teams to Score (BTTS) bets or with a home or away win.

If you bet on a match to be under 2.5 goals then only scores of 0-0, 1-0, 1-1 and 2-0 will pay out. Scores of 2-1 or higher will pay out if you backed an over 2.5 goals outcome.

Betting tips

Throughout the course of the season, games involving some teams will have a much higher goal count than others. The percentages for each team can also fluctuate between home and away matches, so this should always be taken into account. By studying the statistics you will be able to spot games with good goal betting potential.

Look for games between teams with a high home percentage and teams with a high away percentage when betting on over 2.5 goals and apply the opposite rule when backing under 2.5 goals.

Example

During the 2013/14 season 84.2% of Liverpool’s away games had over 2.5 goals. Even without researching the home team’s statistics, you would be tempted to place an over 2.5 goal bet when the Merseyside team were playing away from home. When they faced a team with a high home percentage of over 2.5 goals like Manchester City (73.7%), then the bet becomes impossible to resist.

Game: 26-12-2013 Man City v Liverpool

Bet: Over 2.5 goals

Result: Man City 2 – 1 Liverpool – win

 

Other goal bets to look out for

Sometimes when researching statistics you will spot other betting opportunities: like teams that score regularly in the first half of matches or teams that always score late. In the 2013/14 season, 63% of Barcelona’s home games and 58% of Real Betis’ away games would have paid out in the over 3.5 goals market.

Keep your eyes open and you can sometimes spot trends that the bookmakers have overlooked. That way, you may just end up with very generous odds on a very likely outcome.

If you are not sure who will win a football match, why not bet on the total number of goals that will be scored? You don’t even need to be exact; you can just bet on whether there will be over or under a certain amount of goals scored in the game.

Betting on the number of goals scored in a game is popular with regular gamblers for a couple of reasons. Firstly, you don’t have to predict who will win the match and secondly, it does not matter which team scores the goals.

How does it work?

Bookmakers and betting sites will typically offer you odds for there being over or under a set amount of goals in a game. A standard bet would over or under 2.5 goals as this represents an average figure for the amount of goals scored in a football match. By setting the figure at half a goal, the bookies are ensuring that you can only win or lose the bet.

The goals scored by both teams are added together to give the final figure. Betting companies will also offer odds for other results such as over 3.5 goals. You can also combine these bets with Both Teams to Score (BTTS) bets or with a home or away win.

If you bet on a match to be under 2.5 goals then only scores of 0-0, 1-0, 1-1 and 2-0 will pay out. Scores of 2-1 or higher will pay out if you backed an over 2.5 goals outcome.

Betting tips

Throughout the course of the season, games involving some teams will have a much higher goal count than others. The percentages for each team can also fluctuate between home and away matches, so this should always be taken into account. By studying the statistics you will be able to spot games with good goal betting potential.

Look for games between teams with a high home percentage and teams with a high away percentage when betting on over 2.5 goals and apply the opposite rule when backing under 2.5 goals.

Example

During the 2013/14 season 84.2% of Liverpool’s away games had over 2.5 goals. Even without researching the home team’s statistics, you would be tempted to place an over 2.5 goal bet when the Merseyside team were playing away from home. When they faced a team with a high home percentage of over 2.5 goals like Manchester City (73.7%), then the bet becomes impossible to resist.

Game: 26-12-2013 Man City v Liverpool

Bet: Over 2.5 goals

Result: Man City 2 – 1 Liverpool – win

 

Other goal bets to look out for

Sometimes when researching statistics you will spot other betting opportunities: like teams that score regularly in the first half of matches or teams that always score late. In the 2013/14 season, 63% of Barcelona’s home games and 58% of Real Betis’ away games would have paid out in the over 3.5 goals market.

Keep your eyes open and you can sometimes spot trends that the bookmakers have overlooked. That way, you may just end up with very generous odds on a very likely outcome.