Sports Betting Soccer Strategy is The most popular game in the world, soccer betting has been around for decades in the eastern hemisphere but with the legalization of sports betting in the United States on the other side of the line, it may come out as the shocking to someone who has never seen football markets.
In addition to its popularity, soccer is the most bettable sport in the world, and there are many ways to bet on an individual match.
With different types of tournaments and leagues with different rules rotating through the calendar year, there’s plenty to chew on and bet on. Below is a quick how-to for soccer betting in addition to presenting three successful soccer betting strategies – having a soccer betting plan when you bet will help you do very smart investments!
Sports Betting Soccer Strategy – The Most Common Soccer Betting Markets
Three-Way Money Line/90 minutes/Regular Time
The most common six pack of football markets customers will see on a daily and weekly basis is the ‘regular time’ or 90 minute market. It’s a three-way line, which means there are three options when choosing: Team A, Team B or a draw. A 90-minute football match is official at the end of 90 minutes of play and injury time.
Any extra periods or penalty kicks are not part of this fee. If a customer selects the team to win but the score is 1-1 after regular time, the customer does not get their money back and it is considered a losing bet, as there is an option available.
Draw No Bet/Two-Way Money Line
A Draw No Bet is a bet that removes the prospect of a draw. This is considered a two-way line with the draw option taken out of the equation. With only two options compared to three, the odds look different than in the 90-minute money line market mentioned above.
If a customer picks a team to win but the score is 1-1 after regular time, the customer does get his money back and it is considered a void or push bet.
Handicap or Spread Betting
Like soccer and basketball, soccer offers its own version of spread betting, which is mostly known as handicapping. The selected team must cover the spread, which is the goal in this case. It’s a way for sportsbook operators to bridge the gap between lopsided teams that often happens in world tournaments. For example, Brazil is -0.5 goals and Peru is +0.5 goals.
If the bettor selects Brazil and they win 1-0, the bettors win their bet as Brazil win by more than 0.5 goals and are “covered”. If the bettor selects Brazil to draw 2-2 with Japan, the bet will be graded as a loser as Brazil have not covered 0.5 goals.
Conversely, if the bettor chooses Peru and draws with Brazil 2-2, the choice Peru is scored as the winner because the final score with +0.5 goals is technically 2.5-2.
Totals Markets
A total market game is a simple two-way choice with respect to total goals scored. This is slightly different than other sports such as football, baseball, and basketball, as those total markets typically have -110 averages associated with them.
With soccer being a low-scoring game, the difference between two goals and three goals is quite significant, so the associated odds will differ from the -110 standard for other sports.
Sports Betting Soccer Strategy #1: Utilize Alternate Bet Types For Better Odds
Soccer has some unique challenges when it comes to betting markets when it comes to some of the highest quality teams facing lower quality opponents. In other sports, the difference between the best team in their respective league and the worst team is not as great as soccer.
For example, if a Manchester City club plays the worst team in the Premier League, or if Brazil is matched with an opponent in a world tournament such as a lowly ranked Anguilla team, there are alternate markets to look at rather than avoiding the game altogether.
Sports betting operators offer a wide variety of betting options outside of traditional moneyline odds, which can have an impact on your football betting strategy.
These alternative markets are sometimes the only option when the talent gap is drastic. For example, if Brazil is -500 against Anguilla in a national team clash, the customer will have a few alternative markets to choose from to get somewhat digestible odds.
Picking Neymar to score and Brazil to win could be as low as -300 rather than the original -500. Another option could be Brazil to win the first half and win the second half if a dominant performance is expected between the two.
If the game pans out how sports bookies hope, the combination of Brazil props building a narrative of their dominance could help knock down an otherwise unattractive betting count.
Sports Betting Soccer Strategy #2: Bet on the Underdog Sparingly
Many football bookmakers also announce when there are big tournaments like the World Cup. Consumers who don’t normally play soccer year-round will be playing soccer for the first time when it’s centered around the world.
These are also the times when the incompatibility is most apparent. Although it happens, the weak points rarely progress in these cycles, it is not the best plan to install a dream story or a scenario even if there is a light in the end pan or two.
If there is a reason to take the underdog in these types of games, having another market like the underdog team to get first, can be profitable.
Where the small group is better than a powerhouse for 90 minutes, all that is needed is a good run or magic to go first on the board. A healthy soccer game plan.
Sports Betting Soccer Strategy #3: Live Bet Favorites With Slow Starts
The soccer betting strategy scenario above lends itself to taking on one of these powerful teams if they go down early in the match for any reason. It is definitely a difference for the team to be out for 20 minutes instead of 90 minutes.
If someone is a -500 favorite and they go down 1-0 and the first half is about to end, it can be frustrating to bet on them because they haven’t had many scoring chances in a half.
