Betting on Goals

Betting on Goals is a market that allows you win money without having to predict who will actually win the match. And by following the stats you’ll find it is often easier - and more profitable! - predicting how many Goals a match will produce than who will actually score them!

Here is a list of Goals bets available with most bookmakers:

Total Goals

	Typical Odds
Under 2.5 Goals	10/11
Over 2.5 Goals	Evens

Bet Guide: This is a straightforward bet on the match producing Under or Over 2.5 Goals in total during a game (both teams’ totals added). Of course, you cannot have 0.5 of a Goal – this simply means there has to be a definite outcome. Scores of 0-0, 1-0, 1-1 make an Under 2.5 - Scores of 2-1, 2-2, 3-1, 3-2, and so on are Over 2.5.

You might also see…

Goals Brackets

0-1 Goals	15/8
2-3 Goals	15/8
4+ Goals	11/4

Bet Guide: This asks you to be more specific with your Goal predictions but pays better odds.

Correct Score

Team A Win		Draw		Team B Win
1-0	11/2	0-0	9/1	1-0	8/1
2-0	13/2	1-1	6/1	2-0	22/1
3-0	14/1	2-2	12/1	3-0	14/1
3-1	16/1			3-1	40/1
Etc

Bet Guide: You can also bet on the actual score of a match – this offers attractive odds, but can be very difficult to get right.

Half-Time Correct Score

Team A Win		Draw		Team B Win
1-0	11/4	0-0	8/5	1-0	5/1
2-0	9/1	1-1	7/1	2-0	22/1
2-1	18/1			2-1	25/1
3-0	40/1			3-0	50/1
3-1	80/1

Bet Guide: The same bet, but predicting the Half Time Score.

Half with Most Goals

First Half	21/10
Second Half	Evens
Tie	11/4

Bet Guide: Something of a lottery, this bet gives you the chance to pick which Half of play will feature the most Goals (including both teams’ totals).

Clean Sheet

Team A to keep a Clean Sheet (Team B not to Score)	4/5
Team B to keep a Clean Sheet (Team A not to Score)	11/5

Goalscorer Bets

Player	First	Last	Anytime
Player from Team A (most likely)	11/2	11/2	6/4
Player from Team B (most likely)	11/2	11/2	6/4
Player from Team A	6/1	6/1	13/8
Player from Team B	13/2	13/2	7/4
Etc, down to…
Player from Team A (most unlikely)	50/1	50/1	14/1
Player from B (most unlikely)	50/1	50/1	14/1
No Scorer	9/1

Bet Guide: Bookmakers will allow you to bet on any player from either team to score either a, the First Goal in the game, b, the Last Goal in the game, or c, to Score at Anytime. The First and Last Goal bets are more difficult to predict - but offer bigger odds. Some bookmakers will offer Each-Way odds on First Goalscorer bets – paying out a fraction (usually 1/3 or 1/4) if your pick is the second or third scorer.

Shirt Numbers

Total (all scorers)

0-36	5/6
37 and over	5/6

Bet Guide: You can bet on what the total will be from adding up the shirt numbers of all the Goal Scorers in a match (from both teams). So, if there are three Goals in a match and they were scored by three separate players, who wore the numbers 8, 11 and 24. The total would be 8 + 11 + 24 = 43. If the player with the number 8 shirt scored all three, the total would be 8 + 8 + 8 = 24.

You might also see the following options…

Total (all scorers)	Odds
Under 36	10/11
Over 36	4/5
Exactly 36	33/1

Total (all scorers)
0-21	6/4
22-42 inclusive	11/5
43 or over	6/4

Bet Guide: The above examples let you bet on the bookmakers ‘middle’, or divides the options into tighter brackets. This offers slightly increased odds but restricts your betting options.

Scorecast

First Scorer	Result	Odds
Player A	1-0 to Team A	16/1
Player B	1-0 to Team B	18/1
Player A	2-0 to Team A	20/1
Player B	2-0 to Team B	22/1

Etc…

Bet Guide: This is essentially a combination of a Correct Score bet and First Goalscorer bet – placed as a ‘double’. You can choose any score and any player – but both must be correct to land a winner. A very popular but difficult bet to land, which can pay out at big odds.

Bet Guide: You can bet on what period of the match the First Goal is scored (by either team). The most common market is Before/After 27 minutes, but some bookmakers will let you bet on 10 minutes blocks (i.e. 0-10, 11-20, 21-30, etc) . This is more difficult, but you will get bigger odds.

First Team to Score

Team A	4/7
Team B	13/8
No Goals	9/1

Bet Guide: A straightforward bet on which team will score the first Goal in a match, with the option to cover No Goals (one thing worth knowing, this is often better odds than the Correct Score 0-0 – sometimes 9/1 compared to 7 or even 6/1, for exactly the same bet).

Next: Betting on Corners