Even though people in specific countries (e.g. the USA or China) will not always agree, football is the number one sport in the world. Even if, once again, the major American sports (NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB) are very successful, it is not a surprise that this is the sport that concentrates the most bets in the world. Europe is certainly no exception to the rule and you will see this by visiting the ANJ-approved sports betting sites: all local bookmakers focus on football above all else.
While we must always stress that winning at sports betting is far from easy, you should at least be able to maximise your football winnings with our tips. We hope you enjoy it!
What are the most popular football bets?
If you’re not a complete beginner to football betting, the following won’t really be news to you. But it is very important to remember, first of all, the basics of football betting: the most popular types of bets.
How to bet on single bets in football?
Single bets are the most basic and commonly placed form of football betting. If you go to any bookmaker, you will have immediate access to them. In short, the aim here is to bet on the home team (1), a draw (N) or the away team (2). For this type of betting, there are a number of tips that can be given, but we will mention two in particular:
Don’t bet on single bets below 1.5 or 1.6 to 1. Find bets above these values that you think are worthwhile. Example: La Gantoise (Belgium) were playing Dynamo Kiev and the Ukrainian odds were 2 at home. We knew that the Belgians, in spite of their good reputation, were in great shape. The simple bet on Dynamo was ideal here.
Don’t bet with your heart on the teams you support, unless you see value in it, in a neutral and objective way.
How to bet on football combination bets?
Without a doubt, football spread betting is the second most popular form of football betting. Here, it is a matter of ‘putting together’ a minimum of two single bets (or any other form of bet) to increase the overall odds. For bookmakers, combination bets are a real golden goose! Indeed, too many players try to combine too many matches. It has to be said that every time “it goes through”, sites like Winamax or Betclic advertise it like crazy. But in the long run, it is almost impossible to win with this type of bets… If you want to see good examples of combination bets, our daily predictions could help you. But in short, you should know that we will never advise more than 3 bets in a combination bet, except for fun and off-bankroll.
How to bet on the winners of football competitions?
Even though they are almost always medium to long term, betting on the winners of football competitions is very popular. The aim here is to anticipate the winner of the Ligue 1 (which is not really the most exciting thing to say…) or the winner of the Champions League. Even if some competition winners bets are more interesting than others, we do not particularly advise this type of bet with your main bankroll.
How to bet on football scorers?
Is a relatively unknown player exploding in a secondary football league? A particular striker (Romelu Lukaku in the 2019/2020 Europa League for example) is scoring consistently in a particular competition? Betting on the striker in a match is regularly popular in French sports betting. Even if some of the odds (on Neymar or Mbappe in particular…) are not always very high, there are ways to make value.
What are the most popular side bets in football?
Very popular in English-speaking countries, “system bets” on football are much less common on sports betting sites. They can nevertheless be interesting for certain combinations with limited risks for example. ¾” system bets win if you predict a positive result on at least 3 of the 4 matches you predict. We won’t go into too much detail as there can be so many of them.
Even if they are not exactly side bets, we also recommend fantasy leagues if you want to bet on football in an original way. These are particularly prominent on Winamax and/or Zebet and they allow you to select virtual teams for particular events. If your selected team finishes with the best statistics, excellent winnings are possible.
What are our tips for winning at football betting?
As you will have seen from our list of 10 tips for winning at sports betting, there are plenty of tips we could give you for winning at football betting! Like online poker, football betting takes a few minutes to understand but a lifetime to master. But if we had to settle for just three tips, they would be the following.
