Football betting like other sports you can bet on offer the punter a number of choices. Knowing what you are betting on definitely helps, not just knowing what you are doing, but potentially saving you from expensive mistakes. Have a look through our football betting guide and see what is on offer when next you consider betting on English football (or other football leagues).

Match Betting

Match betting, also known as Full Time Result, is the most common type of bet placed. It can be referred to as Home, Draw, Away or 1×2 (used by the pool and European-based bookies). You need to predict whether the result at the end of normal time will be a win for one team, a win for the other team or a draw. Simple really.

Under / Over

Some punters can be confused by what this is called - but simply put it refers to the Total Goals being scored in the game being more than 2.5 goals or less than 2.5 goals. Again this is at the end of normal time. This is a popular football bet as there are only two outcomes and often it can be possible to predict high and low scoring games.

Correct Score

Well the name says it all - predict the score at the end of normal time. Scores can be quoted as “Home Team Score - Away Team Score” so be sure to check you get things the right way round. The chances of winning tend to be on the low side. The odds offered by bookmakers on this market are not as competitive as some of the others, so while a fun bet, its rarely a great betting investment.

Half Time / Full Time

Also known as “double result” this is a bet on predicting the result at half time and full time in the same bet. Lets take a match between Arsenal and Chelsea. There are 9 possible results for the “double result bet”.

At half time there are 3 possibilities - it could be a draw, Arsenal winning or Chelsea winning. Then for each of these there are the same three possibilities at full time.

e.g. Arsenal - Draw means Arsenal winning at half time and a draw at full time.

Where one team is heavily fancied to win, betting on it to win at half time and full time will give you much better odds than just betting on it to win at full time.

First Goal Scorer

This is pretty much as it sounds - who will score the first goal. There’s an option for “no goal scorer” which is if there is no goal scored in “normal time”. Please check with your bookie what their policy is regarding Own Goals and Substitutes. These can vary by bookmaker, so be sure to find out before committing a first goal scorer bet.

This is rarely a good value bet but in certain circumstances it could be profitable. Make sure you know who the penalty takers are.

Half Time Result

Same as the Full time result but based on the result at Half Time. As you might expect this is the score when the whistle goes, including first half injury time. Sometimes identifying matches that will be draws at half time in particular can be easy (or easier than for full time!)

Draw No Bet

This is like a full time result bet other than there is no option for the draw. You can bet on either team to win and if its a draw you get your stake back. The downside is that the odds on each team winning are reduced. Another name for this type of bet is ‘head-to-head’.

We hope you found this football betting guide useful and next time you decide to have a bet you will be better informed about your choices.