Top Tipster Reveals His Soccer Betting Strategy

Soccer is the most popular sport on the planet. With an estimated 3.5 billion soccer fans across the globe, almost 50% of the world’s population follows “The Beautiful Game”. It’s no surprise that millions of people also bet on soccer.

Can you win real money betting on soccer? You sure can. Soccer betting is hard, no doubt about it. But with the right strategy, you can win more bets and put some extra cash in your pocket. Where should you look for soccer betting advice, though?

Right here! We share tons of expert strategies and tips for betting on soccer on this page. All the tips you’re about to read come from one of our expert handicappers, Ben Morris.

Ben is a sportswriter and tipster who specializes in soccer. Based in England, he has traveled all around the world watching – and betting on – his beloved sport.

Ben has been writing about soccer for GamblingSites.com for the last three years. He also publishes betting previews and predictions for cricket, Formula 1, snooker, Aussie rules, and darts.

With over a decade of experience behind him, you can rest assured that Ben will only give you a soccer betting strategy that works. Here is an overview of the information he’s going to cover in this guide.

Before we share our top strategies for betting on soccer with you, we want to make sure that you understand the very basics of sports betting.

For example, there are several common sports betting mistakes you want to avoid. The good news is that you can easily avoid these mistakes if you follow these five simple steps.

Start With Small Bets

First are foremost, we urge you to start with small stakes. Small is relative, so another way to think about this is to only gamble with what you can afford to lose. Besides, there’s no point in laying down big wagers if you aren’t familiar with soccer or sports betting since you’re less likely to win.

Understand How to Find Value in Odds

Understanding betting odds is crucial when it comes to gambling on all sports. If you don’t understand the odds, you won’t be able to build a successful soccer betting strategy. Read our guide to finding value in betting odds and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a winning soccer bettor.

Shop Around to Find the Best Prices

There are literally hundreds of online bookmakers. Rather than always using the same bookie, we recommend joining multiple sportsbooks to compare prices. Odds vary from bookie to bookie and finding the best value for every single bet is one of the easiest ways to win with soccer betting.

Follow the Sport Closely

This may sound like an obvious thing to do, but it often gets overlooked. If you want to bet on soccer, why would you NOT follow the sport? The good news is if you have access to the internet or television, following the latest developments and scores is easy.

Explore All the Possible Options

Don’t just stick to the same type of wager every time you bet on soccer. Instead, make full use of all the soccer betting markets available to you. There are numerous ways to bet on sports, and in terms of soccer, there are hundreds of different markets to choose from. Exploring all your options will give you the best possible chance of winning cash.

These five steps are simple, but they’re not always easy to follow. We totally get it – sometimes you just want to lay a HUGE bet or skip all the research it takes to compare odds and find the best soccer bets.

However, once you learn how to do all this, it’ll eventually become second nature. You’ll have a process for researching and making bets. Get this dialed in and you’ll soon have a process for making winning soccer bets. How cool is that?

Now that we’ve covered a few of the basics, it’s time to share our first soccer betting tip. This is one of the easiest tips to follow, but if you get it wrong, it can mean disaster for your betting record and bankroll.

It’s all well and good to have a strategy for betting on soccer. But if you don’t know where to place your wagers, you won’t be able to make the most of your money. Or, if you place your bets with the WRONG sportsbook, you could end up LOSING money.

Fear not! This is where the best soccer betting sites come into play.

Choosing the right sportsbooks can take your soccer betting strategy up a notch. The top bookmakers have tons of markets, the highest odds, and plenty of attractive bonuses and promotions.

When you throw factors like safety and security, top banking options, and first-rate customer support into the mix, there is absolutely no denying that betting with the best soccer sportsbooks is vital.

In all honesty, we could spend all day explaining how selecting the right sites is a crucial part of the best soccer betting strategies. We don’t want to bore you with all the benefits, though.

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There’s at least one professional league in most countries, as well as several competitions. Then there are the continental competitions such as the UEFA Champion’s League, and international competitions such as the FIFA World Cup.

One of the first (and most important) things you need to think about is whether you’re better off betting on high profile competitions or low-profile competitions. Both of these types of competitions offer a wide variety of options, and each comes with its own list of pros and cons.

We’ll start with the main pros of betting on high profile competitions.

• Lots of televised games
• Extensive media coverage
• Readily available information and data
• Wagers accepted at most bookmakers and betting sites
• Wide range of betting options

The cons of betting on the high profile competitions are as follows.

• Bookmakers and betting sites pay close attention to these competitions
• Value in the betting markets often disappears quickly

Another factor to consider is the format of the competition(s) you choose to bet on. Most competitions are played in either a league format or a knockout format, and there are a few differences between the two. Here are the key ones.

Competitions involving national teams are a very different proposition to competitions involving club teams. This is for one simple reason. It’s usually MUCH harder to analyze national teams than club teams.

Club teams play and train together on a weekly basis. If we follow them closely enough, we get to know all about their preferred playing styles, how well the players complement each other, what their strengths and weaknesses are and all kinds of other relevant details.

National teams train together just a handful of times each year, and they play fewer games. The makeup of the teams can change significantly from one game to the next, as different players may be selected by the national manager. No matter how closely we follow these teams, we’ll never get to know them as well as we know the club teams.

Now that you’re up to speed with the basics, you need to learn about the different types of markets. After all, it’s much easier to follow and use soccer betting tips when you’re familiar with the terminology.

We decided to keep this section relatively short, as we want to get stuck into the best strategies for betting on soccer as quickly as possible. Still, there is plenty of useful information below – especially if you’re a beginner.

Let’s take a closer glance at all the various soccer betting markets that you can take advantage of.

Result-based wagers are the simplest soccer bets out there. The most popular soccer wager is the moneyline, which enables you to predict the outcome of any given game. However, there are dozens of other markets for betting on individual soccer matches. The table below details several of the most popular options.

As you can see, there are lots of different goal-based wagers to take advantage of when it comes to betting on individual soccer games. These are just some of the many options available to you.

Although gambling on individual matches is the most mainstream option for soccer bettors, futures and outrights are another great way to win cash (especially if patience is a virtue). These are the futures and outright soccer markets we recommend you explore first.

Futures enable you to bet on a league or tournament before it gets underway. Since your wager isn’t decided until the end of the event, these markets invariably offer great value.

Futures and outrights are classed as “long-term” wagers. This is because they’re usually available well in advance of a competition starting. However, we don’t HAVE to place these wagers as soon as the betting markets open. In fact, we actually have three options for when to place them.

The best time to place futures is shortly before a competition starts, or after it’s begun. However, there are SOME occasions when it’s worth taking a risk in advance. A good example is a tournament such as the FIFA World Cup, which only takes place every four years.

If you’re looking for a betting strategy for the FIFA World Cup top goalscorer, look no further. Below, we tell you how to predict which player will get their hands on the Golden Boot.

When you scour the bookies’ list of Golden Boot favorites, you will always see a host of big-name stars. But how do you know which players to back and which players to avoid?

Well, when picking the World Cup top scorer, we suggest asking the following questions.

First, you should pick a player who has easy group games. If a striker for a top team is facing one or two of the tournament’s weakest teams in the group stage, the chances are they are going to score multiple goals.

The 2018 World Cup Golden Boot winner – England’s Harry Kane – scored five of his six goals during the group stage. After bagging a brace against Tunisia, Kane netted a hat-trick as the Three Lions dispatched Panama.

It is also worth noting that Kane took England’s penalties in Russia. In fact, he converted three spot-kicks at the 2018 World Cup.

As well as studying players’ international tally, you should also look at their recent domestic record. If a player is in good goalscoring form in the lead-up to the tournament, backing them to win the Golden Boot is a good idea.

Prop bets – officially known as proposition bets – are another extremely popular way to gamble on soccer. Also known as a special, a prop is a wager made regarding the occurrence or non-occurrence of an event in a game or competition. Props are not generally tied to the final score or outcome of a game.

Here are a few examples of popular soccer specials and prop bets.

At the end of the day, there are always tons of soccer props and specials on offer. Most top sportsbooks dish up prop bets, while some bookies pride themselves on specials.

As we already mentioned, it pays to shop around to find the best options.

The popularity of live (or in-play) betting has skyrocketed in recent years. Thanks largely to the rise of mobile gambling, many bookmakers enable you to bet on soccer games while they’re happening. Here are some of the live soccer betting markets you can expect to find online.

To find out more about in-play gambling, head over to our guide to live soccer betting.

Before we get to our advanced tips for soccer betting, it makes sense to check out some key soccer betting strategies for beginners. Of course, we all want to develop the most profitable soccer betting strategy possible. But before you move on to the more complex tips, you should familiarize yourself with the basic tips below.

Remember – some of the simplest strategies for soccer betting are also the most effective.

Studying the form of teams is one of the easiest ways to gain an edge over the oddsmakers. Consequently, it is also among the safest soccer betting strategies out there.

Soccer teams regularly dip in and out of form. Even the greatest clubs on the planet go through tough periods, while less favored sides often find themselves enjoying unlikely hot streaks.

Finding out about any team’s form is simple. Many stats sites, such as FlashScore, have form tables. You can select any league from around the world and view the standings from the last five or ten-game period. Naturally, the clubs at the top of these tables are in form, while the sides at the bottom of the standings are not playing well.

Momentum is key in soccer. If teams have a string of positive results behind them, they will likely head into their next game full of confidence. On the flip side, off-form teams often lack belief.

Another soccer betting strategy that works (especially for beginners) concerns home-field advantage. It’s no secret that teams and players generally perform better on home soil. There are several reasons why.

Home-field advantage isn’t just a theory, though. Many studies have been carried out over the years to prove that home-field advantage is genuine. That is good news for people who want a solid strategy for soccer betting.

Top Tip

For Jim Albert and Ruud H. Koning’s book, Statistical Thinking in Sports, almost 9000 international soccer games were analyzed between 1993 and 2004. Researchers found that, on average, home teams won 50.3% of the time, with away sides winning only 25.1% of the time. The remaining 24.6% of games were drawn.

It’s also worth noting that, between 2009 and 2013, English Premier League games had a home win percentage of 47%. Away teams won 27% of matches in that time, while 26% of the games were tied.

In every soccer league around the world, home-field advantage has a big say in the outcome of matches. That’s why it is vital that you consider home-field advantage when it comes to betting on soccer.

Another safe soccer betting strategy relates to head-to-head records. Often referred to as H2H, this is a straightforward method that can help you to get the better of the bookies.

Just like the form tables we mentioned earlier, you can easily find head-to-head records on sports sites across the internet. These help us to see how teams have fared against each other over time.

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Why are H2H records important for soccer betting? Some teams enjoy facing certain opponents more than others – it’s as simple as that. This can be for several reasons, including playing styles, tactics, or simply because one team is better than the other.

By looking at the head-to-head record between the two sides, you can assess previous results and use the history of the fixture to help you bet on the next meeting between the teams.

There is nothing complex about this strategy for betting on soccer. If a team consistently enjoys success against a particular opponent, the likelihood of the superior side winning the next encounter is high.

Researching teams and players is another simple way to enhance your soccer betting strategy. With tons of sites and other useful sources to choose from, learning about the sport has never been easier. Here are some of our favorite sites for studying players and teams.

Researching teams and players could prove to be one of the most important tips for betting on soccer that you ever learn. After all, the more you know about the sport, the more likely you are to win money.

It also pays to study the history of leagues and tournaments. Some events are dominated by certain teams, while other competitions tend to be more of a free-for-all.

Again, this is something that will become second nature eventually. It’s not a difficult habit to form, and it’s something we strongly recommend doing. At the very least it’s a good way to keep track of how much you’re winning or losing. With just a little extra effort, this information can be used to help you reflect and improve your overall betting performance.

The idea here is very straightforward. You just need to set up a simple spreadsheet, or even just get a notebook to write in. Then you record a few details for every single wager you place. We suggest recording the following information as a minimum.

It doesn’t take long to record this information, but it will make keeping track of your results so much easier. It will make it easier to stick to a budget too.

Ready to take your soccer betting to the next level? Then it’s time to get stuck into our advanced strategies for soccer betting. In this section, we share a series of expert soccer betting strategy tips. From goal-based wagers to the double chance market, and from parlays to in-playing gambling, these advanced soccer betting strategies are not to be missed.

Let’s face it – goals are what makes soccer so exciting.

Sure, low-scoring games can be intriguing, while skillful players are a joy to watch even when they aren’t scoring. But there is no denying that goals are the best thing about soccer.

Bookmakers love goals, too. There are dozens of goal-based markets to take advantage of, and these wagers can prove to be very profitable if you know what you’re doing. In this section, we explain how to make full use of some of the best goal-based markets out there.

Using the over/under market is a great way to win cash. You can get the most out of this wager by finding games that feature either high or low-scoring teams.

Naturally, selecting over 2.5 goals for a matchup that features two high-scoring sides is a good idea. On the other hand, opting for the under 1.5 goals option makes sense if you come across two low-scoring teams.

As well as being on the lookout for high/low-scoring sides, you should also be aware that certain tournaments and leagues produce more goals than others. The table below tells us that MLS is a high-scoring league.

835 goals were scored across 292 games in the 2020 Major League Soccer season, producing a goals-per-game ratio of 2.86. Compared to many leagues around the world, that is a high average. By getting to grips with the scoring trends of as many teams and leagues as possible, you can use this soccer betting strategy to great effect.

Another goal-based wager we recommend using is “both teams to score” (BTTS). This market has the potential to land you a tasty profit if you analyze the scoring patterns of both sides before a game.

Some teams have a strong forward line, certain sides boast a strong defense, while others have both. If you’re planning to use the BTTS market, make sure you know about the strengths and weaknesses of both sides.

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If one team has a strong backline and the other has a weak attack, we suggest steering clear of BTTS. But if a game features two attacking teams with leaky defenses, backing both teams to score makes sense.

Ultimately, you can apply this kind of research to every goal-based market. Study scoring patterns and watch your betting strategy evolve.

Earlier, we detailed the importance of home-field advantage and how it can make a big difference when it comes to constructing the most profitable soccer betting strategy. It is no secret that home-field advantage often has a big say in the outcome of a match. However, there are instances where backing the away team makes more sense.

When this is the case, the “double chance” wager is your best friend.

Let’s say that Team A is priced at 2.00 to win on home soil. Meanwhile, the away side – Team B – is priced at 3.50 to claim the road victory. The two sides are level on points in the standings, but Team A is enduring a five-game winless run. On the flip side, Team B is coming into the clash on a three-game unbeaten streak.

Of course, if you’re feeling lucky, backing the away side at 3.50 isn’t a bad idea. But if you want to add an extra level of security to your wager, then using the double chance market is the way to go here.

As we mentioned earlier, double chance covers two of the three possible results. In this instance, you would select Team B and Draw – eliminating the home win option.

In summary, this is arguably the best soccer betting strategy to use when an in-form away team is the bookies’ underdog and the home side is also on a bad run.

Multiples and combination wagers are hugely popular among soccer bettors. Yet, if you don’t use the correct soccer betting strategies, you will almost certainly struggle to get these kinds of wagers right.

Usually referred to as a parlay in North America and an accumulator elsewhere in the world, a combination bet consists of multiple selections. Each selection must land to win the bet.

As you would expect, the more selections you add to your parlay, the higher the odds will be. At the same time, more selections give you a smaller chance of success.

The key with parlays is to find the right balance between probability and value. You want to include as few selections as possible while ensuring the odds will land you a rewarding profit.

There are several of these wagers available for soccer, and two that are especially popular. These are the scorecast and the wincast. Let’s take a look at how they work.

This is a wager on which player will score first in a game and what the final score will be. Note that it’s the final SCORE and not the RESULT. You have to predict the actual score line, not just which team will win.

The wincast is a much better option than the scorecast in our opinion. It’s a wager we use regularly, and we have plenty of success with it. Here, you have to pick a player to score at ANY TIME and the RESULT of the game. This is significantly easier than picking the first goalscorer and the exact score.

Our Expert Soccer Betting Tips for Parlays

Here are a few of our top tips for betting on soccer parlays.

Not only can parlays be fun, but they can also be a great way to make money. Following the steps above to give yourself the best possible chance of winning.

Our next advanced strategy for betting on soccer concerns a live wager that has the potential to be hugely lucrative. However, this market also requires you to watch the game you are gambling on, so if you enjoy watching soccer as well as betting on it, then this is one of the best soccer betting tips for you.

Most sportsbooks offer an in-play market that allows you to predict which player will receive the next card in a game. The odds for the favorite rarely go below 3.00, with the outsiders sometimes priced as high as 20.00.

By following the match closely, you can gauge which players are on the verge of going into the referee’s notebook.

It’s not uncommon to see a player receiving a straight yellow or red card for their very first offense of the game. If a player makes a rash tackle or disrespects the referee, they could get booked without any warning.

Still, players are normally given one or two warnings before receiving a card, and this “totting up” process gives you the chance to track players’ foul counts and calculate when they will get booked.

If a player has already made one or two unpunished fouls and you can see they are fired up, the chances of them receiving the next card are high.

Granted, this live soccer betting strategy is time-consuming. But if you’ve got the time, it can also prove to be extremely worthwhile.

More soccer betting strategy tips? Why not! Having shared both our beginner and advanced soccer betting strategies with you, we thought it would be a good idea to give you a few bonus tips to consider.

Backing heavy favorites is a safe betting strategy in itself. By and large, teams priced at 1.30 or lower tend to win soccer matches – that’s just the way it goes. However, this isn’t the most profitable betting strategy. If you want to back a team to win at 1.20, you would have to part ways with $100 just to make a $20 profit.

If a team is priced at 1.30 or lower to win, the chances of them tasting victory are very high. When this is the case, the bookies’ underdog will likely be priced around 9.00 or 10.00 – underlining the gulf in quality between the two sides.

Given the gulf in quality, you would expect the favorite to beat the outsider by a significant goal margin, right? This is when the handicaps come into play, but how do they work? Consider the following odds.

The –1 handicap gives the favorite a virtual one-goal deficit to overcome. This means they will need to win by two clear goals for the bet to land. As you can see, though, the odds are far more attractive.

Similarly, applying a –2 handicap means the favorite must win by three clear goals for your wager to be successful. As demonstrated, the price is even more appealing in this instance.

Handicap betting is a relatively safe soccer betting strategy that can help you transform low odds into profitable prices with ease.

After carefully analyzing the squad and its potential, it’s time to move on and include other factors in your evaluation. The first of them is related to potential injuries and suspensions. You can’t accurately predict them before they happen, but you can have a good idea of what to expect.

Check the injury and card records of the players on a team. Some athletes are prone to various health issues and are constantly sidelined. If that has been the case throughout their career so far, chances are it will stay like that in the future, too.

The same applies to discipline problems. If there are players that often receive yellow and red cards, you can be fairly certain the trend will continue, and they will miss a bunch of games because of suspensions.

The more players are in danger of missing big chunks of the season, the more the potential of the team decreases – especially if some of the most important players are in this group.

It’s also worth noting that you often see technically gifted strikers and midfielders bullied and kicked by opponents. As a result, some of them suffer injuries far too often, and this can greatly impact the performance of their team.

Up to this point, we’ve been discussing the players only, but it’s time to take a look at the man responsible for getting the best out of them. This is the manager, or head coach.

The manager has one of the most critical roles in soccer. Often, casual fans underestimate the importance of this position.

It is the manager who selects the coaching staff, is involved in the transfer business, prepares the team, works on the tactics, motivates the players, and completes a bunch of other duties that are vital for the success of each soccer side. It is the man who shapes the character and the style of the team.

A good manager can lift even an average group of players and push them to punch over their weight. On the contrary, a mediocre manager might struggle, even if he has the squad to succeed.

It’s inevitable that the analysis of the manager plays a vital part in your evaluation of any soccer side out there.

If you are looking to place a bet on some of the top European leagues, you should always consider the schedule.

The teams in England, Spain, Germany, and France have busy schedules and regularly have to face strong competition. The leading five or six there also play in the UEFA competitions, which makes the situation even worse.

As a result, the managers are often forced to rotate their players in order to cope with the schedule.

Imagine if one of the teams involved in a game you’re exploring had a gruesome Champions League clash a couple days ago and has an important cup game a couple of days after the match. Naturally, the manager will have to rest some of his players and field a starting eleven that includes some fresh legs and/or rests some players for the next game.

You should always be aware of such situations and try to predict the actions of the teams involved.

When it comes to continental or international matchups, the climate and altitude at which a game is played can have a big bearing on the end result.

Certain players and teams are accustomed to playing at a high altitude, while others struggle to adapt. This is important to remember if you’re serious about creating an effective soccer betting strategy.

Top Tip

During a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match between Bolivia and Argentina in La Paz (the highest capital city on earth), a number of Argentine players required oxygens masks mid-game, while others vomited.

Led by the legendary Lionel Messi, Argentina was ranked #3 in the world at the time, while Bolivia was ranked #37. Remarkably, the game ended 1-1, despite Argentina being the bookies’ overwhelming favorite to win.

Always consider factors such as altitude and humidity before parting ways with your money. A team may be heavily favored to win, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is a formality.

Gambling on entire soccer seasons can be predictable. Over the course of a 30 or 40-game campaign, the best teams nearly always come out on top.

If you don’t mind waiting a year for a relatively probable bet to land, then backing favorites to win domestic leagues isn’t the worst strategy for soccer betting.

But if you’re looking for better value and a speedy return, backing underdogs to win tournaments such as the World Cup, Euros, Copa America, and Gold Cup is the way to go. Let’s take the UEFA European Championship, for example.

As the table above details, ten different teams have won Europe’s leading international tournament over the years, with six countries triumphing on just one occasion.

Still, there have only been 16 editions of the competition to date. This emphasizes the competitiveness of the tournament, suggesting that smaller nations consistently upset the odds.

In 2004, Greece was among the bookies’ outsiders. But the minnows managed to beat host nation Portugal in the final, thanks largely to spirited teamwork and squad cohesion.

These are just two examples of underdogs that upset the odds, but it happens all the time in different tournaments around the world. If you’re prepared, you can take advantage of these kinds of situations. With that in mind, here are a few things to look out for if you want to make full use of this soccer betting strategy.

At the end of the day, anything can happen in knockout soccer. Favorites often get knocked out in the early rounds, while underdogs can upset the odds. If you can spot outsiders that have the potential to succeed, you could land yourself a tasty profit at the end of the tournament.

We hope that you picked plenty of useful information while going through our top tips for soccer betting. It’s now time for you to put your newly learned soccer betting strategies into practice!

There are countless soccer leagues and competitions to bet on across the world, so practicing various strategies won’t be difficult. But if you’re still unsure about where to start, why not read our soccer blog? Head over to the blog to find insight, previews, and other useful tidbits that will help you make your first profitable soccer bet.

You can find the latest blog posts below.