The opening month of the 2020/21 Premier League season was one of the most entertaining in living memory.

Round two, spanning the 19th-21st of September, was particularly outstanding with 44 goals scored across ten fixtures – for the fans it could only be described as pure entertainment.

This tally broke the existing record from February 2011 for the most goals scored in a single Premier League weekend under the 20-team format (number of goals that weekend: 43).

With such a high quantity of matches making an impact on the ‘Over/Under’ sportsbook, there is inevitably a ripple-effect on other staples of Premier League wagering, such as HT/FT, handicap markets and BTTS (Both Teams to Score).

Feet Up, For the Big Match! (photo courtesy of www.pxfuel.com)

It almost seems that the absence of fans from Premier League games may lead to a shift in several key markets… Really?

Here are a few thoughts. Feel free to share yours in the comment section.

Will Over/Under 2.5 Goals ‘Benchmark’ Become Less Focal?

As can be seen from the wide variety of live sportsbook betting markets out there, there is now ample opportunity to explore a number of niche markets related purely to goal scoring.

Given the normal average of goals per week across previous seasons, it is widely accepted that using 2.5 goals as a division between ‘high’ and ‘low’ scoring encounters provides an optimal, and easy-to-negotiate meridian.

But perhaps further weekends of high scoring games with questionable defending from once-reliable teams may lead to Over/Under 3.5 goals becoming the new baseline in goal betting?

Naturally, the coming months will see player stamina impacted by European involvement for last season’s high-flyers and, for the newcomers, the continuing culture shock and adjustment needed to survive the rarified atmosphere of the Premier League.

With the glut of games ahead the use of the ‘2.5’ figure to make vital decisions in the total goals market may return to a balance.

What does seem certain is another boom in people backing both teams to score within Premier League multiples, accumulators and proposition bets. So too will there be a greater scrutiny upon teams that are often involved in such matches, such as Leeds United, who found themselves at both ends of two 4-3 scorelines, in consecutive games at the start of this campaign:

Can a Change in Underdog Results lead to HT/FT Impact?

Again, this depends on continued shock results, such as Crystal Palace and Leicester winning by multiple-goal margins at Manchester clubs United and City respectively.

The absence of home-biased crowds, whether complete or partial shutouts, has undeniably played its part. When using last season as a source of information for future betting decisions, it has become common practice for many punters to split leagues into before and after the lockdown began.

Last season, there was little fluctuation in the Premier League, except for away underdogs drawing less often and winning or losing more without a hostile home crowd to face. The hosts’ lack of a ‘twelfth man’ (the crowd) seems to be a leveller, helping unfancied away teams achieve unlikely results at normally difficult venues.

A more attacking-style of play is now evident and it is becoming rarer to see away underdogs defending deep and attempting to play on the counter-attack. This sea change will undoubtedly be significant for the HT/FT and Goal Time markets, though public opinion will continue to play its part.

Backing goals earlier in live play can only become more of a phenomenon if underdogs continue to be adventurous from the start. And so too will backing late goals, as the effects of an energetic start are felt more amongst squads less accustomed to the rigors of Premier League action.

Is this the same Across Europe?

On early evidence, the unprecedented inflation of importance on the ‘Over 3.5’ threshold will certainly transfer to other major European leagues. For example, Bayern Munich’s opening two Bundesliga games illustrated this newfound sense of unpredictability in the Over/Under market. The two games produced a total of 13 goals – an 8-0 win and a shock 4-1 defeat.

Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena (photo courtesy of www.pxfuel.com)

Both games paid out for anyone backing Over 5.5 goals, which represents the point at which the goal odds begin to surge upwards, regardless of how good the favourite is compared to the underdog.

The opening Saturday of Serie A also produced a number of high scores, with three of the four matches producing over 4.5 goals, and threatening the long-held stereotype that Italian football is focused more on defence.

Last season, the Bundesliga was also notable for seeing a decline in favourites losing away from home, with only 12.2% of teams losing to home underdogs between May and August.

Other leagues have seen a similar trend, albeit less drastically, and this certainly provides an opportunity for bettors. With or without fans, home advantage is usually observed as a factor for travelling favourites in many odds starting off longer than they otherwise would be. In turn, away favourites will perhaps become more of a staple than ever when it comes to placing the bets.

Image: archideaphoto (Shutterstock)

‘1X2’ is an abbreviation of the three possible outcomes in a football match: home win (1); draw (X); away win (2).

This market is also known as ‘HDA’ (Home-Draw-Away), or sometimes simply ‘FT’ (Full-Time match result).

The act of 1X2 betting is referred to as “betting on the full-time result”, “match betting”, or can be termed a “three-way bet”.

Definition of ‘Full-time’

Full-time is reached in a football match at the close of the second half of 45 minutes’ regulation time plus the time added-on by the officials for stoppages. When the added-time has elapsed, the referee’s whistle signals the end of the game.

All 1X2 (HDA) bets relating to the result of the match then begin to be settled by the bookmakers.

In a fixture requiring an outright winner, in the event of a draw or tied aggregate scoreline at the end of the regulation match time, two periods of extra-time may then be played to break a deadlock.

It is important to reiterate that full-time 1X2 bets are closed and settled on the result at the end of a regulation period of 90-minutes’ play (2x 45 minute halves, plus added time), and after this, new markets will then appear in most bookmaker platforms for extra periods of play (extra-time) or penalty shoot-outs.

Placing a Bet

It is possible to place a match-result bet either before the kick-off (ante-post bet), or whilst the game is in progress (in-play bet).

In the English Premier League (EPL) match shown below (screenshot courtesy of Betdaq betting exchange), we have elected to back the draw at odds of 3.5. (Decimal or ‘European’ odds).

In this case, the bet was requested by clicking on the yellow-highlighted square bearing the odds of 3.5 in the ‘Back All’ column.

(Click on the image below to enlarge it in a new tab):

Betdaq: Example Bet Slip

Having clicked on the draw price, a bet slip opens up to the right of the screen, ready for insertion of our stake. Here, we have entered a figure of £10.

The profit due from our wager should the match indeed end in a draw is shown as £25.

In order to strike this bet, the next step would be to click the purple button ‘Place Bet(s)’.

What do Bookmaker and Betting Exchange Odds mean?

Just as a side note… When we write articles showing mathematical calculations we always prefer to use European odds, also known as decimal odds.

It would go too far to explain in this article the whole concept of betting odds but here’s an article on that topic if you are interested in learning more: Understanding Betting Odds – Moneyline, Fractional Odds, Decimal Odds, Hong Kong Odds, IN Odds, MA Odds

In short, betting odds show how much you will be paid out if your bet wins.

However, odds can also be converted into their ‘implied’ probabilities and here’s the formula:

Betdaq’s prices for our example match (at the time of the screenshot grab) were:

Theoretically, because there are only three outcomes to a match (home, draw or away), the probability percentages of each should add up to 100%.

But, in reality, the percentages on any one match with any single bookmaker will always be above 100%; using our example odds, it’s 101.09% (35.21% + 28.57% + 37.31%).

Why should this be?

Bookmaker vs. Betting Exchange Overrounds

The percentage difference over and above the 100% base probability figure is known as the bookmaker ‘overround’, ‘margin’, or ‘vigorish’ (or ‘vig’). This represents the bookmaker’s expected profit.

In its simplest form, for every 101.09 units the bookmaker accepts as wagers on the odds of our example match, if the wagers remain stacked in the same proportions as the implied probability percentages, then the bookmaker will pay out only 100 units, thus ensuring a profit regardless of the match result.

However, our example here is a betting exchange. Like all other exchanges, it guarantees a profit from every match by charging commission on all winning bets. Here, Betdaq’s commission rate is 2%.

The overround calculations now become slightly different because the commission amount has to be factored in.

You can see that at the same odds, the implied probabilities now add up to 102.45%. Because of the commission element, exchanges tend to have a larger overround than bookmakers, even if it seems at first glance that exchanges have better prices. In fact, rewards are generally higher with a bookmaker.

Here’s the formula to convert odds in an exchange into their ‘real’ odds (after commission) in order to compare directly with bookmaker odds:

So, in our example match, the ‘corrected odds’ were as follows:

What do the Implied Probabilities mean?

The important thing to remember is that converting odds into their implied probabilities is not an accurate indicator of the percentage chances of each outcome. Bookmakers adjust their odds (prices) due to demand, which leads to distorted ‘implied’ probabilities. These are normally very small and not easy to spot but enough for the bookmakers to stay in business and make consistent profits.

Implied probabilities reflect much more the public perception of the likely outcome (not the statistical likelihood), being a measure of the volume of money wagered on each outcome rather than its real chances of success.

And odds fluctuate throughout the ante-post and in-play markets according to the weight of money placed and other factors such as time elapsed in the match.

It is, therefore, not advisable to rely on the market odds (at any moment in time) as a totally accurate benchmark of the event probabilities.

In order to more accurately gauge ‘true’ probabilities, it is advisable to take a purely mathematical approach using historical results and statistics.

The very nature of selecting two variables in what is effectively a combination bet or ‘double’ means that the odds are multiplied creating an opportunity for higher returns than backing each outcome individually.

The attraction of higher odds and the perception that most games in modern football are free-flowing attacking affairs where both defences are likely to be breached have created a market for these types of combination bets.

You may also think that by ‘doubling’ the home or away result and BTTS, the wager is shrewder than simply picking the correct score of the match where the odds are higher but far disproportionate to the probability of a return?

Let’s take a look at these points in more detail.

Table 1: Winning & Losing – FT Result + BTTS Double

Goal-scoring Statistics

We have previously looked at FT score distributions using a sample of almost 11,000 matches from nine different leagues.

If you open the screenshot there you will find that clean-sheet victories (1-0; 2-0; 3-0; 4-0; 0-1; 0-2; 0-3; 0-4, etc.) by either the home or away team accounted for 38.22% of all results.

Draws (0-0 through to 4-4) made up a 25.33% quota of all results.

However, for the sake of this article, we are interested in home and away wins where both teams scored. When tallied, these accounted for precisely 33% (19.76% + 13.24%) of all results:

10,723 Match Sample: Home or Away Wins where both teams scored

A sample size of 10,723 matches is a statistically significant amount and a fair benchmark to gauge other leagues by.

In comparison, of the 1,900 English Premier League (EPL) games that took place in the five seasons from 2012/13, there were 646 matches (34%) when betting on one of the teams to win and both teams to score could have returned a winning bet.

From these indications, there will be ‘around’ a third (33%) of matches in a season in any top-flight league where the combination of BTTS and a decisive match result occur.

But, of course, this assumes that the right teams were selected to win. Without taking account of any assumed preference for the favourite, the probability is as low as 16-17% (50-50) for a winning return across those games.

Win and BTTS Odds on Offer

Typical odds in the market for the Win (home or away) + BTTS can be anything between 3.00 and 6.00 depending on the teams involved, but the average odds are around 4.00.

So, roughly speaking, there is a 1 in 6 chance (16% = 1 in 6.25; 17% = 1 in 5.88) of making a winning selection, which will, at average odds of 4.00, return winnings of three times your money.

But how does this compare with simply backing the correct score?

Correct Score Analysis

The EPL is considered one of the most exciting leagues in the world, but the most common result type, as it is in every league, is actually a (not very exciting) one-goal game (1-0 or 0-1).

One goal games accounted for 348 (18.32%) of the 1,900 EPL matches between the five seasons during 2013-18.

The second most common result is 2-1 either way. During the same five season period, the EPL recorded a 2-1 home win 142 times (7.47%), and a 1-2 away win 123 times (6.47%), equating to 13.94% of all results.

In comparison, adding the 2-1 and 1-2 occurrences in Table 2 above gives a total of 15.94%, but it is safe to say that, across the board, 1-0 and 2-1 score lines are generally the most common results.

Again, taking out any preference for favourites, and using the 50/50 measure to predict the right team winning the match 1-0 or 2-1, the probability of correctly predicting 1-0 either way are around 9% (half of 18.32% in our EPL example), and around 7% for predicting a 2-1 (half of 13.94%).

So, mathematically at least, there is a slightly lesser chance of winning with these bets. However, looking at the disparity in odds, the potential winnings in the Correct Score market are far, far greater.

Conclusion

Taking a typical weekend’s EFL Championship betting fixtures as an example, even allowing for favourites and serial 1-0 winners, the odds for correctly predicting a 1-0 win range from around 6.00 to 34.00, and average out at odds above 11.00.

So whilst there is statistically a 1 in 11 chance (9%) of making a winning 1-0 correct score selection, either way, the bet will on average return winnings of more than ten times your money, and potentially as high as thirty-three times the original stake.

All things considered, betting on the correct score market provides a much larger reward than betting on the combination of match result and BTTS.

But when it comes down to the essence of football betting systems, the keen observers amongst you will appreciate that every season is a season of two halves also.

Image: Marino Bocelli (Shutterstock)

Many of the continental European leagues operate with a winter break: the German Bundesliga (18 teams – 306 matches) pauses for a month in late December of every year (the average German winter break was 31 days in the five seasons 2011-16); the Russian Premier League breaks for three months in early December of each year, and so on.

Some leagues without a recognised mid-season break contain a natural break. The English Premier League (20 teams – 380 matches) is a good example. The league schedule here is for all Round 19 matches (halfway stage of the campaign) to be completed in the last few days of the calendar year. Round 20 always begins early in the new calendar year.

But why is the impact of these breaks such an important consideration for the discerning bettor?

Let’s first examine some of the more relevant differences between the two halves of a season.

1) Before a Ball is Kicked

Before the start of any new season, the destinies of every team are completely unknown.

Public opinion (punters, press, TV, betting companies, etc.) dictates that some teams are earmarked as potential title winners or challenging for Europe; others as relegation candidates; the rest a mixture of unknown quantities, or teams set for a season of struggles.

In this way, matches are initially priced by the bookmakers based purely on the past performance of the teams involved. (There are no current statistics as the league hasn’t yet kicked-off). These prices are then adjusted based on the strength of public opinion. (In other words, according to the weight of money staked by punters).

The initial odds-setting exercises are often wide of the mark. They are guesses based on what has happened in the past. It takes several rounds of competition before the real mix of potential title challengers and relegation candidates begins to take shape and odds settle accordingly.

A classic example is the 5000/1 arbitrary price offered for Leicester City to win the EPL before the start of both the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. 2014-15 saw them back in the EPL for the first time in 10 years with no relevant statistical form whatsoever. Surviving by the skin of their teeth was only good enough for bookmakers and punters alike to give them no chance again the following season. Having miraculously won the EPL title in 2015-16, they were lower than 60/1 with several bookies prior to the start of 2016-17, with only two seasons of relevant statistics behind them.

Therefore, ante-post odds setting becomes a more reliable exercise as the season progresses, when more results are recorded by each team, and league position and form become more apparent.

2) The Weather

Many European leagues have a formal Winter Break out of necessity to avoid the worst of the winter weather. When you have lived in Berlin during a December day that plummets to -25°C, and experienced petrol and diesel freezing at -40°C and below during a Russian winter, it is easy to understand why!

Most European leagues start in late summer. The first half of a season sees games played in gradually deteriorating weather conditions as summer enters autumn, and autumn enters winter.

The second half of a season usually begins during or at the end of winter, continues through the following spring, and into the beginning of the summer. It’s a complete reversal of conditions, and each team will have their own regional variations to contend with as well.

3) Domestic and European Competition Formats

At the start of every season, for most teams in a league, there are fewer competitions to contend with. Most teams begin a season with a fully fit squad of players but a manager might not know his strongest team at the start.

Squad rotation only becomes an issue for teams with large enough squads to rotate and is observed when teams wish to rest key players in less important games. Most of the EPL teams enter the League Cup in the last week of August, whilst those with European commitments have almost an extra month before League Cup duties commence.

Invariably, one or two teams begin their seasons before the league campaign kicks-off. Pre-qualification games for the Europa and Champions Leagues begin as early as June. As a result of playing up to three two-legged competitive ties, these teams may already be more ‘match fit’ before commencing their league campaigns.

The third round of the FA Cup is usually the first set of fixtures for EPL teams to face in the new calendar year. The 1st of January is, therefore, a natural split and heralds the start of the second half of the season in England.

4) Player Fatigue, Injuries and Suspensions

As players accumulate more game-time during a season, their chances of missing matches through injury or suspension naturally increase.

It takes time for a totting-up suspension to attach to any player. In the EPL, the yellow card suspension system recognises the midway point of the season. Five yellows in the first half of a season lead to a ban. With up to four yellows to a player’s name, an armistice applies to allow him to continue playing in the second half of the season with the threat of a totting-up ban reset at the ten yellow cards mark.

Therefore, with the rules of the game and the limits of the human body, it is therefore only natural that more suspensions and fatigue-related-injuries will occur later rather than earlier in a season.

5) Other Observations

• The more successful a team becomes the more games in a season that team will play and vice versa. Successful teams will subsequently tend to play more matches in the second half of a season.
• Games become ‘six-pointers’ towards the end of a season when there is something more definite to play for.
• Some squads become thinner as the season progresses, more so during the second half because of injuries, suspensions, African Cup of Nations call-ups, etc.
• Attitude towards cup competitions may change depending upon the league standing at the time of the club involved.
• Targets become more visible and tangible as competitions draw to a close. The attitude of ‘taking each game as it comes’ is replaced by a more focused approach as the prize money and the glory gets closer.
• Players with personal targets or seasonal records to achieve or maintain will, of course, be more incentivised the closer it gets towards the end of the season. E.g. Golden Boot and Golden Glove candidates.
• Teams experiencing managerial changes during the season will be affected in different ways. A relegation-haunted team may suddenly perform like champions-elect under their new manager. A different team may be doomed already and no amount of managerial changes can help.
• League position tends to be a psychological factor for everyone concerned. A cursory glance at the league table will lead punters to view teams at the bottom as generally weaker than those at the top.
• The pre-season transfer window is far longer than the mid-season window.
• If you know your football and have many seasons of observation under your belt, you will surely know in your heart that both halves of a season are entirely different from each other.

6) Example and Summary

Taking all of these factors into consideration it stands to reason that what happens in the first half of a season is likely to be totally different to how the second half pans out. The variables are different. The mentality of teams is different. Everything is different.

With betting systems, what works well in the first half of a season may be totally inappropriate once the second half commences.

The following graphic shows a great example from the Japanese J-League, and is based on flat stakes of 100 units per match.

Click on the image to enlarge it – opens in a new tab:

Japan J-League Home Win Comparison – 1st Half vs. 2nd Half of Five Seasons 2012-16

The right-hand graph shows the same bet type for the 765 matches occurring in the second half of the same seasons. (The second 17 rounds of matches in each season).

You can see quite clearly that backing the home win during the first half of each of the five seasons is unviable and leads to heavy losses – you are better off laying the home win. However, in the second half of the season, there are healthy profits to be made by backing it.

However, these opportunities would be hard to spot with the analysis of all 1,530 matches together:

Japan J-League Home Win – Whole of Five Seasons 2012-16

7) Conclusion

More often than not, there will be different bet types applying to the first and second halves of the season. For example, it might be the underdog or away win during the first half of the season, and home wins and favourites in the second half.

Sometimes, the same bet type applies to both halves of the season, just with slightly different parameters. You might be chasing favourites priced between 2.01 and 2.76 in the first half, and favourites priced between 1.89 and 2.56 in the second half. Every league is different.

So, we have explained why and shown how each half of a season has its own patterns. Analysing both halves separately is usually a far more revealing method than analysing what happens in whole seasons.

Whole season analyses tend to represent a blend of what has happened across both halves, rather than pinpointing what is likely to happen in each half. (Just ask the Russians – their winter break is so long that both halves might just as well be separate league seasons).

However, some leagues just don’t have any recognisable break at all. In Europe, for example, the Finnish Veikkausliiga. M.L.S. in the United States is another example.

For leagues such as this, it is sometimes better to analyse the season as a whole and forget about breaking it down into halves.

These two leagues are examples of what we call ‘Summer Leagues’ – ones where the entire season is fitted into a single calendar year rather than bridging two as is the norm in the top-flight European leagues.

We cannot say in advance with accuracy how many fish there are to catch or, after the event, how many fish were not caught…

Image: tobkatrina (Shutterstock)

The Mindset Required for Successful System Betting

System betting is similar to fishing with a net.

Of course, it is easy to say how many bets were won over the course of a full season (i.e. how many fish were caught).

But it is also easy to evaluate how many opportunities to win were missed (i.e. bets not placed; fish not caught).

And calculating how many winning opportunities there were in total (i.e. how many fish there were to catch) is also straightforward.

With this much control over the available information we assure you that it is possible to identify, formulate, refine, test, and finally deploy a successful betting system.

The ultimate goal of system betting is to create a strategy that becomes just a numbers exercise, and where obtaining the highest price for the desired outcome is the primary objective for achieving ‘value’ in order to gain maximum reward.

Betting is an Approximate Science

The equatorial circumference of the Earth is widely accepted as 40,075 km. However, the circumference from pole to pole is slightly less as the Earth is not exactly spherical.

Furthermore, if you were to bring into the equation all the geographical features in the path of the measuring tape and calculate the circumference including every peak and trough of every mountain and valley, then this would provide yet another different value.

But which is the correct measurement?

Let’s look at another example: Motor car producers test their vehicles and provide guarantees but occasionally they get it wrong and mass returns are ordered to rectify a common fault.

Of course, a vehicle’s longevity also depends where in the world and on which terrain it is used, how it is driven and maintained, plus a host of other immeasurable factors.

If you were to ask a vehicle manufacturer how long a particular model will last it will be impossible for him to say with any degree of accuracy, although he can predict that a rough percentage of vehicles will still be on the road in one year from now, less in two-years’ time, fewer in three-years’ time, and so on.

What we are trying to say is that too many extraneous factors prevent total accuracy with any mathematical calculation and scholars of math will readily agree that theirs is not an exact science; some allowance for error has to be accepted in any equation or calculation. (For example, the formula for Pi (Π) produces an infinitely long number, not an exact one).

Likewise, all betting strategies based on historical figures can never be 100% accurate.

Acceptable Accuracy

It is impossible to predict for sure the outcome of any one single event but it is much easier to say, for example, that between 40 and 50% of the 380 matches in league ‘X’ will be home wins next season based on the historical results in that league.

This is where system betting or ‘blanket betting’ becomes interesting.

But how do we create a strategy to catch as many of the 40-50% home wins as possible using the fewest number of wagers?

Finding a Betting System

The statistics we keep reveal that just three scorelines account for around 70% of all half-time scores. It does not matter which top-flight league you look at, the same three scores repeat themselves in more or less the same quantities per league, every season.

Can you guess what these three scorelines are before checking out this article?

Patterns such as this are ideal for planning a betting system; in fact anything you can find which happens often enough and regularly enough to warrant continual betting on the same desired outcome for consistent profits.

It goes without saying that bookmakers are not stupid and it is rare to find a result over the course of time uniformly priced in your favour.

In other words, it is hard to find an event which will be profitable when staking or risking the same amount on the same desired outcome in every match in a league during the course of an entire season. But whilst it is difficult, it is not impossible.

The Key to Unlocking the Potential of any System

When looking at system betting, we always prefer to look at the last five seasons’ results as this usually provides a sufficiently large pool of statistics to be significant. Working with too few data is more of an accuracy issue than working with too many, but five seasons’ worth is plenty/ideal.

The key to unlocking the potential of any system is your ability to filter-out matches which are statistically less likely to bring the desired outcome and, when such games are analysed collectively as a cluster, do not bring enough winning bets to make a profit.

It is clear that excluding unprofitable betting clusters such as this will increase the efficiency/profitability of any strategy.

In other words, narrow down the field to find where the majority of winning bets occur and then concentrate your strategy within this area, dispensing with the other groups of matches that are historically unprofitable.

When sorting data and filtering it, cut-off points often appear at both ends or either end of the odds spectrum. You will find that bets may become unprofitable at a certain price and lower or, at a certain price and higher, or both (and vice versa).

Filtering for Success

A good initial filter is to sort your collection of results into ascending or descending order according to the size of the home team’s odds to win.

Ultimately, you will sort the entire list of matches by as many criteria as you can think of, such as: home, away, or draw odds (or these odds converted into probability percentages – remember, this is 1 divided by the decimal odds, expressed as a percentage); desired event odds; home odds multiplied by the away odds; in fact any numerical factor you can think of to find one or more filters to discard the unprofitable matches.

In this way, filtering out undesirable matches turns system betting into a form of value betting.

Once you have filtered the entire list, it is worth looking at each individual season to see if the same elimination process works in a micro format. Paper test everything until you are happy that the system can be profitable.

The next step is to test with live events without committing money to the outcomes. Does the elimination filter or set of filters still work?

Keep observing and recording, refining and correcting, until you are happy that your system really does have a future.

Never be delusional about system or blanket betting. What works for one league several seasons in a row may fail due to an abnormal season ahead.

It is therefore important never to count on one league or one system at any one time. It is far better to spread your risk and have several systems in play at the same time. Successful system betting relies on the law of large numbers to spread risk.

The final fundamental ingredient of any betting strategy is a flexible and effective staking plan to act as the glue which holds everything together. A stop-loss (to prevent total loss of betting bank) and ratchet provision (increasing stakes incrementally) is the gloss on any staking plan.

Thus, building a solid betting system is just a series of ingredients and interconnected steps. Rather like baking a cake without a recipe; you may have to keep experimenting with the ingredients of your betting system until the end result becomes palatable.

Go Fish!

To conclude this article, we return to our earlier metaphor. (Oh my cod!).

Dip your net (i.e. your betting system) into the pool of chosen (filtered) matches.

How closely knitted the mesh of your net is will determine how many big fish (winning bets) your filter(s) will allow you to catch (win), and how many pass through the mesh of the net (the minnows, which are unprofitable to catch).

Through trial and error, adjust the size of the mesh to catch only what you want in order to achieve as many winning bets with as few wagers as possible.

Thinking along these lines will increase your chances of developing a successful strategy.

Or, why not look into our HDAFU Tables where the whole job is done and presented on a plate for you to pick systems from the leagues of your choice.

Happy fishing!

The World Cup, like the quadrennial Olympic Games, brings with it an almost endless barrage of media coverage which, is particularly frenzied during the initial group stages where countries battle it out for a place in the second phase of the tournament.

Image: Danilo Borges (Wikimedia Commons)

Since its inaugural 1930 tournament, the World Cup has delivered a multitude of fantastic moments but, some are above and beyond the others when it comes to drama or brilliance.

The following list contains ten unforgettable moments from World Cup history…

(1) zidane’s headbutt in 2006 final

The 2006 World Cup was full of drama, but nothing really topped French footballer Zinedine Zidane’s actions during the final itself. In the second half of extra time, Zidane headbutted Italian Marco Materazzi and received his marching orders. His actions were more akin to a street ‘assault’ than behaviour befitting the world’s most important soccer match, and Zidane’s moment of madness ended both his tournament and international career. It also cost his country who went on to lose 5-3 to Italy in a penalty shoot-out, but the midfielder’s actions were arguably the bigger story, making headlines across the globe.

(2) senegal upsets france in 2002

Picture the scene. Defending champions France playing the opener of the 2002 World Cup tournament against tiny Senegal, who were playing in their first ever World Cup Finals match. And against the odds, David slew Goliath as Papa Bouba Diop became an instant celebrity by scoring the game’s only goal. France, the reigning world champions, shocked by the nature of this defeat, were unceremoniously dethroned without scoring a single goal in their three group matches: The worst performance by a defending champion in FIFA World Cup history.

(3) the ‘original’ ronaldo and brazil’s 2002 world cup win

Four years after he suffered an epileptic seizure before the World Cup final against France, Ronaldo returned a hero, winning the tournament’s Golden Boot. He topped the standings with eight goals, including two in the final against gallant Germany. His performance is still cherished years later as nothing less than brilliant.

(4) Croatia beats Germany in 1998

The result that changed a nation’s thinking. In 1998 Croatia, playing in their first ever World Cup, beat the heavily favoured Germany 3-0 with a first half stoppage time goal and a dominant second half display. The defeat was such a shock for ‘Die Mannschaft’ that they immediately set about reforming their entire football programme, culminating in a runner’s up spot at the following FIFA World Cup and a victorious showing at the 2014 competition.

(5) rossi returns from ban to win world cup, 1982

Paolo Rossi was serving a three-year match fixing ban, but was reinstated after two, allowing him the opportunity to return to international football as the hero of the 1982 World Cup. His predatory hat-trick against Brazil is remembered by all who saw it, and in the final against West Germany, he scored the first goal in a 3-1 victory, which also handed him the Golden Boot award for top scorer in the tournament. A true assassin.

(6) kuwaiti sheik’s antics in 1982

During the World Cup in 1982, Kuwaiti Sheik and Football Association President, Fahad al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah, ordered his team off the pitch in disgust believing they had heard the referee’s whistle to halt play. Their opponents, the french, had continued playing despite the apparent whistle and, as Kuwait hesitated, France scored. After a ten minute hiatus the referee eventually disallowed the goal, but France scored again shortly after the re-start. The theatrical protest and end result is one World Cup moment that has been replayed many times since.

(7) brazil and italy in 1970 final

In Mexico City during the 1970 World Cup, the world witnessed one of the most beautiful goals of all time. During the build-up to Brazil’s fourth goal, eight different players masterminded the move which saw Carlos Alberto rifle the ball home. This picturebook goal is so well known that it is replayed time and time again, even some five decades later.

(8) pele tears it up, 1958

During the 1958 World Cup finals a 17-year-old Brazilian named Pelé burst onto the world stage, scoring a hat-trick in the semi-final against France. Playing against Sweden in the final, Pelé scored twice, including an insanely imaginative goal that belied his youth. The celebrations after the final win with the teenage hero crying with his team mates is the stuff of legend.

(9) the miracle of bern, 1954

At the time, Hungary were the number one ranked team and by far the most dominant side in the world, led by the inspirational Ferenc Puskás. In the six months leading up to the 1954 World Cup finals Hungary had demolished England 3-6 away (only their second home defeat ever) and 7-1 at home. No-one gave West Germany a chance in the final, especially after Hungary had raced into a two gaol lead inside eight minutes. The rest is history, with West Germany grabbing an 84th minute winner in a game dubbed ‘The Miracle of Bern’. Even a feature film has been made about this match.

(10) USA defeats england 1-0, 1950

Lastly, another giant-killing act featuring the best team in the world against lowly outsiders. In 1950 America’s mostly amateur squad of players upset the professionals from England, with janitor and Haitian citizen Joe Gaetjens scoring the game’s only goal in the 38th minute. It’s a game still talked about today and has also been the subject of a movie. After the match Gaetjens returned to his native Haiti where he was allegedly murdered by the Tonton Macoutes secret police in 1964. His legacy of scoring the lone goal in a huge upset continues to be the highlight of US football to this day.

In conjunction with the course and based on its teachings, Soccerwidow also publishes a set of dedicated Over/Under Goals Cluster Tables (summer and winter leagues), which are a one-touch solution to identifying value within the over/under ‘X’ goals market for individual matches in a particular league.

What is a Cluster Table?

A Cluster Table is an Excel spreadsheet containing an interactive data set, which displays goal distributions in a particular league during the five complete seasons immediately prior to the season currently in play.

Results are split into four equal-sized groups, or ‘clusters’, according to the historical home and away odds of each match within the five-season-data-set (highest odds at close of ante post market), which act as a gauge of public opinion (perceived strength of the teams), for the match under consideration.

Here are two cluster examples taken from a game in the English Premier League (EPL) during the 2017-18 season. The screenshots come directly from the EPL 2012-17 Cluster Table.

Click on the images below to enlarge them in new tabs:

Man Utd Home – Over ‘X’ Goals Cluster Table 2012-2017 – Over 2.5 Goals Highlighted

Liverpool Away – Over ‘X’ Goals Cluster Table 2012-2017 – Over 2.5 Goals Highlighted

As you can see, the four clusters representing 95 respective home and away games over five seasons are divided into almost equal sets (3x 24 games; 1x 23 games), which determines the division of their HO/AO quotients (Home Odds divided by Away Odds).

Two rows are highlighted: these are the corresponding rows for the match between these two teams on 10th March, 2018.

The home odds of Manchester United were 3.30. Liverpool’s away odds were 2.61. The HO/AO quotient was therefore 1.26 (3.30 divided by 2.61).

How to Interpret the HO/AO Figures

The HO/AO clusters for all teams are different from one another. But why?

Odds are determined according to a team’s historical (statistical) strength (success), or lack of it, and no two teams perform exactly the same, which will of course produce different quotient figures.

How then is it possible to compare two teams in this fashion?

The home odds and the away odds are set by the bookmakers according to historical distributions (statistical results) and therefore provide a constant benchmark to a team’s past performance (looking backwards).

By the time the ante post market closes, they also contain a deal of public perception in terms of demand for the bet in question (looking forwards).

Therefore, the HO/AO clusters take the correlation between the ‘perceived’ strength of the teams involved (based on historical results) AND the market pressures (demand and supply) faced by the bookmakers when setting their odds.

The HO/AO quotient is therefore an ideal method of comparing two teams by selecting from their historical results the nearest batch of equivalent games against teams of a similar perceived strength to the opponent under analysis.

If United are 3.30 to beat Liverpool and Liverpool are 2.61 to beat United, it makes sense to look at comparable results where both teams carried similar prices in their respective home and away games in the past (i.e. the closest United home games to their price of 3.30 in this game, and the closest Liverpool away games to their price of 2.61).

Splitting five seasons’ worth of games into four clusters does not divide exactly. Each team plays 19 games at home and 19 away per season. This makes a total of 95 home and 95 away games for each team, hence why for United’s home games and Liverpool’s away games (and any other team) there are three clusters of 24 games grouped together, and one cluster of 23.

In our example, it is coincidental that the most relevant clusters for both teams to the calculated HO/AO quotient of 1.26 each contain 24 games over the last five seasons.

What the Clusters say about the Comparative Strength of Teams

When looking at the tables in the EPL for any team, the following categories become apparent when dividing games into ‘perceived strength’:

1. HO/AO: up to 0.2248
   The home team is the clear favourite with a very good chance of winning (the weight of money makes the home team the overwhelming favourite)
2. HO/AO: 0.2249 to 0.4902
   The home team is definitely stronger than the away team, but there is also a good chance of a draw in the game (fluctuating opinion between home or draw)
3. HO/AO: 0.4903 to 0.7730
   It is not really clear in which direction the game will develop (no overwhelming favourite)
4. HO/AO: 0.7731 to 1.6922
   The chance of a draw is quite high as both teams are perceived to be of equal strength (no overwhelming favourite)
5. HO/AO: over 1.6923
   The home team is weaker than the away team; it could be an away win (the perceived favourite is the away team)

Why are ‘Zero’ odds important?

After the setting and publishing of opening odds for sale, the price of a bet is then influenced by:

• The popularity for that bet amongst punters (demand)
• A balancing act of monies received between the outcomes carried out by the bookmaker via price fluctuations to create its margin/profit (supply)

The price fluctuations (changes in the odds) from the opening of the market right up until the end of the event are therefore driven by both demand (punters) and supply (bookmakers), and contrary to popular belief, not dictated solely by the bookmaker.

If the zero odds of an event are known it is possible to identify temporary or lasting pricing ‘errors’, large and small, caused by these fluctuations in demand and supply. These errors can then be used to ensure that every bet placed contains ‘value’, the essential element in making long-term profits from gambling.

As a reminder:

• Prices offered above zero odds represent value back bet opportunities
• Prices offered below zero odds represent value lay bet opportunities

Zero odds are those at which, if every bet were placed at this price, the overall outcome of any number of bets would be a ‘zero’ sum game.

Finding ‘value’ is therefore about determining the implied (actual estimated) probability of an event (based on historical results), and obtaining odds representing a lower probability (i.e. higher odds) if backing, or a higher probability (lower odds) if laying.

Of course, the higher the odds obtained above zero odds are, the more profitable your long-term back bet portfolio should be and the lower the odds obtained below zero odds are, the more profitable your long-term lay bet portfolio should be.

Manchester United vs. Liverpool

The HO/AO quotient was 1.26, suggesting that public perception of the event was that the draw was probably the most likely outcome.

In the images above, the Over 2.5 Goals bet type is highlighted.

HO/AO 1.26 sits in the fourth cluster of United’s cluster table, and the percentage chance of Over 2.5 Goals for their home games within this cluster was 37.60%

HO/AO 1.26 sits in the third cluster of Liverpool’s cluster table, and the percentage chance of Over 2.5 Goals for their away games within this cluster was 62.40%

Calculate the average of these percentages: 37.60% + 62.40% = 100.00% / 2 = 50.00%

Calculate the zero odds: 1 / 50.00% = 2.00

It just so happens that the highest Over 2.5 Goals odds on offer for this event were also 2.00, providing no value in backing or laying.

The result was 2-1 to United, meaning that public perception of the event most likely being a draw was proved to be wrong. Public perception of likely outcomes and the eventual reality are very difficult to reconcile, which is why odds movements should never be relied upon as a guide to potential outcomes.

You should also note that the most popular games to bet on are usually those most intensely analysed (United vs. Liverpool is just about the most high-profile club game in the world). Because of this, the highest pre-match odds available for many of the different bet types are usually very accurate compared to the statistical likelihoods. In this case, we calculated 2.00 as the zero odds and indeed, 2.00 was the highest pre-match price available.

Once again, we reiterate just how accurate the Cluster Tables are in calculating probabilities.

Try the Power of the Cluster Tables for Only £2

The Cluster Tables are an extremely powerful tool for checking market odds against ‘true’ odds in order to select bets containing ‘value’ for long-term profit.

The tables can also be utilised for predicting odds movements before kick-off and much, much more, but we will write about these benefits in other articles.

A German reader once commented that he couldn’t believe we were selling the Cluster Tables because to him, “these five season tables are something like a ‘money printing machine’!“.

If you wish to play around with the table used in our example above, you can purchase the EPL Cluster Table for the 2017-18 season here for just £2:

This table comes with the added bonus of a £5 discount voucher applicable to the Fundamentals of Sports Betting Course – Over/Under Goals.

You can use this table for backtesting the 2017-18 EPL season. Randomly select any weekend and carry out the calculations as demonstrated in this article. Try experimenting a little and perhaps compile different portfolios such as:

• Choosing only Under 3.5 Goal bets
• Choosing bets which have at least a 60% probability to win
• Choosing bets with a strong home favourite only
• … and so on! Use your wits and imagination to find a system that actually works for you!

Once you understand how the Cluster Tables work and have found a system to focus on, picking bets for a weekend becomes truly very easy!

Please note that after the 2017-18 EPL season finishes this sample table will expire and should not be relied upon for betting purposes after that. Sorry, you will have to buy the 2018-19 replacement table. However, the 2017-18 version will certainly give you a good idea of the table’s full functionality.

If you have any further questions on how to use the cluster tables, please use the comments section below.

Thanks for reading and good luck with your value betting!

You can bet on Over/Under 2.5, or Over/Under 2,25 or Over/Under 2. But what are Over 2.5 bets, or even 2.25? There are no half goals! Or quarter goals! It doesn’t seem to make sense. Does it?

We will explain what the different Goal Lines signify and after you’ve finished the article you will never be confused again!

Betting on .5 Goals

One of the most common bet types is Over/ Under .5 goals.

Obviously, there is no way for half a goal to be scored in a game. The expression .5 is just an aid to ensure that it is clear on what you are betting.

For example, if you place a bet on Over/Under 2.5 goals, then the .5 is the ‘turning point’. You win if there are at least 3 goals scored, and you lose if the match ends with less than 2 goals scored.

Here’s an example…

If you still have difficulties understanding the concept, here’s another article on the .5 bet: A Brief Introduction to Over Under Goals Betting.

Betting on Goal Lines with Whole Numbers

Bets on whole numbers are often called Goal Lines or Asian Goal Lines. Although, technically, this isn’t correct as all bets described here are ‘goal lines’, but we will be using the term as it’s widely used by punters and bookmakers.

They are somewhat similar to Asian Handicap betting on the 1×2 result. As the name suggests, the possibility of a refund exists if a certain result comes in, in this case the ‘Goal Line’.

Similar to the AH, if the match finishes in a draw result (= ‘goal line’), it’s a “push”. The punter gets their money back. Otherwise, if there are less goals scored than the goal line, the stake is lost, and if more goals are scored, it is a win.

In the above example, if you were to bet on Over 2 Goals then you get your stake back (push) if the final score is exactly 2 goals (e.g. 2-0, 1-1, 0-2).

All the other Goal Lines naturally follow the same pattern.

Betting on .75 Goals or .25 Goals – or – Whole Number, .75 or .25

If the .5 bets are combined with Asian Goal Line bets, then you get .75 or .25 Goals bets. Half of your stake is placed on the .5 bet whilst the other half is placed on the Asian Goal Line bet.

These bets are often shown as either Over 2.25 – or – Over 2, 2.5.

For example, if you place a bet of £20 on Over 2, 2.5 it means that you are placing a split bet. £10 on the 2 Goals Asian Goal Line, and £10 on Over 2.5 Goals.

If the match finishes…

• with 3 or more goals, then you will receive the winnings of both bets
• with exactly 2 goals, half of the stake will be returned as it was a push (2 Goals Asian Goal Line), and you will lose the other half (Over 2.5 bet)
• with less than 2 goals… your entire stake is lost

The same applies to the .75 bets, as shown below:

In this example you place a £20 bet on the Over 2.5, 3 goal line. Again, you would be placing a split bet. £10 on the 3 Goals Asian Goal Line and £10 on Over 2.5 Goals.

If this match finishes…

• with 4 or more goals, you will receive the winnings of both bets
• with exactly 3 goals, half of the stake will be returned as it was a push (3 Goals Asian Goal Line), but you will win the other half (Over 2.5 bet)
• with 2 or less goals… your entire stake is lost

To be honest, I would recommend keeping your hands away from these bets, although it may sound tempting to get half of the stake back. Although these are referred to as being a single bet they are actually two completely different bets rolled into one!

If you do not really understand odds calculation and probabilities, then it is definitely a bet which bookmakers love! They can adjust the pricing as they like, without the average punter fully understanding the maths behind it, ensuring that the mathematical advantage lies with the bookmaker.

Anyway, the silver lining is that it is quite unlikely to be exposed to the temptation as these bets are rarely offered by European bookmakers.

Here is another diagram to demonstrating split bets:

Betting for Profit on Goals

At the end of the day the goal of each punter should be betting for profit. Am I right?

Bookmakers make a living from betting by using maths. They analyse and calculate the chances of an outcome and then price their bets. Of course, they make sure that the mathematical advantage is on their side, just like anyone operating a game of chance (e.g. Casinos).

The punter who relies only on gut feeling does not have a chance against the bookmakers.

However, with Over/Under Goal bets the punter at least has a chance to start understanding the statistics behind the bet. It isn’t too difficult to calculate the probabilities of the various results and number of goals in a game and to then find value bets.

If you are interested in starting to bet for profit, then you should seriously consider buying our Fundamentals of Sports Betting course. For the first volume, we have chosen to write about the Over/Under goal market as this is the easiest betting market to teach the fundamentals of statistics and maths on, without the need to dive deeper into more advanced formulas and concepts. Give it a try!

From a football perspective, although we personally limit ourselves to analysing only the previous five seasons’ data with the Soccerwidow HDAFU Tables, or the previous 10 calendar years’ match results with the Soccerwidow Value Calculator, data on Oddsportal is in fact available for the last 20 seasons or more in leagues with enough popularity and longevity, such as the English Premier League.

Registering with Oddsportal

Signing up is simple and places no obligation on you whatsoever. Our own account was set up many years ago and in all that time we have received no emails of any kind from Oddsportal, its partners, or any associated spam, a rarity following sign-ups of any nature these days.

Oddsportal’s priority is to achieve sign-ups via their site to the bookmakers they feature in order to earn affiliate commission from those customers. You don’t have to sign-up with any bookmakers, but you can continue to use all of Oddsportal’s features as a registered member.

However, if you choose not to register for an account, you will be restricted to seeing and exploring the odds of just a small selection (usually 14-16 in number) of the 80+ bookmakers Oddsportal features at any one time.

As an aside, Soccerwidow is not affiliated in any way with Oddsportal but owing to their importance in the grand scheme of things, we are always happy to recommend them.

Oddsportal Settings

Once you have registered and signed-in to your account, you will need to customise your Oddsportal layout. In the top right-hand corner of the home page you will see the settings button illustrated with a small cog symbol (next to the “logout” button).

You will then see the various settings options. Here is a screenshot showing Soccerwidow’s settings, which we use to facilitate our own data scraping and odds checking:

Oddsportal Settings Screenshot

Notes:

• The “Primary Type of Odds” setting refers to what you see when you open any individual game. If you choose the AH (Asian Handicap) O/U (Over/Under), or any of the other options, then that bet type tab will be the first you see. However, it will always be the 1X2 odds displayed when initially opening a league.
• It is usually quicker to see which bookmaker is offering the best odds if you “Sort bookmakers by” bookmaker payout. The bookmaker list of the matches you open will then appear roughly in descending odds order. The highest 1X2 odds time-stamped most recently will usually be in the top half of the list. (But of course, usually no one bookmaker will be offering best price on all three outcomes, so you will have to hunt for them). Here’s a quick example of bookmaker payout order:

Oddsportal Bookmaker Payout Order Screenshot

Next Page: My Bookmakers Tab; Problem Bookmakers; Manage My Leagues

Image: Gts (Shutterstock)

Over/Under is a great way for people new to betting to get their feet wet…

What Does Over/Under Mean?

With over/under betting, the first thing to understand is that you are betting in relation to the number of goals scored in the game. It doesn’t matter which team scores the goals or even who wins.

You just take the number of goals scored by each of the teams and add them together to get the total goals scored during the game.

The simplicity of this bet is what makes it such a common wager.

When you place an over/under bet, you have to choose two things:

It doesn’t matter how close the result is to the goal line either, the bet pays the same whether the end result is close to the bet’s goal line or far away.

Why the “Point Five”?

Over/Under bets that end in “.5” have only two outcomes.

You either win the bet and get paid an amount equal to your stake multiplied by the betting odds or you lose the bet and your stake.

Because you can’t score half a goal, every bet is either a win or a loss.

Let’s take the most popular goal line in football: 2.5.

If you think the total goals in the game will be three or more, you would want to bet “Over 2.5”. If you think the total goals in the game will be two or less, you would choose to bet “Under 2.5”.

Over/Under bets without the “.5” or with different fractions (such as 2.25) may return part or all of your stake to you even if you don’t win.

For example, with a Total Goals bet, if you bet “Over 2” and exactly 2 goals are scored, you will not win the wager but you will get your stake refunded.

The graphic below shows which bet (over or under) will win given a certain score in the game for various goal lines.

Attention Please! Some Goals Don’t Count!

When you are betting in football, the only goals that count towards over/under bets are the ones scored during the regulation 90 minutes of each match.

If the game ends tied after 90 minutes any goals scored in extra-time or a penalty shoot-out do not count towards the over/under goals tally.

The result of the match itself does not matter; drawn matches with scorelines like 0-0, 1-1, 2-2, etc., also contribute to over-under bet results.

Over/Under 2.5: The Most Popular Bet in Football

We are using 2.5 as an example here because although there are many possible over/under bets, 2.5 happens to be the most popular goal line for football bets.

It turns out that when you look at a long history of football games, even across different leagues, the average number of total goals scored per game is very close to 2.5.

As a result, you often have a similar number of punters backing each side of the 2.5 goal line where the odds are similar no matter which choice of over or under is made.

Choose Your Bet Using Statistical Information

Bookmakers set the odds of over and under for each available goal line using statistical information on the teams who are playing each other as well as football games in general.

Demand on each side of the bet can change the bookmaker odds and knowing what the statistics say can help you determine whether a particular bet is a good or bad one to take.

The best bet is not always the bet that is closest to the actual score you expect.

In fact, it is often the bets further away from expectations that offer the greatest difference between the betting odds offered in the markets and the true statistical predictions.

Making Money at Over-Under Betting

Some punters are surprised at how important the underlying mathematics are, but long-term success at over/under betting is much more science than art!

Continue to follow our blog to learn more, or check out our book: Fundamentals of Sports Betting.