• Football Betting Tips
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• College Football Betting Lines

Betfred is one of the most popular betting sites around, with good reason too. Starting from a Betfred single shop in 1967, they atotesportre now the world’s largest independent bookmaker. The betting industry is strife with promotions and bonuses but few incentives are as good as Betfred’s, who offer generous welcome bonuses.

The qualifying bet must have odds of 1/2 (1.5) or greater The qualifying period runs for 7 days from the date of registration All BetBull promotions are limited to one per customer per household Any qualifying bets. We keep the best betting offers for football up to date here and they can change fairly often as bookmakers look to try out new ways of luring customers from their rivals. Therefore, it's a good idea. In-play betting offers football fans a thrilling experience like no other, giving you the chance to bet live on games as they’re happening. Say the game is opening up in attack and you have a hunch a goal is coming – you can bet in-play on either side to find the net before their opposition does.

Betfred Football Betting Review

New online betting promotions usually appear around the beginning of football competitions, golf majors, big horse racing meetings, and other events that get a lot of attention from sports fans and punters. College Football Betting Promotions. It’s no secret that the online sportsbook industry is a heavily competitive market. Sites are constantly fighting and trying to find ways to entice you to bet with them instead of with someone else.

With over 30 different sports to choose from, it can be hard to decide where to place your bed. If you’re like me and have a passion for football, Betfred won’t disappoint you. Their football betting section is really easy to navigate and offers a wide range of matches to bet on on a daily basis; from the English Premier and Champions League to the Europa League and other international leagues. There’s also a dedicated football specials section which lets you take a punt on which manager you think will take over a certain team, or what’s happening in the transfer market.

Betfred also run unique in-play bets, with countless options. A quick glance today showed over 50 in-play football match betting options, from the final match result to the half time result, you can bet on whichever outcome you find most likely.

Betfred Offer Details

If you’re a new Betfred customer, you can take advantage of their welcome offer which gives you £60 when you bet £10. So long as you’re 18 or over, deposit a stake of £10 at odds of 2.0 or above to get £30 in free bets + 30 free spins which can be spent in the Betfred Casino. Just be sure to read the terms and conditions to make sure that you’re doing everything you need in order to get the full amount.

If you’re an existing customer, there are still lots of Betfred football betting promotions to take advantage of such as the popular DDHH (Double Delight and Hat-trick Heaven) bets. This is a great way to boost your price – if your player scores the first goal of the match, then goes on to score another, Betfred will double your first goalscorer price. Hat trick heaven works in a similar way where if your player scores the first goal of the match then goes on to score a hat-trick within 90 minutes, they’ll treble your first goalscorer price. You can double or triple your prize with DD/HH for in-play bets too.

Only available to new customers from UK & Northern Ireland. You must stake £10 or more at single/cumulative odds of Evens (2.0) or greater on your first bet. Free bet balance of £30 credited within 48 hours of your first bet being settled. Free Bets expire after 7 days. E-Wallet restrictions apply. Minimum 5 game rounds. Game restrictions apply. Maximum 30 Free Spins on selected games. Free Spins expire after 7 days. Full T&Cs apply.

Football Betting Tips

How to Sign Up

Signing up for Betfred is a straightforward process. Just head over to their sign up page and enter the usual details. This first page is where you enter any promotional codes you have, so make sure you don’t miss it out if you have an active code. Once you’ve entered your details, accept the terms and conditions and you’re good to go. Betfred only allows registrations from residents of the UK, Ireland or Gibraltar.

Betfred Football Betting Offers

For Betfred, Football betting is their bread and butter, with hundreds of bets to be had. As well as offers on games like tennis and basketball, Betfred runs dedicated football offers such as the DDHH promotion which lets you double or triple your prize if the footballer you’ve bet on scores a second goal or a hat-trick.

Another great offer is the Acca Insurance which protects you and refunds your stake. If you place a place a 5+ fold football match result accumulator, with odds per leg of ⅓ or more, and if one team lets you down, Betfred will refund your stake as a free bet up to £10. It doesn’t apply to cashed out or in-play bets and the maximum free bet return is £10.

The last offer worth a mention is the #PickYourPunt offer which lets you call the shots and choose the market you desire. I can’t actually think of a market that Betfred isn’t active in but if you find out, simply tweet them with the hashtag #PickYourPunt and they’ll price it up for you – women’s Brazilian beach volleyball perhaps? One you’ve put a request in, simply wait for the Betfred social team to be priced up by the traders.

Betfred Premier League 2018/19 Betting Offers

There’s a reason Betfred has the label of the ‘unofficial home for sports betting’. Their Premier League betting offers and markets are some of the best sampled. They are reason alone to sign up, and that’s before getting onto the welcome bonus… The Premier League games are listed under the dedicated page, but you might have to do a bit of scrolling. An average league game boasts around 150 markets – ideal for those placing an acca. Speaking of betting types, you can place the likes of straight forecast, dual forecast, outright winners, goalscorers, relegation – everything. If you don’t see Premier League betting odds for a particular market, you can create your own and send it to their Twitter under the hashtag #PickYourPunt.

Betfred are on the ball when it comes to Premier League free bets, with 14 deals on the site at the moment. All new players can even pick up a tidy £10 free bet for the games.

Betfred Free Bet Offers

Everyone loves a free bet, it’s money for nothing at the end of the day, and there are a couple of options for you with Betfred. The main promotion as seen on TV, is their welcome bonus offer which gives you £60 worth of free bets when you deposit £10. There are T&C’s to ensure you qualify but they’re pretty straightforward so long as you’re registering a new account. The £30 in free bets isn’t limited to just football; you can use them on any sports betting markets from boxing to darts.

Betfred Mobile Betting

If you’re like most us, you use your mobile far more often than a desktop computer, so it is important that you’re using a mobile app that’s reliable and smooth. Betfred have got eight separate apps available for pretty much every aspect of bedding such as Betfred games and casino.

Everything that’s available on the website is available on mobile, but with a nicer visual style. Football fans can delight in Goals Galore, where the only thing that matters is whether both teams score. Using Goals Galore gives you boosted odds if all of your teams get on the scoresheet, if they do, you’ll be quids in.

I compared the Sportsbook app to the website version and actually prefer it, the menu is slick and easy to use and links to your online account where you can withdraw and deposit your funds with ease. Download it and try for yourself.

Betfred Payment Methods

There are plenty of options to deposit and withdraw funds with Betfred. As well as the usual credit and debit methods, if you prefer to use online payment gateways, plenty are supported, including PayPal. A list of all available payment methods are:

• Major debit/credit cards
• Bank transfer
• Neteller
• Skrill
• Paysafe card
• Paypal

Betfred Live Streaming

Betfred offers a great live streaming service for a long list of sports including football. So long as you’ve signed up to Betfred, you can access the live streaming service – called Watch Live. You’ll have to have an active account with funds available (not including free bets) and you’ll usually have to have placed a bet in order to watch (but not always). The minimum stake is only £1 so if you enjoy watching sports anyway, it’s a small price to pay and you could end up winning.

Combining live streaming with Betfred football betting is one way to add a little excitement to a game and all you’ll need is an internet connection and the latest Flash software.

Betfred Live Betting

Some of the best bets I’ve made are in-play bets for live games. Despite the odds before the match, anything can happen during play; a player can get sent off which can affect morale and switch the game up completely. Betfred allows you to place bets during the game, and if you’re quick, you can get fantastic odds.

As mentioned before, if you’ve placed a football bet, you can often watch the match via their Watch Live section. There is a slight delay of 30 seconds however so you may not be able to adapt your bets according to the way the match is going.

Betfred Customer Support

Got a question about a bet or a promotion, you can contact Betfred who will usually get back to you within minutes. I sent a question regarding the offer bonus before writing this and heard back within 5 minutes. They don’t offer a live chat service like some other bookies but you can email or call them should you run into an issue.

101 Great Goals Take on Betfred

To sum them up, Betfred is one of the better betting sites. No matter what your prefered sport is, they have all sorts of active promotions to keep you busy but Football is where they really shine. With dedicated promotions such as the football DDHH bonus, which can also be used in-play, you’ll never get bored. If you know your football facts, you can really take advantage of the in-play system and live betting.

The mobile apps are fun and easy to use. I tested them out on iPhone and Samsung devices and there was no lag and very little loading time. The #PickYourPunt service is unique and very fun. They already have the major sporting events covered so I think it’s a little bit of a stunt, but a great way for them to interact with their customers and can be quite fun if you follow less popular sports.

The History of Betfred

Betfred was founded in 1967 so are one of the oldest, and arguable more trusted high street bookmaker. Their first shop opened in Salford in 1967 which they’ve successfully built up to be the biggest independent bookmaker in the world.

Based in Birchwood, Betfred prides themselves on topping the North West’s Top 200 businesses list for four years running. If you’ve never tried them before, they have a terrific welcome offer to take advantage of and even if you’re already into football betting, you should also try them for their unique in-play and multiple goalscorers bonuses.

This page lists all of the currently active football offers and promotions from the betting sites we track. As you can see the list tends to get quite long, particularly when there are a lot of big games on. This should come as no surprise given the games popularity among us punters.

So to help you get to an offer quickly, the promotions are listed according to the date they end – so offers that are specific to today’s football matches will appear at the top. Once an offers done and dusted, it will be automatically removed from the list. Towards the end of the page you’ll find the ongoing football promotions that the bookies offer such as ‘Score Draw Money Back’ and ‘Double Delight, Hat Trick Heaven’.

As with all of the offers on this site (with the exception of the introductory free bets section) all of the promotions listed on this page can be claimed by both new and existing customers.

Jump to:Latest Offers Acca Insurance Accumulator Bonuses

Latest Football / Soccer Betting Offers & Promotions

Opt-in and place a bet of £25 or more on any sport and you can get a free £5 bet if there are over 12.5 cards shown in the FA Cup games playing on Wednesday 10th February. Minimum odds of 4/5 (1.8) apply, bet must be placed before the first game begins at 17:30.

Build and bet on a #PickYourPunt custom bet on the Everton v Tottenham Hotspur game playing on Wednesday 10th February and if it loses you could be refunded with a free bet of £5. Minimum £5 bet to qualify, one per customer.

Refund for any Soccer game that finishes 0-0 at bet365. Applies to losing pre-match bets on any Correct Score, Half-Time/Full-Time or Scorecast markets.

Bet restrictions and T&Cs apply. New and eligible customers only.

Place £20 or more on a 'Create Your Bet' market of any football match and if it is a winner, you could get a free £20 bet. To qualify your bet must have at least 3 legs with combined odds of at least 4/1. One per customer per week.

UK and Ireland customers only. Min odds 4/1, max free bet £20. Free bet min odds 1.2 per selection. Free bet credited on settlement of qualifying winning bet, valid for 48 hours. T&Cs apply. 18+.

Pre-Match: Back a player to score first in selected matches and if they score twice you can get double your original odds, if they score three or more you can get treble your original odds.

In-Play: Here, bet in-play on the next goalscorer in selected matches and if they score and go on to score again after this you will get paid at double your odds. If they then score again you will get treble your odds.

Upcoming games include:

Nice and simple. If your team goes 2 goals up at any point, you'll get paid out as a winner - even if your team goes on to lose the match. This offer applies to Premier League, Championship, League 1, League 2, SPL, Champions League, Europa League, Spanish La Liga,German Bundesliga and French Ligue 1 matches.

Applies to pre-match singles on either side to win on the Win-Draw-Win markets only. Bets placed on the Draw selection in each game are not applicable. Open to selected games 7th October to Thursday 31st December 2020. Retail bets excluded. Max payout £2,500. 18+, T&Cs apply.

Log in on mobile and correctly predict the correct scores in the 3 selected games and you could win £100 in cash. You can also get a £5 free bet for 2 correct predictions and a free £1 bet for 1 correct prediction. Entry is free. This week's matches are:

Coral's Correct 4 game will be running throughout the football season. Answer four questions about a selected match before kick off and you could win up to £50 in cash (two correct = £1 free bet, three correct = £2 free bet and four correct is the full £50 in cash).

You can play once per week, so long as you have an eligible account.

18+. UK & IRE only. Online & Mobile. Max 1 entry per customer per game week. Any entries after kick off of selected match will not be eligible. 4 correct answers for £50 cash prize. 3 correct answers for £2 free bet. Valid for 7 days. T&C's Apply.

Predict the outcome of the eight selected matches and you could be in with a chance to win a share of £8,000. If you don't get all 8 correct, you can get a free £1 bet for each result that you do predict correctly. This competition is free to enter.

Fully verified UK customers only. Deadline for submission will be the earliest kick off time of selected games. After first 2 plays a £25 weekly wagering requirement applies (min odds 1/2). If more than one entrant predicts all 8 results correctly, the jackpot will be shared. Winnings and free bets will be available within 72 hours with free bets valid for 7 days. 18+, T&Cs apply.

Stats Articles

Factors that Affect Football Betting Offers

Although there will be a number of terms and conditions to be aware of when looking at football betting promotions, there are some key areas that you will need to be aware of which we have outlined in more detail below.

Cashing Out Bets

The majority of you now will be more than familiar with cash out betting. But, just in case you are totally new to the concept, we’ll quickly run through some of the basics.

The concept of cash out betting is simple; it allows you to settle bets and lock in a result before that market has been fully settled. So, you might place a bet on Team A to win at odds of 9/1 with a £10 stake, meaning if they did, your returns would be £100. Team A score first and go 1-0 with 30 minutes still remaining. With cash out betting the bookmaker may offer you say £60 to lock in the profit before that market has settled. You take the £60, which then means that the final result of the match is irrelevant as your bet has already won.

It’s worth noting that you can cash out for a loss. So, in the same example, the game might be 0-0 and heading for a draw with 10 minutes left. The bookmaker offers you £5 to cash out before the end of the game, meaning that you would essentially lose £5 from your original £10 stake.

How Does Cashout Affect Betting Offers

What you’re going to find with most bookies is that you can’t use the cash out function with free bets or even as a qualifying bet to trigger ant free bets or promotions. Cash out essentially means that you can guarantee return before the full result has happened, which actually puts the power into the punters hand, albeit for a slightly reduced price than the original odds for your return.

The terms of betting offers mean that a cashed out bet could be massively exploitable in the punters favour. Let’s run through a couple of scenarios why the bookies won’t allow it.

• First scenario – Let’s assume that we place a bet that requires you to wager £20 in order to receive a £20 free bet. If they allowed cash out bets for this, you could literally place a bet of £20 and immediately cash it out to receive your free £20. It offers no risk to the punter and means the bookie pays out every time.
• Second scenario – Another example would be when it comes to wager requirements. Let’s say that the offer was bet £20 and with it you get £20, but you are required to wager through your free bet 5 times before being able to withdraw. In total, this would mean £100 worth of wagers. You could essentially place £100 worth of wagers (single bet or multiple bets) and immediately cash it out before the market has even gone live, technically meaning that you have met the wager requirements with zero exposure.

Bookies bring in terms and conditions such as wagering requirements for offers and promotions to reduce their exposure and also make it hard for players to sign up, have no exposure on their bets and then just leave. Wagering requirements mean that they have to play within the bookmaker for a certain length of time and could potentially lose their initial stake, meaning no promotion has to be paid.

Extra Time and Penalties

Extra time and penalties can play a significant role when betting on football. It’s worth noting that for league games these won’t occur, and all markets will be settled under the 90 minutes of the match, which includes added time at the end of the first and second half.

For cup competitions they will become much more prevalent. Competitions such as the FA Cup and the League Cup will have a mix of both in the games. The League Cup format has recently changed and done away with replays if scores are tied after 90 minutes. This means games will head straight to extra time and penalties where needed.

In the FA Cup they will have a replay at a later date if the game is tied after 90 minutes. But, in those replays, if the scores still can’t be separated then only then do they go into extra time and penalties. This only alters once the semi-final and the final take place, usually on neutral ground and hosted at Wembley Stadium. If scores are equal in these matches, then they will play extra time instead of going to a replay. The final, also hosted at Wembley Stadium will follow the same rules.

You need to be aware that for the majority of bets they will only run within 90 minutes and rarely include extra time unless otherwise stated. You are able to bet on markets such as the team to qualify, which includes this if needed, but as stated, most are settled within 90 minutes.

How to Bet on Football

If you are new to football betting you could be put off by the vast array of options available on each and every match. Here we have picked out some of the most popular football bets that you will encounter.

Match Winner Bets

College Football Betting Lines Today

The match winner market is the most popular betting market that you can get for football. It’s pretty simple as well. There are three results possible; home win, away win and draw. All you need to do is choose the result of the match and you’re set.

There are a couple of things that you need to note for this market though. The match winner is based over 90 minutes, which includes both injury time in the first half and second half. Should a game go to either extra time or penalties, then these won’t count and the result, which in this case would be a draw, will be taken as the settled bet for the market.

Half-time/full-time

As variations of this bet you’ll also be able to bet on the half time result and full-time result. For this you need to have the correct result at both half-time and full-time. For example, you might back a draw and home win. If the scores are tied at half-time and the home team win after 90 minutes, then your bet will be successful. You need both parts of this bet to be successful for this.

Strategy & Statistics

The match winner market can take in a number of statistics that should help to form your bets. This can include, but isn’t limited to, recent form, league position, head to head, home/away form, player form and number of goals scored and conceded.

Betting patterns, in terms of where the money is headed (odds lengthening and shortening) can offer a good guide on which team’s other punters are fancying for each game.

In the 2017/18 Premier League season, the majority of games were won by the home team:

• 46% games won by the home team
• 28% games won by the away team
• 26% teams ended in a draw

Handicap Betting

Handicap betting is where you are applying a theoretical advantage or disadvantage for a certain team. The handicap will be applied in the form of goals either adding them on or subtracting from the full-time score.

For example, you place a bet on team to win with -1 goal. This means that 1 goal will be removed from the full-time score for that team. Essentially, a -1 handicap would mean that a team needs to win by 2 or more goals for that bet to win. If after the handicap has been removed or added, the teams are tied and the result would be a draw, your bet would be refunded. So, if you backed a Team A with a -1 handicap and they won 2-1, the adjusted handicap would be 1-1 (1 goal removed), meaning a draw.

Asian Handicaps

The Asian handicap has the same concept, although works a little differently. The idea is that the Asian Handicap eliminates the draw result, meaning that a result always occurs. A typical bet would be -1.5 goals, meaning 1.5 goals are removed from a score or +1.5 goals, meaning 1.5 goals are added to the score.

For example, you back Team A on the Asian handicap with a -1.5 handicap. They win the match 3-1. 1.5 goals would be removed from their score, resulting in a final score of 1.5 – 1. This would mean that your bet wins. Like the regular handicap above, a -1.5 handicap would essentially mean that a team would need to win by 2 or more goals for a successful bet.

You can bet +/- full goals, for example -1 goal with your stake returned if the handicapped result is a draw. You will also see 1/4 bets for example +1.25 which means your stake will be split equally between the values immediately above and below. In this instance half stake on + 1 and half on +1.5.

Strategy & Statistics

Handicap betting is a great place to increase the odds for short priced favourites. Any team that is priced around the 1/2 (1.50) or shorter are widely expected to win and to win comfortably. In the real world, these odds offer little value to a lot of punters, with limited returns unless you are betting large stakes.

By applying a handicap to that team you are able to then gain better odds, usually around evens (2.00) or even higher for 1/2 favourites, creating much more value in a game they are already expected to win easily.

The flip side is when you utilise the handicaps for games which on paper will be low scoring. A team that might not be favourite to win, but are tough to beat will benefit massively from a positive handicap being added, often seeing only a small decrease in price.

In the 2017/18 Premier League season, 34.78% of games were won by 2 or more goals.

Both Teams to Score (BTTS)

The Both Teams to Score market has quickly become one of the most popular betting markets over the last few years. The concept is very simple; all you need to do is pick games where both teams score at least 1 goal each. The result of the match is actually irrelevant and for this market, all we need is goals.

For example, a game which ended in a 1-1 draw would qualify, just the same as game that finished 9-1, albeit very different overall results.

There are several variations of this bet as well. One of the more popular is the result and BTTS. For this you need to choose either a team to win or alternatively the draw (score draw, essentially). You’re also going to be able to choose Both Teams to Score “no” as an addition to this market. This bet is essentially where at least one team would need to keep clean sheet for it to be successful.

Strategy & Statistics

For this market you need to be looking at teams that are free scoring and also pretty weak at the back. You’re going to be able to get exact data from many sites who offer overall percentages of games where both team have scores. In the 2018/19 Premier League season, Leicester had the highest percentage with 63% of their total games having both team scores.

It’s important to delegate your research into both home and away. For example, Leicester’s overall score of 63% of matches was offset slightly, with just 53% of home games having BTTS, but a staggering 74% of away games.

Of all the top flight English leagues, League 2 had the highest BTTS percentage of matches in 2017/18, with 54%, 6% higher than the Premier League’s 49%.

Goalscorer Betting

Another popular bet for football is that of the ever-increasing number of goalscorer bets. The most common come in form of the first, last and anytime markets. The first goalscorer is probably the most popular out of the three and for this you need to choose which player will get the first goal of the match. The last goalscorer is the opposite of this, having to choose the player who gets the last goal (note, this can be first goal as well, should the game finish 1-0). Anytime is where you pick a player to score anytime within the 90-minute match.

There are a couple of stipulations that you need to consider for this bet. For example, if your player fails to start the game and only comes on after the first goal has been scored, your bet will be voided, and stake refunded. It’s also worth noting that should an own goal be scored, this will not count towards the goalscorer market and the match will continue assuming no goal has been scored for the purpose of this bet.

Strategy & Statistics

A good rule of thumb for first goalscorer betting is to choose players that are either in form or are taking a lot of set pieces in goal scoring situations (penalties, direct free-kicks etc.).

Mo Salah, who won the Premier League Golden Booth in 2017/18 for Liverpool, scored first in 10 of their 38 games that season (26.35%).

Correct Score

The correct score market is one of the toughest bets to call, but it can be the most lucrative if you get it right. The bet means that you need to predict to the exact score of that match. The score has to be absolutely spot on for the bet to win and will need to be settled within 90 minutes, unless otherwise stated. For example, if you backed a team to win 3-1, you would need that game to win 3-1 for your bet to win.

There are a few variations of this bet that can be used as well, such as half-time/full-time correct score. This is where you need to select the correct score for both half-time and full-time. As you can imagine, this bet adds another layer of difficulty for the market due to you needing both scores spot on for a successful bet. Even if the full-time score is correct, if you’ve failed to predict the half-time score then your bet will lose.

Strategy & Statistics

There are some scores that more common than others in football. The Premier League in the 2017/18 season had the following percentages and score lines as the most frequent:

1. 1-1 = 12%
2. 1-0 = 12%
3. 2-1 = 8%
4. 0-0 = 8%
5. 2-0 = 7%
6. 1-2 = 6%

It’s worth noting that the 6th spot (1-2) is the only away victory result in the league and the most common for away teams when winning.

Half time results:

1. 0-0 = 33%
2. 1-0 = 19%
3. 0-1 = 14%
4. 1-1 = 9%

You’d be hard pushed to really look outside of the more popular result as stated above. In total these 6 results equated for 53% of the matches that year. The half-time results are really interesting though, with 73% of the total half-time scores being made up from just 4 results.

Previous meetings between the two sides are often used as decent guides as to how games play out. Another good point to make is that traditionally local derbies are played out as tight affairs, regardless of the gulf in class between the two teams.

Total Goals – Over/Under

Another emerging and popular market is the over/under on goal lines within matches. These work by the bookmaker setting a line for that match and the punter then choosing if there will be less or more than those goals, stated as over or under.

The bets are highlighted in fractions, which means that there can be no draws or “push” results. The most common line for each game is 2.5 goals. The punter then essentially needs to pick if there will be over or under 2.5 goals, or in laymen’s terms 3 or more, or 2 or less.

The line can be adjusted with each match though, often starting from as low as 0.5 going right up to 5.5 or even higher for some matches.

Variations of this market can include both the match result (match results + over/under goal line) and the Both Teams to Score market (BTTS Yes/no + over/under goal line).

Strategy & Statistics

This market is one of the most flexible that you can bet on, in that, for each game you should be able to form an opinion on how it might play out. The idea is to first come up with a likely result and then to see how it fits with this betting market.

For example, from your research you come to the conclusion that a 2-1 result is the most likely. So, for this you could choose either the over 2.5 goals or under 3.5 goals bet.

In 2017/18 season, the Premier League averaged 2.68 goals per game, which would suggest that if backed over 2.5 goals for every game, you would win more bets than you would lose. Important to note that this does not equate to profit, given the odds for each game will fluctuate accordingly.

Additional Football Advice

As the most popular sport on the planet, there is lots of information available on the game. Below we consider a number of areas, including when matches are played and what you need to know about VAR.

League Formats

Each season around the world can take place at different times. This is often to coincide with climates. In Europe, the vast majority of games are played throughout the winter time, including autumn and spring, avoiding summer. This is mainly down to the fact that it avoids the hot weather that can affect players and games.

Most leagues will start in September and run through until early May time. These leagues all run around the same time as it means that when major tournaments such as the World Cup and European Championships are running throughout the summer, players who are involved are able to get ample rest.

Winter Breaks Across Europe

There are many leagues that also have a winter break held across Christmas and the New Year. Leagues such as the Bundesliga in Germany and La Liga in Spain are keen advocates of this to prevent player burnout. The Premier League in England has always been opposed to this and actually have one of the busiest stretches of games throughout this very period.

But, for the 2018/19 season this is going to be trialled in England for the first time. A 2-week break will start at the beginning of January to allow players rest after the hectic Christmas schedule.

Matchdays & Kick-Off Times

There was once a time where all games for the top English league would take place at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon. It’s a time that is synonymous with football and even as fixtures are released for new seasons these days, the default time and day is 3pm on a Saturday afternoon.

But, as TV money and sponsorship deals have taken over leagues such as the Premier League, it means that games are now more spread out than ever and often you are only left with a handful on 3pm kick-offs on a Saturday. In the 2017/18 season a game was played on every day of the week at some point throughout the season, with the first Thursday night match in history.

Whilst the structure can be complicated for games the common slots are highlighted below with rough times:

As you can see, they are very much spread out, with the likes of Super Sunday on Sky Sports and Monday Night Football offering up huge viewing figures for major games that have been moved in order to accommodate TV viewings.

One thing that we do want to highlight is that no games are broadcasted on TV from the 3pm kick offs on a Saturday. The whole concept of moving matches for TV and not broadcasting all matches was the fear that fans would stay away from grounds in favour of watching from their own home, in effect reducing revenue numbers from ticket sales for clubs.

As these games aren’t shown, it means that not all games can be (legally) watched on TV and still keeps the tradition of attending football matches running. Although, you could argue that there are that many games shown on TV these days that this could change in the not too distant future.

From a betting perspective, the increased number of games that are on TV and the variety of days that games are spread out over is actually a good thing. It dilutes the research that needs to be made each day for each game and allows you to focus in on a single match much nearer to kick off (essential for things like team news) instead of working through 10 games if they were all played at the same time.

Final Games of the Season

There is a time where all teams play on the same day at the same time and it happens just once a season. This is the last game of the season and it’s required in order to keep games competitive in the hunt for league places and relegation. By playing all games no team at the same time, no team can get an advantage in terms of playing first/last for their place in the league.

There are still games that are on TV on the final game and it’s often one of the most exciting and exhilarating of the year as a result.

Home advantage

A huge emphasis is made in football for the home team having an advantage over their opponents, and there is a number of reasons why this is. In the 2017/18 Premier League season 46% of results were that of home wins, compared to 26% draws and 28% away wins.

One of the biggest attributes to this, and something that many people aren’t aware of is that the home team are actually able to set up the pitch dimensions for each game. There is actually quite a large discrepancy between the biggest and the smallest, as highlighted with the 5 biggest Premier League pitches compared to smallest.

Largest and Smallest Premier League Pitches 2018/19

There will be grounds that simply can’t go any bigger in terms of the size of the pitch, but there are also others that are able to, but choose not to increase the size. A lot of this depends on the style that the team wants to play that’s going to aid them most for each game.

For example, Wolves, who have the smallest pitch in the league, will likely be wanting to keep games fairly tight, which means they want to close off as much space as possible for their opponents. The flip side is someone like Arsenal, who are famed for open, attacking football, who want a big ground that allows them space to get in behind opposition defences.

Home Support

Another big factor when it comes to home advantage comes in the form of home support. Home grounds are going to have a much larger number of fans cheering on their team than traveling away fans. The allocation of away tickets will depend on a number of factors, but as a general rule you can expect it be around 10% the total capacity of the stadium for Premier League games. This number can rise for competitions such as the FA Cup.

Having the fans behind a team can play a huge role as it gives players confidence and drive. But, it can also influence the referee and it’s often agreed that playing at home will entitle your team to more 50/50 calls, even though referees should remain entirely impartial for both teams.

VAR (Video Assistant Referee)

VAR is a fairly new technology that has been brought into some football games. It’s highest profile outing has been at the 2018 World Cup, but the technology has been met with mixed reactions throughout.

The concept is to allow a team of officials watching the game via several televisions and camera angles to help the on-field referee in major decisions. It’s used for calls such as goals, penalty decisions, direct red card decisions and mistaken identity for yellow or red cards, overturning clear and obvious errors.

It’s technology that has worked well with the likes of tennis, cricket and rugby, but for football has taken a little longer to bed in. The issue occurs in that for many decisions it’s still how a single person would interpret the act. A handball penalty decision for example, where one referee might see it as deliberate another might not.

Whilst the current set up is still flawed, there is no doubt that it seems to be the way the game is heading. The decision-making process has become clearer though and even going from its first major trial run at the World Cup, has had a massive effect on how games are run.

VAR and Betting Markets

This all links in to betting markets in some form as well. Penalty decisions has probably seen the biggest change as a result, with VAR being much less tolerant for things like holding in the box from set pieces. The rise has been substantial, with 20 penalties being awarded in just 36 matches at one point in the World Cup group stages, some 2 more than the record that was 18 across the entire tournament in 2002.

The price on a penalty awarded has been massively slashed as a result. A non-VAR match would average around 5/1 for a penalty to be awarded, whereas with VAR, these prices are nearer Even money or slightly better.

As VAR continues to be implemented, we are likely to see other markets start to be adjusted as well. Goals are likely going to increase as both linesmen and referees are going to be more lenient on calls knowing that they are going to refer to VAR anyway. Bookings and free kicks will alter as well and whilst it’s still early days to see what or how this will change, it does highlight that VAR will have an effect on betting markets over the long term, especially given the early results of betting on penalties.

Disciplinary records

A huge part of the game comes down to discipline with football matches. Red cards will mean that a player is removed from the game, meaning that the team is at a disadvantage over their opponents. But, yellow cards can also play a huge role as it means that players need to curb their aggression in fear of getting a second booking and then being sent off.

There are set guidelines that referees, and officials can look at to determine if a players deserves a card and if so, which.

Yellow card

• Unsporting behaviour
• Dissent by word or action
• Persistent infringement of the Laws of the Game
• Delaying the restart of play
• Failure to respect the required distance when play is restarted with a corner kick, throw-in or free kick
• Entering or re-entering the field of play without the referee’s permission
• Deliberately leaving the field of play without the referee’s permission

Red Card

• Serious foul play
• Violent conduct
• Spitting at an opponent or any other person
• Denying the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball (this does not apply to a goalkeeper within their own penalty area)
• Deliberate fouls that deny an obvious goal scoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the player’s goal
• Using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures
• Receiving a second caution in the same match

As you can see the rules vary, but they can be interpreted very different from one official to another, which causes inconsistencies in the games and one of the reasons why VAR, which we spoke about earlier, has been introduced.

For example, the top two criteria for yellow and red and unsporting behaviour and serious foul play. Sometimes the margins between each can be tiny, so the same tackle by a player can be deemed one or the other, which often occurs in the Premier League.

The number of red cards for a club throughout a season usually averages around 3, ranging anywhere from 1-7, which has been a common trend over the last decade in the Premier League.

Yellow cards are much more frequent and usually start from around 50, which is around 1.3 per game, shooting right up to 100 over the season or roughly 2.6 per game.

Major Football Tournaments

World Cup

Held every four years after a rigorous qualification campaign, 32 of the planet’s finest international teams do battle for the greatest prize of them all: the Jules Rimet Trophy. Split into groups of four, the top two in each bracket go forth into the knockout stage of the tournament where glory or misery awaits. Geoff Hurst’s goal in ’66, the ‘Hand of God’ in ’86, Gazza’s tears in ’90, Zidane’s head butt in ’06….the World Cup has played host to some of football’s most iconic moments. The host nation is chosen via a bidding system, alleged FIFA corruption notwithstanding.

European Championship (Euros)

Hosted every four years in the even number split between World Cup years, the European Championship crowns the finest international side on the continent following a gruelling 24 team shoot out that incorporates months of qualifying matches and then the final tournament in the summer. Spain and Germany are the most decorated teams in the competition’s history with three wins apiece, while for England fans the 50+ years of hurt continue: they have not progressed past the semi-final stage in some two decades.

Football Betting Specials

Champions League

It is the undoubted pinnacle of club football: an opportunity for the continent’s premier teams to do battle to be crowned ‘King of Europe’. Well, at least for a year anyway. Formerly known as the European Cup, the competition is made up of 32 teams that qualify via strong showings in their domestic leagues. The round robin group format, where four teams play each other home and away, then gives way to the knockout phase of the top 16 sides; with the ultimate prize of the final in May to look toward.

Europa League

Known across the continent as the Champions League’s unruly younger sibling, the Europa League is made up of 48 teams that frankly don’t perform quite well enough in their domestic division to make the more prestigious tournament, or have qualified via alternative means; winning a cup competition, for example. The traditional group/knockout phase format has been in place since 2009/10, when the competition was rebranded from the UEFA Cup. These days, the Europa League has a greater significance as the winner takes their place in the following season’s Champions League.

FA Cup

The FA Cup was first held in 1871, and as such it is one of the oldest competitions in world football. It gives smaller teams and those lower down the pyramid a brilliant opportunity to face Premier League opposition; with a number of huge giantkillings taking place through the years. The lower league clubs enter the early rounds from August-December, before the larger clubs are added into the mix in round three. The final is held at Wembley in May each year, with 12-time winners Arsenal the most decorated in the cup’s lengthy history.

The League Cup

The League Cup pits the 92 clubs of the top four divisions of English football against each other in a straight knockout format. It is perceived by many clubs as lower in importance than the other competitions due to the lower prize money and lack of a direct route to European football; hence why the likes of Bradford City have reached the final and Birmingham City have lifted the trophy. The competition begins in September and culminates in a Wembley final typically on the last Sunday in February.

Types of Football Betting Offer

To help you quickly get your head around the offers listed above, we’ve compiled a brief glossary of the more common types of promotions that bookmakers run in conjunction with football/soccer betting.

Football Betting Super Bowl

Note that there are two types of money/cash back offer – true money back promotions where you actually receive your money back if your bet loses (assuming the qualifying criteria is met) and promotions where you receive your refund as a promotional free bet. Check the T&C’s of the offer you’re interested or the summary we provide on this website to find out which category it falls into.

College Football Betting Lines

• Red Card Refund – Here you’ll get your money back if a red card is shown at any point during the game. Usually the offer applies to specific markets (such as first/last goalscorer and correct score) and in most cases is for pre-match singles only. If in-play betting is permitted with this offer then only red cards shown after the bet has been placed will count – ie: if you bet after a red card has been shown in a game, you don’t automatically win.
• Nil-Nil Refund – With this offer you’re looking for games that end without either team scoring. If that happens you’ll get your money back, but usually only on specific markets such as correct score. Often referred to as ‘bore draw’.
• Correct Score, Wrong Team – This is a promotion that Coral have started running that will inevitably get copied by other betting sites in the future. Here you place a bet on the correct score market and if the result is the opposite of your prediction (eg: you bet on the game ending 2-1 and the final result is 1-2), you’ll get your money back. This offer does not apply to draws, for obvious reasons.
• Double Delight, Hat Trick Heaven – This is a long running offer from Betfred (and now their sister site, Totesport) where your winning first goalscorer bets are doubled if the player scores again during the match, and tripled if they score a hat trick.
• Accumulator Bonus – Quite simply, a bonus which is added to successful accumulators. The bonus is usually given as a percentage which rises with the number of legs – so a 10 leg acca is going to get a bigger bonus than a 5 leg one.
• Accumulator Insurance – Acca insurance is exactly how it sounds, insurance against your bet losing. The criteria varies from site to site and between promotions, but in most cases it gives money back (or a free bet) if a, accumulator loses because of only one leg (eg: you win four out of your five selections). This offer is most frequently offered on ‘both teams to score’ (or ‘BTTS’ if you’d rather) markets, but does crop up on match bettinh markets from time to time.
• Free In Play Bet – One of our favourite promotions is the free in play bet. These tend to only crop up around the biggest matches and award you a free in play bet when you place a qualifying pre-match bet. Eg: If you place a £25 pre-match bet, you’ll receive a £25 free bet to use during the game.