Ultimate Guide to Types of Football Betting in the UK

If you are from the UK and beginning to develop an interest in sports betting, you must be looking for resources on football betting. Here, we summarise the major types of football betting and their meaning in easy-to-understand language. 

Types of Football Betting Explained

In the following sections, all the major types of football betting will be explained in a simple language one by one. 

Correct Score

In correct score betting, you put money on your prediction regarding the exact score at the end of the game. Yes, you have to precisely predict the score of a football match to win a correct score bet.

If you fail to do so even by the smallest of margins, you will lose your money. 

Furthermore, goals scored during extra time, penalty shootouts, and own goals are not counted. So, the risk of losing by a small margin is quite great. 

In the world of sports betting, especially football betting, correct score bets are among the riskiest. 

To know more, you can read our dedicated guide to correct score betting.

Both Team to Score

One of the most unique and famous among all the types of football betting is the “Both Team to Score” bet. Here, you neither have to predict a winner nor do you have to predict the score. 

If both teams score during the match, whether it is one goal each or many more, your bet wins. Sounds simple? Well, it is, and that is why it is a favourite among punters of all levels. 

This bet brings its own unique risks. No doubt about that. You may be faced with a situation where one team or both teams fail to score. 

But your bet can quickly come alive even at the last minute. If a team is losing 4-0 but manages to score a goal at the last moment, your bet will win. 

Draw No Bet

“Draw No Bet” involves accurately predicting the result of a match. 

However, there is a catch. 

The possibility of a draw is removed from the bet. 

You can only bet on a home win or away win. 

Furthermore, if there is a draw, you do not lose the bet. Your stake is simply returned to you. 

That is why draw no bets are extremely popular with punters who like to take the least amount of risk. 

Accumulator Bet 

An accumulator bet is one of the most interesting, yet challenging football bets. You should make accumulator bets only after you have gathered sufficient experience. 

The name accumulator comes from the term ‘accumulate.’ In this bet, you accumulate multiple selections into one bet. 

In simpler terms, you combine multiple bets into one single bet. 

This is extremely risky as losing one selection can lead to the loss of the entire bet. It is extremely hard to win as well because all selections need to be correct for the bet to win. 

Therefore, accumulator bets are not for everybody. But, for seasoned punters who have their strategies set, it can be a great way to win big amounts. 

First Goal Scorer

As you can probably guess from the name, first goalscorer bets involve backing a player to score the first goal during a game. This is somewhat hard to predict and therefore hard for you to win. Especially compared to bets like anytime goalscorer (which will be covered in the next section). 

Even so, the rules are simple, so many punters take the risk. Own goals do not affect your bet. If the first goal is an own goal, the fate of your bet will be decided by the second goal. 

However, if your player does not enter the field or is subbed before the first goal, the entire bet is considered void. 

Anytime Goalscorer 

If you see yourself becoming active in sports betting, you will love anytime goalscorer betting. The best thing about this bet is that you can make pretty solid predictions based on your football knowledge. 

So, in this bet, you basically back a particular player who you think will score during the game. They can score at any time during the standard 90 minutes gameplay. 

As long as your player scores, you win the bet. 

However, be mindful of the fact that some goals are not counted. Own goals, penalties, and goals scored during extra time do not count towards anytime goalscorer bets. 

To know more, you can read our dedicated guide to anytime goalscorer betting.

Handicap Betting 

Have you been discouraged from betting on drastically unequal contests? If so, you definitely know how betting on such matches can be boring and not worth your time. 

That is where handicap betting comes in to spice things up. A handicap is brought in to equalize the playing field between the teams. 

Therefore, the team that is overwhelmingly likely to win needs to win by a certain pre-specified margin. Otherwise, the bets in their favour lose. 

For example, you may not want to bet on a Manchester United vs Leicester City game. Betting on Leicester would be too risky. And betting on Manchester United would not really be worth your while because the odds are so low. 

However, if a significant handicap is introduced, betting on the underdog suddenly becomes an attractive prospect. 

Over/Under

Over/under betting is in a sense similar to correct score betting. But it is much more flexible and consequently less risky. 

In an over/under bet, you merely choose a range of scores within which the total score of the game has to fall. 

For example, a bookmaker may be accepting over/under 2.5 bets. That means you can either bet on the total score being less than 2.5 or more than 2.5

You should note that the total here is the combined score of both teams at the end of 90 minutes. Goals scored during extra time and penalty shootouts do not typically count unless otherwise stated. 

Sounds a bit confusing? In that case, an example can help clear out the confusion. 

Assume for the sake of argument that you are betting on a Chelsea vs Liverpool match. You have made an over 2.5 bet. That means you are predicting that the total number of goals scored by both teams will be more than 2.5. 

At the end of the match, Chelsea defeats Liverpool 2-1 and your bet wins. By the same token, if Chelsea defeats Liverpool 2-0, your bet loses. 

Asian Handicap

Asian handicap is a variant of the handicap betting explained earlier. The name comes from the fact that it originated in Asia. 

To reiterate, handicap betting occurs in a situation where the overwhelming favourites in a match are burdened with a handicap. It is done to equalize the playing field between the opponents. 

That is true with Asian handicaps as well. But the possibility of a draw is eliminated. 

Therefore, while handicap betting is a three-way market, Asian handicap betting is a two-way market. That is the main difference. 

Full-Time Result 

One of the best appreciated among all the types of football bettings is definitely full-time result betting. The bet is simple and can be won with certain time-tested tips and tricks. 

Full-time result bets involve correctly predicting the outcome of the match at the end of full-time. The meaning of the term ‘full-time’ requires some explanation. 

Generally speaking, full-time here refers to the regulation 90 minutes of a football match plus any injury time. Changes in results occurring during extra time and penalty shootouts are disregarded. 

Therefore, theoretically, the team that you back may lose but you may still win your bet. 

Best Types of Football Betting

If you have followed the article thus far, you are familiar with the major types of football betting. But there may still be some questions lingering in your mind. 

For example, which type of betting is the best among all? 

That is a valid question but quite difficult to answer definitively. But we will give you some pointers to identify the best types of football betting for you personally. 

You can divide the world of football betting into 2 broad categories. There are bets that are high-risk and high-reward.

On the other hand, there are bets that are low-risk and pay modest rewards. 

Based on your personality, preferences, and goals, you can choose the kind of bets that you should indulge in. 

High-Risk Betting 

There are some bets that you should avoid if you are not a big risk-taker. They include some of the popular bets among the type of football betting described in this article. 

For example, you can consider correct score betting, accumulator bets, and first goal scorer bets as riskier on average. 

These bets are harder to accurately predict and win via strategic approaches. Moreover, the margin of error is extremely small. 

However, the flip side to that is the pay-outs that these bets can generate. 

If your bet succeeds, you will win many times the amount you wagered. The payouts for successful correct score, accumulator, and first goal scorer bets can be unlike anything you will ever get with other bets. 

Low-Risk Betting 

Even though there are no bets without risk, there are a few names among the types of football betting that carry relatively less risk. 

If you are a beginner or a risk-averse bettor, these are the types of football betting that you should focus on. 

They include bets like anytime goalscorer, handicap betting, over/under betting, full-time result betting, draw no bet, and both teams to score. 

In such bets, you can make pretty solid predictions based on tips, tricks, strategies, and your football knowledge. 

Therefore, the odds associated with them tend to be lower. The payouts are smaller compared to riskier bets. But the chances of losing everything is also lower. 

Best Places for Football Betting 

When choosing a bookmaker, one of the factors that we always recommend punters take seriously is the number of betting markets. You might ask, what are betting markets? 

Well, all the different types of football betting each constitute a betting market. The higher the number of betting markets in a sportsbook, the greater your choice when it comes to betting. 

In a sportsbook with a large number of betting markets, you can attempt to create a balance between high-risk and low-risk bets. In fact, many punters do exactly that as a long-term betting strategy. 

Therefore, when comparing the best legal UK sportsbooks, be sure to compare the number of betting markets each of them offers. 

FAQ – Types of Football Betting

You can get quick and easy answers to the most common questions about types of football betting in the section below. 

How Many Types of Football Betting Are There? 

Currently, sportsbooks offer many different types of football betting. They include correct score, first goalscorer, anytime goalscorer, handicap bets, over/under bets, etc. 

Moreover, bookmakers are always innovating and introducing new types of bets for football and all other sports from time to time. 

Why Are There So Many Types of Football Betting? 

The reason why there are so many types of football betting is that there are so many things happening during a football match. 

If football betting was just about betting on the match results, it would not be as interesting as it is today. That is why new bet types emerged so you could bet on things like your favourite players scoring and the exact score at the end of a game. 

Which Types of Football Betting Are the Best? 

There is no clear-cut answer as to which betting type is best. However, you can choose to go with high-risk bets or low-risk bets based on your preferences and personality. 

If you like taking big risks, you can go for accumulator bets, correct score bets, etc. But, if you are on the more risk-averse side, you will be better off sticking to bets like anytime goalscorer among others. 

Where Can I Make Football Bets?

Most major legal sportsbooks in the UK accept most types of football betting. As football is the most popular sport in the UK, you will not suffer from a shortage of renowned bookmakers.

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