Football is the most popular betting market in the UK, and you can make considerable amounts from betting on football matches and competitions. However, unless you have a good run of luck, you won’t make much with a hit-and-hope approach to football betting. You need a calculated strategy to make the most from this lucrative betting market.
Although we believe there is no best approach to football betting, you can gain an edge over the bookies by developing a system with several time-tested and mostly successful betting strategies. This article covers ten top football betting strategies and how you can use them to make significant sums of money from football punts.
#1. Cover all outcomes with arbitrage betting
Arbitrage betting, also known as arbing, involves taking advantage of differences in odds across UK bookies by placing multiple bets on the same match to guarantee a profit. You can make consistent profits by analyzing the odds provided by different bookies and spreading your bets across these sites to cover different outcomes.
For instance, if Liverpool is playing against Chelsea, and SkyBet offers odds of 2.0 for Liverpool to win, while bet365 offers odds of 2.2 for Chelsea to win; you can make a profit on this match by placing separate bets for both outcomes on each bookie. Work out your potential returns quickly and easily on our arbitrage calculator.
If you bet £100 on Liverpool with SkyBet and they win, you cash out £200. Similarly, a £91 bet on bet365 for Chelsea to win would guarantee you winnings of £200.2, if the London side comes out on top. Since your total stake across both bookies was £191, you end up with a guaranteed profit of £9 regardless of who wins the match.
Pros
- Lower risk since all outcomes are covered
- Doesn’t need specialized football knowledge
Cons
- Manually finding arbitrage opportunities can be time-consuming
- Requires quick action as odds tend to change quickly
#2. Be on the lookout for value bets
Imagine a scenario where Manchester United host Nottingham Forest, and being in poor form, Ladbrokes have offered odds of 1.90 for the Red Devils to win. Regardless of form, you can’t believe that United have been priced so high to win, especially with the advantage of playing at the famous Old Trafford. As a result, you instantly place a bet favouring the Red Devils to win – this is essentially what value betting is all about.
With the value betting strategy, you identify and place bets on a football match where the odds offered by the bookie are higher than what you believe to be the true probability of the outcome. However, value bets are more challenging to find in popular leagues as bookies tend to be better informed about the strengths and weaknesses of the teams. Therefore, you might have to look to smaller and lesser-known competitions to uncover value bets more frequently.
Pros
- Value bets are available for most football betting options
- More profitable in the long run
Cons
- Higher risk of losing bets
- Requires a larger bankroll to make substantial profits
#3. Use bonuses to match bets
With the matched betting strategy, you can leverage bookie bonuses to generate profit from football betting with minimal risk. Matched betting requires you to place two different bets – a back bet with your preferred bookie and a lay bet on a betting exchange to cancel out the risk on your back bet.
Assuming Betfred offers a £50 free bet welcome bonus if you place a £10 bet on events with odds of 2.0 or greater. You then decide to place your £10 bet on Everton to win at odds of 2.0 with Betfred. Simultaneously, on a betting exchange like Betfair, you place a lay bet against Everton winning, which covers both a draw and a loss.
Regardless of the match result, you’ve unlocked a £50 free bet by initially betting £10 on Betfred. You can then use this free bet on a different football match, again laying the same outcome on an exchange. By carefully calculating your lay stake with a lay calculator to cover all outcomes, you get a guaranteed profit from using the free bet.
Pros
- Minimal risk since this strategy relies heavily on using free bet bonuses
- You don’t need specialized football knowledge to match bets
Cons
- Depends on the availability of bookie promotions, which can sometimes be irregular
- Placing lay bets requires complex calculations
#4. Copy bets from successful punters
It is said that nobody is an island, and this is also true for football betting. With copy betting, all you have to do is follow and replicate the bets that have been placed by successful punters. This strategy is especially useful if you’re new to football betting or if you don’t have the time to research bets yourself.
You can find experienced and successful punters by exploring social media sites like X, Reddit, and Facebook. However, you must be careful in your search for a reliable punter as several scammers are pretending to be betting experts online. To avoid falling for scams, we suggest that you only copy football bets from tipsters with extensive betting history and good reviews.
We have a great list of top twitter tipsters that you can follow.
Pros
- Simple strategy to use since you only need to copy bets
- Reduces the time you would normally need to analyze matches
Cons
- Some platforms may charge fees for copying bets
- Your success relies entirely on the performance of the bettors you are copying
#5. Place in-play bets
Although not peculiar to football, in-play betting is another strategy you can use to make substantial amounts from football betting. In-play bets allow you to react to events as they unfold during a match, providing opportunities to bet at odds higher than what you would have gotten pre-match.
For instance, if a heavy favourite concedes an early goal, their odds of winning the match will decrease. Placing an in-play bet on the favourites to come back and win the match at this point will provide more value than an outright pre-match bet.
Pros
- Allows you to take advantage of momentum shifts during football matches
- Typically provides several hedging opportunities
Cons
- In-play odds tend to change very fast, which makes it harder to find value
- Not all football betting options are available in play
#6. Bet on handicaps
The handicap betting strategy allows you to give a virtual deficit or advantage to level the playing field between two opposing football teams in terms of betting odds. With this strategy, you can bet on matches where there’s a clear favourite, but the odds are unattractive for a straight-win bet. In most cases, you can get better odds with handicap bets compared to a traditional match-winner bet.
Consider an EPL match where Tottenham are overwhelming favourites to defeat Luton Town. To level the playing field, bookies will offer positive handicap bets for Luton. If you bet on Luton with a +2 handicap, they would need to either win the match outright or lose by fewer than two goals for your bet to win. This can be a value bet if you expect Luton to put up some form of resistance but are skeptical about their chances of winning the entire game.
On the other hand, if you fancy Tottenham with a -2 goal handicap, they would need to win by more than two goals for your bet to be successful. You will also get higher odds from placing this -2 handicap bet on Tottenham, instead of a straight-win bet.
Pros
- Offers better odds compared to straightforward win/loss bets
- Provides more ways to bet on a match with an expected one-sided outcome
Cons
- Handicaps can be confusing to understand for a beginner
- Higher risk is involved since teams are required to cover the required margins
#7. Hedge your bets to secure profits
Hedge betting allows you to counter potential losses by placing extra bets on different outcomes of a match that you have originally placed a punt on. This strategy works well with in-play betting, where odds change depending on what is happening in a match.
Suppose you’ve placed a £10 bet on Aston Villa to win a match at odds of 2.0. As the match goes on, Villa takes the lead, but you’re worried they might not hold onto it. To hedge your initial bet, you can place a live bet on the opposing team to win or draw the match. This way, you can lock in your profit or break even if your original bet loses.
Pros
- Provides a way to lock in profits if a bet is performing well
- Allows you to spread risk across multiple bet outcomes
Cons
- Hedging bets can reduce your overall profits
- Hedge punts must be carefully calculated to ensure effectiveness
Work out your returns on our free-to-use hedging calculator.
#8. Combine selections for acca bets
Betting on accas is another popular football betting strategy that involves combining multiple selections into one bet. With an acca bet, you can potentially win huge amounts from a small stake since the odds of each selection in the bet are combined by multiplying. One of the best apps for accas for football is Betfred, they are well worth using.
Let’s say you place an acca bet on four selections with odds of 2.0, 1.8, 2.2, and 1.9. The combined odds for these picks would be 15.048 and placing a £10 bet on the acca would potentially give you winnings of £150.48. This is a significantly higher return than what you would get from betting £10 on each selection individually.
That said, you must understand that accumulators come with higher risk; all the selections that make up the bet must win for the acca to be successful – even just one wrong pick results in the bet being lost.
Pros
- Combined odds of acca bets can lead to substantial profits
- Provides a chance to leverage smaller bets to win large amounts
- Get acca insurance – money back if your bet doesn’t come in
Cons
- Higher risk since all selections must win for the bet to be successful
- Bookies typically limit the number of selections in an acca bet
We have a great free accumulator calculator that can work out your returns in seconds.
#9. Place system bets
System bets spread risk by covering multiple outcomes from different football matches within a single bet slip. Unlike acca bets where all the selections have to be correct, you can profit from a system bet even if some of your predictions end up losing.
For instance, if you place a £1 Yankee bet on four teams – Luton, Everton, Fulham, and Brentford – to win their respective matches, and only Luton, Everton, and Fulham win, your doubles and trebles involving these three teams will still yield returns.
The best part about system bets, like Trixie, Yankee, and Canadian, is that they are available on several top UK bookies. Although system bets typically require higher stakes compared to singles or simple accas, they offer a safety net that is absent with these bet types.
Pros
- Potential to make a profit even if some selections lose
- Provides an opportunity to mix safer bets with riskier selections for higher odds
Cons
- Requires more capital since you have to place multiple individual bets
- Understanding the various combos in a system bet can be challenging for beginners
#10. Compare odds across different bookmakers
Bookies commonly offer different odds for the same football matches, due to varying calculations and market responses. Therefore, you can get the best returns on your football punts by comparing the odds across different bookmakers before betting.
Let’s say you want to bet on Fulham defeating Leicester City at odds of 2.1 on BetVictor. However, upon taking a quick look at Betway’s lines, you discover that they offer 2.3 odds for Fulham to win this same match. A £50 bet at odds of 2.1 on BetVictor would return £105, whereas the same bet on Betway at odds of 2.3 would return £115.
The difference in profits might seem small; however, by consistently finding and betting on higher odds, the profits will stack up in the long run. You can also use odds comparison websites that display odds from multiple bookies to easily find the best value for your bets.
Pros
- Allows you to find the best odds for a particular outcome
- Differences in odds between bookmakers often lead to arbitrage opportunities
Cons
- Can be difficult to manage accounts across different bookies
- Odds tend to change rapidly, resulting in missed opportunities
Importance of a Football Betting Strategy
Having a solid football betting strategy in place is crucial for making more informed decisions and thus increasing your chances of winning. A good strategy obviously starts with having a good foundational knowledge of the game and then going that bit further by analysing statistics and trends and then making your betting decisions based of those stats. There are also other factors to consider such as setting limits, avoiding off the cuff, impulsive decisions and managing your bankroll.
Having a well-defined betting strategy will you focused and will help you to meet your goals. It ensures you are not just betting because you have heard something or Andy at the pub is convinced Spurs are going to win because he ‘fancies it’. It removes emotion and improves your chances of winning and also helps your bankroll.
Football Betting Tips
Focus on Specific Leagues
Targeting and focusing on specific leagues allows you to gain a better understanding of the teams and players involved. If you just concentrate on one league, you can keep on top of all of the latest news, expert analysis, injury reports, trends and team and player performances which is vital to make better betting decisions. It doesn’t have to be the Premier League either, you might be a fan of a lower league club and want to concentrate on League 2.
Having one league to focus on should form part of your overall football betting strategy. You can streamline your bets even more and can keep track of everything more easily.
How to Decide Which Strategy is Best for You
There isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ approach to football betting. Ultimately, the best betting strategy is one that aligns with your budget and how much risk you’re willing to take. In other words, the best football betting strategy is the one that makes you the most money.
If you’re new to football betting, it might be easier to start with a simpler strategy that involves comparing odds across different bookies to find value. However, as an experienced punter, you’ll have a better understanding of strategies like system bets, arbing, or bet-hedging, and these can earn you higher returns over time.
One way to determine which football betting strategy is most profitable for you is by regularly reviewing your betting activity. By tracking your most common bet types and analyzing how much you bet on average, you can tell which strategy has made you the most money over a period and subsequently invest more in this strategy. You may also want to look at our strategy when it comes to late goals betting and see if this works for you.
There are so many markets and ways to bet on football. With that in mind, the BettingTools team has put together these individual football betting strategies which you may also want to look at. From over 0.5 goals to late goals betting, we have you covered.
Late Goals Betting Strategy
We look at the best strategy for betting on late goals in football.
Alternative Corners Betting
See how to make a profit with alternative corners betting.
Over 0.5 Goals Strategy
Discover how to successfully use the over 0.5 goals betting strategy.
Win Both Halves Betting Strategy
Ultimate strategy to win both halves betting market. See what it is and how to bet successfully.
Football Betting Strategy Summary
Betting on your favourite football teams is an enjoyable venture, and with good betting strategies, you can simultaneously have fun and make money. The best part about our betting strategies is that you can combine several of them to form a successful system. By using in-play markets to hedge your bets, you are essentially securing your profits. Similarly, comparing odds across different bookies will help you get the best value bets – the possibilities for a top system are endless.
That said, the best betting systems and strategies are useless without patience and discipline. So, while developing your bookie-wrecking strategies, master these qualities to improve your chances of consistent wins and long-term profits.
