basic 442 formation drawn with crosses on a chalk board

Football betting is a fun yet challenging beast to conquer. Especially if you are new to the betting activity, it can be tough to strategize accordingly to make the right wagers based on different situations with your chosen teams.

Accessibility to football betting online has dramatically increased over time to where you can place wagers from your smartphone from wherever you are. This option makes it great to edit wagers as needed during live betting.

Team Form: Current Performance

Gather data from spectating the highlights of prior matches and listening to news segments on the team form. This will provide you with an overall snapshot of the team’s current performance. Here’s what to consider when you refine your betting strategy on a current matchup:

  • Evaluate data from the last 5 to 10 games for each team. Did they win, lose, or draw these matches?
  • Analyze the bigger picture. How did top players perform? Were there any rebounds or assists from other team members? Was the team more on offense, defence, or a nice balance of both?
  • Most football teams perform better when they are the home team versus the away team. Figure out if the team was home or away to further gain insight into their overall performance.

Head-to-Head Record

Especially if the teams have gone against one another in the past, it’s best to evaluate their head-to-head (H2H) records. When they are up against each other, which team dominates with wins more?

Or are their offenses and defences evenly matched to where they have a lot of draws? Evaluating this data is best for wagering match result (1X2) bets in deciding if a team will win, lose, or draw within a fixture.

Injuries and Suspensions

player with bad head injury from clash of heads when heading

Injuries and suspensions are the two key factors that kick players out of the game. For example, if a key player is injured or suspended, this could cause the betting markets to shift depending on how well other players can fill in the key player’s shoes. A missing striker could temporarily reduce a team’s offenses while missing a key goalie could drastically lessen the team’s defences.

If you decide to bet on a team with a full squad that is up against a team with missing team members, this can be a great betting advantage. A football team’s performance will usually flow better with all their usual key players available for the fixture, but their abilities could be hindered when one or two key players are missing from the usual lineup.

Red cards and yellow cards resulting in suspensions could also hinder a team much like injuries. While suspensions may involve team members being gone for one or two games, injuries could be more detrimental to the team depending on how long the player has to recuperate before rejoining.

Goals Scored and Goals Conceded

Take a look again at those 5 to 10 matches for each team you are examining before betting on them in a fixture. If a team usually scores 2 or more goals, then they may continue this trend mainly against teams with weaker defences.

If a team has been conceding more goals, it may be best to wager on over goals for that match. Ensuring to watch the goals for and goals against ratio will help you to gather more data to make the most informed betting decision in this case.

Possession and Pass Accuracy

A team with more possession of the ball means that they have command of their overall offenses and the ability to control the ball for longer periods. A team with higher pass accuracy means they perform better with making final goals maintaining constant possession of the ball with an enhanced ability to make more goals throughout a match.


A team that has 55% or higher in ball possession usually flows better as a unit during a fixture. A high pass accuracy of 80% or higher showcases that a football team can guide the overall dynamic of gameplay and create quality betting chances.

Compare and contrast the possession percentage and pass accuracy for each team. It’s best to bet on the team with higher percentages for these stats for your best possible return on investment if the game goes your way.

Set Piece Efficiency

Teams that can generate more opportunities for corner kicks can increase their scoring opportunities. Players with a winning mindset and who can convert free kicks and penalties should be one of the player prop bets to wager on during this match.