Football Betting Markets
Football is one of, if not the most popular sport for betting in the United Kingdom with the likes of the Premier League and UEFA Champions League, providing massive occasions every single year. The only sport that compares is Horse Racing, with the likes of the Cheltenham Festival and the Grand National but what makes the sport of Football stand above is the range of betting markets available. Football betting markets are available all year round, no matter where the beautiful game is being played in the world, there will likely be betting markets that follow. For the likes of the Premier League, you'll find betting markets that go much deeper into the action with markets from the first minute to the last. However, for the most obscure leagues, you might find that the betting odds are limited to match odds and both teams to score.
Bet on Football at BetUK
If you're looking to place a bet on football, your options are vast - almost unlimited, as the biggest competitions in the world are played out on a regular basis, whether you're looking to bet using domestic football odds or you're looking into the sport on a wider scale with international football matches and competitions, BetUK provides a fantastic range of markets. The bigger the competition, the more markets available - so for the biggest matches, the range of markets will be massive. However, it isn't only matches, tournaments and leagues that you can bet on, football fans can bet on the likes of manager sackings, transfers and international awards.
To alter how your football odds are read, check out the settings option to switch between fractional odds and decimal odds.
Best UK Football Bets
When looking at betting markets for the top matches in the United Kingdom, there are a number of markets that should be considered for betting. UK football accumulators are the most popular bets as the 3pm blackout means that hundreds of games across England are played at the same time.
Accas tend to come in multiple ways, the standard 'to win' accumulator allows players to place a bet on several teams to win their match. Another betting market that is popular is the BTTS betting market as bettors can place up to 20 different games on an accumulator.
Today's Football Betting Odds
We acknowledge that most of the time when football fans want to place a bet on football, there is often an immediacy to the market. Most fans will be looking for markets within the coming days, rather than for months ahead. So, our sportsbook is designed for show the top upcoming fixtures across top football leagues. There are a selection of top leagues at the top of this page with a list of leagues sorted by location underneath. However, if you're looking for football odds for today's action, check out the options at the top of the page, which are 'live now' and 'starting soon'. This is how bettors can find today's betting odds. Live now will send players to the in play betting options where games that are underway will show up with the live betting markets. However, if players look into the 'starting soon' section, they will have the option of checking betting markets for all events - not just football that are happening within certain time periods. The options available are 15 minutes, 1 hour, 4 hours, 12 hours and 24 hours, so you can find the matches that are about to happen in those time periods. This option is best for those looking at mobile football betting as it provides more specifics without players having to search.
Bet Outright on Football Leagues and Tournaments
If you're looking to place a football bet, you'll likely be looking at either individual matches or a full league or tournament. In these situations, players can bet on top football competitions outright. Outright betting are competitive odds for the main aspects of a tournament and how a tournament works will determine how odds work for that event. For example, Premier League odds can be found for the likes of title winner, top four, top six and relegation, meanwhile, for the likes of the World Cup, you'll find betting markets for group winners and overall winners, different markets for different competitions.
One element that football bettors might not be aware of is that outright odds often disappear when the event is live. So for example, if you're looking to bet on the UEFA Champions League at half-time during a Champions League game, you will not be able to find outright football markets for the competition. As football odds work based on the results of matches, if before a game, Real Madrid are favourites to win the competition but they're 1-0 down to Manchester City in the knockout rounds, the odds for outright bets won't have updated but the actual probability of them winning the competition changes drastically. So, only after the final score is solidified and the outright odds have a chance to update will the outright betting markets reappear. This isn't limited to football betting markets but it is something that should be considered when placing a bet.
Live Football Betting Markets
The ability to bet live on football games is one of the top attributes of online betting as players have the opportunity to bet live on a game as they watch it. There is an advantage to live betting that bettors perhaps won't see when betting outright. If we take the FA Cup final from 2023, Chelsea Vs Liverpool, Liverpool were favourites and after 30 minutes Liverpool were dominant and favourites. However, Mohamed Salah went off with an injury and Chelsea began to take control of the game. Without live betting, most people predicted a low-scoring Liverpool victory but following the injury, the state of the game changed and the odds altered and it looked very much like a 0-0 game following that and it gave an advantage to those that bet during the game. Each betting market will likely have lower odds if your bet reflects the same way the game is going and you can determine whether the odds are positive odds or negative odds from what you are analysing.
Premier League Football Betting
The English Premier League is the pinnacle of English football and with this competition, you are able to bet on the biggest teams in the world. In this league, there are a number of betting markets that you can find outright that you might not find for other leagues and competitions such as:
- Premier League Outright Winner
- Premier League Top Goalscorer
- Premier League Top Assister
- Top Four (Champions League Qualification - potentially changing to top five)
- Top Six (Europa League Qualification)
- Specific team markets
- Premier League Relegation markets
- Next Premier League manager to be sacked
These are just some of the markets you can find for the Premier League but perhaps not for Championship betting.
Bet Builder: Innovative Football Betting
One of the top features in football betting is the process of placing a bet builder. The Bet Builder is a unique betting market that is growing in popularity, this allows players to bet on multiple betting markets during a single game. Whether it's goals, corners or yellow and red cards, they can all be combined into one bet to provide bigger odds. At the top of the page when looking at an individual game, you can find the markets that apply to this particular bet. With the recent developments in sports betting, the football betting experience will likely soon allow bettors to combine their bet builders across multiple matches to create trebles or even accumulators.
To learn more about Bet Builders - check out our bet builder guide.
Football Betting Specials
The latest odds in football betting aren't limited to outright winner bets and a match outcome but they even go as in-depth to cover betting markets involving transfers, manager sackings and award ceremonies! The most popular of our specials come in the form of manager betting, where players can potentially win money by backing which team are most likely to sack their manager. So, if a team like Manchester United are in poor form, you'll often be able to find good odds for a big team to sack their manager. At BetUK, we have dedicated markets to the Premier League sack race and who the next manager of that team will be.
During English football's off-season, betting on football can be limited if international tournaments aren't taking place but this is where transfer betting becomes popular as players can place bets on players leaving their clubs to move elsewhere.
The last set of specials that players can bet on are awards, for example, if players look likely to win Player of the Year or the Ballon d'Or, those markets are often available months before the awards themselves.
Football Betting Offers
When looking to maximise your football betting experience, you'll be looking for a number of things, fantastic odds, extensive betting markets and more! One of the things that sets BetUK apart is our fantastic betting offers accessible for football!
Our top offer is the Bet £10 Get £30 Exclusive Free Bet Offer where new customers join BetUK, bet £10 and get £30 once their qualifying bet has concluded - it's as simple as that! However, it isn't just new customers that can get football betting offers at BetUK.
By checking out our betting offers page, you'll be able to find the various offers available to existing players, we often have multiple opportunities for players to land free bets with our weekly offers. However, if you're not after Free Bets for football, then you'll want to take a look at our Acca Club! Where we provide the BIGGEST profit boosts for your accumulators - up to 50%!
FAQs for Football Betting
Does my football bet include extra time/penalties?
Unless your bet specifies, it will not include extra time/penalties. For example, if you place a bet on the League Cup third round and back a team to win. That bet will be within 90 minutes, so if a team scores the winning goal in extra time, the bet will lose. Meanwhile, if the bet says: 'team to qualify' - that bet will include extra time and penalties as long as that team wins.
Another example of how this comes from the correct score betting market, if you place a 0-0 bet on a game and it finishes 1-0 thanks to a goal in extra-time, that would be a winning bet as the score was 0-0 after 90 minutes.
Where can I find Football Betting Tips?
Here at BetUK, we have a wide range of betting tips available to players, whether it's from our ambassadors in our expert betting tips or from our knowledgeable writers in our football betting tips. You'll be able to find betting tips for a wide range of events, so keep your eyes peeled on our blogs before an event and see what we're backing for your favourite teams.
What does BTTS mean in Football betting?
'BTTS' is the Both Teams to Score betting market and is one of the most popular betting markets in football. Popular for leagues such as the German Bundesliga which is known for hosting a number of high-scoring matches but less so for Italy's Serie A or Spain's La Liga where games tend to be more technical or tactical battles.
Can you bet on pre-season football?
Absolutely! From the first game of pre-season to the last, you'll be able to follow the progress of your favourite teams as they prepare for the new season. UK bettors will find our pre-season betting markets in the friendlies tab on our sportsbook. Sometimes, because teams aren't likely to play their strongest XI's, you may even find enhanced odds for matches where the outcome seems more or less likely than usual - similar to the FA Cup.