The Best Football Betting Strategies in 2024

To beat the bookmakers when betting on football, you'll need a coherent football betting strategy.

The football betting strategies shared here are updated regularly and these are our top tips for 2024. 

They can be used to good effect as part of an overall football betting system that you can apply in the long-term.

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Tip 1 – Manage a Football Betting Bankroll

It’s absolutely essential that having a set bankroll is part of your football betting strategy throughout each season.

Whatever system you decide to use, there should be a maximum amount that you are prepared to gamble within a defined time period. It might be that you bet less than this amount, but never more.

Start off by betting a certain amount of money on football matches over a weekly or monthly period, irrespective of whether the bets you make are winners or losers.

The advantage to having a set cap is that it helps you to track your profit/loss and bet within your means. 

Online bookmakers can help you with this football betting strategy - as the best football betting sites give you the option to set a daily, weekly or monthly deposit limit when you sign up for a betting account, while also making it easy to track your net deposits and withdrawals.

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Tip 2 – Have a Staking Plan

This football betting strategy ties in nicely with our first tip.

In addition to having a specific bankroll for a day, week or month’s punting, you should also consider how much you want to stake on each football bet and what percentage of your overall bankroll that constitutes.

Many successful punters use a football betting system where they bet certain amounts according to the strength of their opinion on a particular selection.

A hot fancy might be regarded 'maximum bet' territory, where you bet the largest amount that you're prepared to lose on a football bet, only on the basis that you are supremely confident.

Some football betting strategies involve staking larger amounts on selections at shorter odds and smaller amounts on bigger-priced picks.

Others might adopt a staking plan which involves spreading the risk so that a specific bankroll covers a large number of bets.

The reasoning for this is that at least some of the bets will end up winning and you can therefore secure some kind of return, rather than putting all of your eggs in one basket by staking your entire balance on a single fancy.

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Tip 3 – Review Your Football Betting Activity Regularly

If the majority of bettors are being honest, they probably don’t spend much time reflecting on their bets once they have been settled.

A win is celebrated, a loss is lamented and it’s time to consider the next football match that’s about to take place.

However, we highly recommend reviewing your bets as part of your overall football betting strategy. Log in to your account and scroll through your betting activity for a certain time period.

Bookies should display your profit and loss so that you get a completely transparent view of how your online betting has been performing.

While nobody likes to reflect too much when they’ve backed losing selections, this should be part of your process and you can sometimes learn plenty from the mistakes you’ve made along the way. You might also be able to detect a pattern with your winning and losing bets.

For example, you might enjoy a football accumulator bet on full-time results - but a review of your bets may reveal that your profits are coming from the both teams to score market.

We recommend a weekly or monthly review to inform future bets.

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Tip 4 - Look For The Value

You might hear betting tipsters or pundits talk about landing the value as part of their football betting strategy. But what exactly is value and how can it be found?

Quite simply, it’s when the betting odds are too big based on the probability of a selection winning.

For example, if a football team is trading at evens, this implies a 50% probability that this side will win the game.

If you can form a strong argument that a team's chances of beating their opponent are greater than 50%, this could be considered a value proposition based on the available odds.

While it’s important to note that value is a subjective concept, successful punters devise football betting systems where they create their own probabilities and prices before matching them up with the betting odds for specific games.

Perhaps you follow a lesser-known league or competition that the bookies aren't fully on top of, or maybe you've gained an edge by betting in-play with betting apps while attending a live match.

The best football betting strategy for you will depend on where you find an edge.

Value can also be found through in-depth statistical analysis and sometimes it’s worth looking past the full-time result market and exploring less-popular alternatives in your search for value.

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Tip 5 – Pay Attention to Price Movement

Money talks in all walks of life and that includes online football betting.

In the lead-up to a match, it’s pretty common to find lots of odds movement as bets are placed - particularly with the 1x2 betting market.

It’s definitely worth paying attention to price movements and trying to work out why a team’s odds are shortening or on the drift.

The answer can sometimes be found when pieces of team news emerge before the starting 11s for a match have been announced.

A key football betting strategy is to get a handle on the rumoured and confirmed line-ups for each match and understand how this affects the overall probability of either team winning.

There could be a significant player missing through injury or perhaps a manager has decided to rest squad members for a specific fixture, causing the odds to lengthen.

Try to get ahead of the price movements by following trusted sources of team news on social media and elsewhere online.

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Tip 6 - Try Lower Leagues & Lesser-Known Competitions

As we mentioned in the previous section on finding value, knowledge of lesser-known competitions can be a great weapon in your betting arsenal.

Let's say, for example, you follow a team in Scottish League Two or the National League North in England. If you're fanatical about a side in one of these leagues and regularly attend games, there's a decent chance you'll know something the oddsmakers don't.

The bookies aren't known for getting odds wrong generally, but with the majority of money placed on top-tier competitions, they typically devote less attention to less-scrutinised leagues. This is where the informed bettor can take advantage.

Knowledge about team form, injuries, and playing conditions in these leagues can pay when assessing the prices - but be aware that this football betting strategy requires real research and a willingness to delve into less-charted territory.

The potential rewards make it a worthwhile strategy to consider, however, if you're looking to diversify your bets and gain an edge on the bookies.

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Tip 7 - Take Advantage of Online Betting Promotions

Online betting promotions are a crucial component of a smart football betting system.

Bookmakers often offer free bets or enhanced odds, especially during major football events. These offers can provide additional value to your bets, increasing potential profits or offering risk-free opportunities.

To effectively utilise promotions, you'll need to stay informed about the best betting offers and understand their terms and conditions.

It’s also important to use promotions strategically. For instance, you might use free bets to back a long-odds selection that you fancy, but wouldn't want to normally risk your own money on.

Remember that there's nothing to stop you signing up with a number of different bookies and taking advantage of numerous offers.

Having a choice between a few different bookmakers also helps with our next tip...

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Tip 8 - Shop Around For The Best Odds

We all shop around for value in most areas of our daily lives and football betting should be no different.

Odds can vary significantly between bookmakers, especially when you're backing a long-shot.

Take for example the outright winner market for Euro 2024. Looking at the current odds, if you fancied Belgium to win, some bookies would only give you 12/1, while others have Belgium priced at 16/1.

If you reckon Croatia could be a surprise winner, you'll see their price ranging from 25/1 to as high as 33/1 to lift the trophy.

Remember, even small differences in odds add up significantly over time, so securing the best available price is pretty crucial to long-term profitability.

You'll just need to have accounts with multiple sites and be prepared to compare odds for each bet you place.

We've already done some of the hard work for you, by comparing prices and highlighting the best Premier League odds, Champions League odds and FA Cup odds in May 2024.

Key Takeaway - Create a Football Betting System

You will have noticed that our best football betting strategy tips all tie together to help you create a football betting system based on our advice.

You should put pen to paper and come up with set rules for your system, so that there is consistency in your approach and it's easier to evaluate.

Make sure to run the rule over your system regularly, to decide if any tweaks need to be made on the results that you're getting. This can direct you towards amending your stake sizes, selections or markets you bet on.

Just remember to stick to your principles, learn from your mistakes and gamble responsibly to help make football betting a fun experience.