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How to Bet on Soccer

By Hank Blaine

Soccer is the sport that truly never stops because no matter what time it is of the year, there’s certainly an ongoing professional league. In Europe alone, there are the likes of the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, France’s Ligue 1, and the UEFA Champions League just to name a few. That’s great news for bettors, as that means never-ending opportunities to make soccer wagers. If you’re a beginner in the world of soccer betting, then you’ve come to just the right place to get a primer on how to bet on soccer. In this piece from NitroBetting Guides, you’ll get to know the basic types of soccer bets and a few tips to get you ready for a unique betting experience.

How To Bet On Soccer: The Basic Options

Before you make your first bet on soccer, it’s important to have a good understanding of the basic types of wagers on the number one sport on the planet. If you have tried betting on other popular sports like basketball, baseball, hockey, and football before, you would notice differences in how some of the betting types work between them and soccer, but at the end of the day, all of them are easy to learn.

Three-Way Moneyline

If you want to get to know how to bet on soccer better, it’s vital to familiarize yourself with the three-way moneyline.

In soccer, there are three potential outcomes for every match. It’s possible that Team A wins or Team B wins, and unlike in basketball, baseball, or games in the NHL, there’s also a chance that a soccer game ends in a draw. Draws in soccer are common occurrences, so it makes sense for it to be part of the selections on a moneyline soccer bet. In a three-way moneyline, you can pick any of the three outcomes.

Draw No Bet

A Draw No Bet type of bet is similar to the Three-Way Moneyline, except that it doesn’t offer the bettor a chance to pick “draw,” hence the name. Instead, the picks can only be made between Team A or Team B. If the game ends in a tie or draw, then the bet is considered a push/void.

Double Chance

Making a Double Chance bet means that you are hoping that at least one of your two predicted outcomes would hit to win your wager. For example, you picked that the Chelsea vs. Liverpool match will result in either Chelsea winning or draw. You would only lose that bet if the match ended with Liverpool coming away with a victory. You can also pick either Chelsea and Liverpool would win, which means that the only way you would lose your bet is if the match ended in a draw.

Handicap

Handicap is easy to understand, especially if you’re used to betting on point spreads in basketball and American football games because the idea is mostly the same. With Asian Handicap, the typical line is set at 0.5 but in some cases, particularly in games with heavy favorites, the line can get to as high as 2.5.

As an example, if you bet on the LA Galaxy line of -2.5 against the Toronto FC, that means you need the LA Galaxy to win by at least three goals to win your wager. Conversely, if you bet on Toronto FC +2.5 for that game, then you’d win your wager if Toronto FC wins outright or loses by no more than two goals.

Totals (Over/Under)

We’re nearing the end of this basic breakdown of how to bet on soccer, and here, we’ll explain how totals work.

Betting totals on soccer is similar to wagering on the totals in other sports. However, because of the low-scoring nature of the sport, the over/under lines are typically set at 1.5, 2.5, and 3.5. In this type of betting, the combined total number of goals from both teams in a match determines the outcome of bets. If the totals line in the match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid is at 2.5 and you bet the over, you would need both teams to combine for at least three goals to win your wager. If you bet the under, then you want both teams to score no more than three goals combined.

Some Soccer Betting Tips

Now that you know some of the basics concepts, let’s check out a few more tips on soccer betting to help you have success in wagering on the sport. As with any endeavor, it would be beneficial for those looking to make soccer bets to learn factors that can have direct or indirect effects on any given game before making bets.

Read Up

No matter how long you have been an avid follower of soccer or any sport, there will always be something new to learn about them. Weighing your betting decisions can get much easier with more knowledge about the latest developments in soccer leagues, clubs, and players.

Do Your Research

Don’t just rely on what you already know about a team, player, or league. A team can be generally perceived as strong based on its historical success, but you should still check out if it’s doing just as well in previous games, as the quality of recent performance can be a better indicator of a team’s true form. Understanding and analyzing statistics can also go a long way in your search for success in soccer betting.

Monitor Status Of Each Key Factors

It’s easy to make betting decisions based mostly on the quality of players and teams. However, there are outside factors that can have a significant impact on the outcome of a given game but are often overlooked by beginners like weather and injuries. Even off-the-field rumors can be a piece of useful information when making betting decisions.

It looks like you are ready to dive into the world of soccer betting. If you’re wondering where to bet on soccer, now is a perfect time for you to create a free NitroBetting account.

Be sure to also check out NitroBetting News for all the updates and latest happenings from around the league.