UK's Best Football Betting Sites

Market Depth

Something that keeps bettors regularly coming back is the variety of football markets. Some of the biggest events on the football calendar feature over 100 betting options. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular betting markets available online.

Match Betting

These are bets on single matches that are usually placed before the start of the game and are the most popular. Some bets may be limited to the result after 90 minutes, while others can go to extra time and penalties. These conditions will be clearly stated beforehand. So let’s take a look at the sort of match betting options you can expect to see.

• Match result: The classic of football betting. Pick your match-winner and place your bet.
• Both teams to score: If you’re not swayed either way by a particular team, you can bet on both teams to score. You don’t want to wager on something you’re uncertain about so this is a great middle-ground.
• Result and both teams to score: A combination of the two above, there are potentially big winnings to be made here. But, as you probably know, with bigger winnings come bigger risks.
• Over/under goals: A lot like betting on both teams to score, this is about predicting how many goals will feature in a game. It’s also a way to get better value odds for a nailed-on winner. Bookies will typically allow bets over/under 0.5, 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 goals.
• Double chance: Here you can cover multiple outcomes in a single match, like ‘win or draw’ or ‘draw or lose’. It’s a solid bet to place if you’ve got an idea how the game will pan out but you’re not totally sure.
• Handicap: One of the great things about football is that you will often see sides from the lower leagues pitted against some of the biggest teams on the planet. But these David v Goliath fixtures can offer up some pretty unappetizing odds. Luckily, handicaps are there to level the playing field. Often applied to the scoreline, they require the favourites to win by X amount of goals in order for a bet to be won.

Outright Betting

If you’re confident about what the season will look like come May, then you can bet on some of it’s biggest outcomes. Usually done before the start of the season, you can take a flutter on the league winners and those faced with relegation, as well the league’s top scorer.

Accumulators

A great way to get the most out of your money is through accumulators. These hugely popular bets allow you to include multiple selections in a single wager, from ‘doubles’ and ‘trebles’ to ‘four-fold’, ‘five-fold’ and so on.

Part of their pull is that, because of the various odds in play, there is the potential to win a huge amount from a small stake. By multiplying the odds in your selection, in their decimal form, a selection of small bets can become something way more exciting.

Accumulator Insurance: In order to claim the full winnings, however, all of your various bets will have to come in. That’s why some bookies offer Acca Insurance. 888’s Acca Saver will give you a free bet refund worth up to £25 if one team in your accumulator lets you down.

Sounds pretty decent, right? Well, still make sure to check the terms and conditions because, in order to claim your refund, your accumulator will need to be at least six-fold.

Live Betting

Otherwise known as in-play betting, this is a great alternative to match betting. The growth of online football betting has meant that you can bet on a huge range of different outcomes as the game is happening.

Naturally, this means that the odds are likely to change, but it can also improve the value of your stake. Betting on Juventus to beat SPAL, for example, may not give you the best return before the game. Should Juventus go behind early, however, then the odds of them winning become much more attractive.

The vast majority of bookmakers will have live betting options so, in order to choose the right one, it’s worth looking at their various features:

• A large selection of betting options including next team to score, next player scorer and final score.
• In-play consoles that show live stats and events – great for working out your next bet.
• Live streaming of games can be on offer, but usually under the condition that you have a funded account or recently placed a bet.
• Cash-out on in-play bets. But be aware that these can reduce your winnings and that the game can still change. It’s all about timing with this one, which is the beauty of live betting!

Bonuses

Bonuses are a huge part of modern online football betting. If you’re looking for a new site then bonuses are a great way for companies to stand out and for you to get used to a new betting experience. Let’s have a look at to the sort of bonuses on offer:

Matched Deposit

These are pretty simple to wrap your head around. Usually, with offer to new customers, the bookies will match a percentage of your initial deposit for you to use in their sportsbook. Coral’s ‘Bet £10, Get £30 in Free Bets’ matches your first bet and then some. But be aware that there will be terms and conditions attached, like the seven-day time limit imposed on Coral’s bonus.

Free Bets

Again, a pretty simple bonus the difference with this is that it’s available to both old and new customers. Free bets are the most common type of bets and so there are a lot of them. We recommend Betfair’s ‘£100 in Free Bets’ offer. You will need to wager five £10 bets on odds of 1/2 and above, however, before you receive your first £20 free bet. This process will have to be repeated five times in order to get the £100.

Money Back Offers

These offers soften the blow should you suffer any losses. You will usually be offered your stake back in the form of coupons and there could be conditions attached to it. For example, a bookmaker could offer money back to new customers up to £40 if their first bet loses. However, your initial deposit would have to be a minimum of £10 and the bonus would be subject to wagering requirements. So it’s always worth checking out the Terms and Conditions on your money back offers before you spend more than you were planning to.