Football Betting Strategy: Both Teams to Score

Football Betting Strategy: Both Teams to Score

Football Betting Strategy: Both Teams to Score
Autor betsonly 08 Oct 2018

An overview of why BTTS (Both Teams to Score) is such a popular football betting strategy and a guide how to apply it.

One of the most popular bets to place on football is both teams to score – commonly abbreviated to BTTS. As the name suggests, this is a bet on whether both teams in a match will score or not.

BTTS is popular because it is simple to play and relatively easy to win. You do not have to predict the outcome of a match, just that both teams will manage to find the net before the final whistle. This helps keep the bet alive until the match has ended – one team might be thrashing another 5 – 0, but a late consolation goal can still turn your wager into a winning one.

And, if you are lucky enough that both teams score early, then your bet will be a winner, and most online bookmakers will pay out early without you having to wait until the end of the match.

Another option is to bet against the BTTS market. So, if a bookmaker offers short odds on both teams to get on the score sheet, you can lay the best and will win if either one, or both, fails to find the net in a match.

But, when and how should you apply this BTTS strategy?

As always, it is advisable to do your research first, by choosing a league where goals are plentiful and the emphasis is on attack, not defence. That would suggest either a league like the Bundesliga or one of the English competitions like the Premier League or the Championship, as opposed to Serie A or Ligue 1 where matches are tighter and low-scoring.

Then you need to select your teams. Look at their goals scored and conceded record, both home and away, to try and identify who is prolific in attack but has a leaky defence as well. In particular, consider a top team playing away against lesser opposition, but who have a good record at home.

If we take the 2017/2018 Premier League as an example, a good match to choose would be Tottenham Hotspur, who found the net 34 times on their travels, going across town to play a London derby against Crystal Palace, who may only have finished 11th in the table, but scored 29 goals at home. Equally teams like Brighton, West Ham and Watford all offered good value for money when they were playing at home, scoring and conceding almost 1.5 goals a game across the season.

For example, a bet in the BTTS market could be combined with a wager on the match itself. This offers six options to win:

  • Yes (BTTS) and home win
  • Yes (BTTS) and draw
  • Yes (BTTS) and away win
  • No and home win
  • No and draw
  • No and away win

As the permutations are greater than just BTTS, it is harder to predict, but the odds may be more attractive.

BTTS and Over or Under is a bet that, not only will both teams score but that the combined number of goals in a match will be either above or below an amount which is predetermined by the bookmaker, which is normally set at 2.5. If, for example, you are betting under 2.5, then you are, in essence, betting on a one-all draw; whereas, if you are betting over, the minimum score for your bet to win is 2 -1 in favour of one team or the other.

There is also the option of backing both teams to score in each half, although this strategy is not to be recommended. You can find good odds on this happening but, the reason that the odds are so good is because this is not a common occurrence.

BTTS is one of the most popular of all football betting strategies because it is easy to understand and apply. And, it is not dependent on the outcome of a match. Even the most abject of attacking teams can sometimes scramble a late goal, especially if their opponents have started to relax with victory already assured.