A live football betting strategy for beginners action

A Live Football Betting Strategy For Beginners

By Zac L - Aug 31st 2022

We gave an introduction to live betting on last week’s blog. Today we’re going to cover an in depth live betting football strategy to help you bet better. 

  1. Decide your pregame leans 
  2. Check the stats
  3. Decide on the type of bet you want to place
  4. Find the best odds for your bet
  5. Bet at the right time

1. Decide your pregame leans

The term “pregame leans” may not be familiar to you. It requires you researching the matches that you will consider betting on once they’re in play. Think of it as studying for a test.

Scouting which team you want to bet on is fairly straightforward. You’ll want to identify a few key aspects to a match which will inform you how the match will unfold. 

The home team advantage is a strong indicator of which way a game will swing. For the home team, you have the pleasure of a familiar stadium and the majority of fans cheering you on. For the away team there are many disadvantages. You have to travel hours to get to a match and then the pressure is amplified because of the buzz of the fans wanting you to lose. 

Anfield stadium

LFC’s stadium is renowned for being one of the toughest away fixtures.

 

Form of current teams playing should also factor into your pre-game leans. A team that is running hot and on a win streak will certainly look to continue it, regardless of the opponent in front of them. 

A team riddled with injuries and that have struggled to put forward their XI will not be a favourite to win. Winning a top flight match is hard enough when you’ve got your best team out. When a team lacks squad depth, they’re not who you should be betting on. 

2. Check the stats 

Once a game is live, checking the first 15 minutes of stats will give you an excellent tell on what a game it might be. Every so often the favourites will have a stinker of a game. That’s why you should value the first 15 minutes of a match to inform your live betting. 

Total shots and shots on target is an obvious indicator of how a team has come out of the blocks. A team that is fired up will be dominating a team that has a slow start. By watching the first 15 minutes of a match and counting the shots and shots on target, you’ll be able to see how your pregame lean is looking. 

Finding a website that shows you

 the chances created is another handy tool to inform your live betting strategy. We also allow you to view all the live scores of today’s matches. Sometimes a team that is creating a lot of chances may not be converting them into shots, yet. Football matches can be a low scoring affair. But with chances comes opportunity to score. Be patient. 

3. Decide the bet you want to place

Now that you’ve got a feel for the match, you’ll need to decide what sort of bet you’ll place on the live match. 

Both teams to score can be a good and conservative bet to place. A match where both teams are coming out firing, you can get a strong feeling that it will be a high scoring affair. It may not be the most lucrative bet but it can be an easy win. 

Choosing an over / under X goals is an exciting bet to place because you can choose your level of risk once you’ve gauged what sort of affair the match will be. If it’s a cagey affair, you can be on there being under 2.5 goals. If it’s looking to be a whitewash, go for an exciting over 3.5 goals bet. 

4. Find the best odds for your bet

Now that you’ve decided the most suitable bet. Do yourself a favour and find the best odds related to your bet. 

There are so many different bookmakers to choose from, it does no harm to have a little gander at which are giving you the best odds. Some even give free bets with sign up offers. 

Of course, some bookies won’t be offering the bet that you want to place. Some might not even offer odds on the league you’re betting on. Therefore, it is important to do your research on the bookmakers you’ll place your bet through. 

5. Bet at the right time

When live betting, there can be a few subtle tricks to bet at the right time to get the most out of your bet. 

Bet after the first 15 mins but not after the first 30 mins. Once you have a bet in mind, all your expectations should be confirmed or denied after 15 minutes of play. When it’s coming up to the 30 minute mark and you still can’t decide if you should place your bet, don’t. You’re clearly not confident in the bet and you should save your stake for a bet you’re more confident in. 

Once you’ve shopped around for the most favourable odds and are confident after the first 15 minutes, you can time your bet down to where the ball is in play. For example, if the ball is in the attacking third and you try and place a bet it may go through as it is more likely a team will score. Bet when the ball is out of play for a throw in or there is a foul. It is much more likely to be accepted by the bookmakers. 

This article was written to give you an in depth live football betting strategy. By no means is it a sure way to win every bet. It aims to give you a foundation and framework to build your own strategy from. The best way to get results from betting is slowly and consistently building up your betting confidence. There are no shortcuts.

This article was written by Zac on behalf of Kick Off, smart betting made simple