How to Bet On Soccer: A Comprehensive Guide
Placing bets on different sports is pretty exciting, but focusing on one would allow you to streamline your betting and focus on the important areas. With that, you can even follow specific Sports News. You can use this opportunity to work on your betting, and therefore, you will make better predictions.
Of the different sports you can decide to bet on, soccer is a popular choice. There are plenty of leagues across the globe, and different sportsbooks allow bettors to wager on them easily. Therefore, you won’t have a shortage of games to bet on, and if you’re lucky enough, you can win big.
So, if you follow the recommendation and decide to bet on soccer, there are different intricacies to what you should know before you start. And when you start, different tips will help you bet better than being a random bettor. Aside from that, you can even become a pro punter and continue betting for a long time.
This guide will give you a comprehensive insight into how you can start betting on soccer, and without further ado, let’s get right into it.
Understanding Soccer and the Different Rules
Also referred to as football, the sport is the most popular worldwide. However, if you are not familiar with the sport, you must learn the different rules and important parts.
You can start by understanding that a classic football match is played between two teams, each fielding 11 players. Each player has a specific role, and the goal is to outscore the opponent.
Of the 11 players, the goalkeeper is in charge of manning the goalpost and is the only player allowed to use his hands. However, the goalie can only use their hands inside the 18-yard box.
Handling the ball outside is considered a foul. Other than the goalkeeper, there are defenders, midfielders, wingers, and strikers.
The way the outfield players would play depends on the coach’s tactics. For instance, a coach can opt-in for the traditional 4-4-2, and in this case, there will be four defenders separated into 2 center backs, one left-back, and one right back.
Also, there are four midfielders with two central midfielders, one left midfielder, and one right midfielder. We can have a defensive midfielder in some cases instead of two central midfielders.
To score in a soccer match, the team must put the ball into the opponent’s goal. The game is typically 90 minutes. However, it can go to overtime during a knockout match, and a winner must be decided.
If, after 30 minutes of overtime, the teams are still level, the game heads to a penalty shootout, and the team that scores the most penalties wins.
Note that different tournaments have varying rules when it comes to point sharing. However, the baseline for any soccer match is to score more goals than the other team.
Leagues, Cups, and Tournaments
There are many soccer leagues scattered around the world. Some countries even have multiple leagues that different football teams in the country enter. These leagues come in tiers and age groups. For instance, there is the English Premier League in England, the top men’s division in the country.
Aside from that, there is the Women’s Super League, where different female versions of the various EPL teams compete. Both the EPL and WSL also have lower-tier leagues whereby teams from the first division can relegate to the lower leagues. There are plenty of tiers in the lower leagues for the men’s version.
In addition to the senior men’s and women’s leagues, you’ll find amateur leagues for the professional teams of the country’s academy teams. You should know that other than leagues, there are other tournaments in the sports. Some of the notable mentions are:
- The FIFA World Cup
- Continental Cup competitions
- FIFA Club World Cup
- UEFA Champions League
- CONCACAF Champions League
- CONMEBOL Champions League
You can check different countries to find out about the different competitions available, and you can decide on the ones you want to follow.
Popular Soccer Betting Market
Now that you have an idea of the rules of the sport and the different competitions you can bet on, you should understand the different betting markets relating to the sport. Not to worry; it shares some of the popular ones like Moneyline, Totals Over/Under, Point Spread/Handicap, and Props Bets.
However, in addition to these popular betting markets, we have a few exclusive to soccer. And these include:
- Double Chance (home/draw; home/away; away/draw)
- First Half market
- Second Half market
- Goals
- Corners
- Cards
You can bet on any of these markets, depending on your research. However, we recommend you go for easy ones like the double chance and Moneyline markets as you’re still new to betting on the sport. Once you get the hang of it, you can try the other complicated ones.
How to Place Your First Bet
To get started with betting, you should know how to place bets on soccer games. Fortunately, it is pretty easy, even as you’re a newbie. What you should do is first find the right sports betting site that you can join. There are numerous options on the web, and you have to vet through as many sites as possible.
If you already bet on sports, you can check if the sports betting site you use has soccer as part of the games you can bet on. If it does, you can simply go to the soccer section to start betting as you would with other sports. If that is not the case, you should follow the steps below.
- Pick a sports betting site
- Create an account and verify your email address
- Log into your account and deposit money into it
- If applicable, claim the welcome bonus
- Go to the soccer section to place your first bet
If you receive the welcome bonus cash, you could use it to kickstart your soccer betting journey, and if you’re lucky, you can win with the bonus money. You should keep in mind that betting is based on luck. Therefore, you do not have any control over the outcome. In that case, you should be careful with the amount you bet. Ensure that you’re only betting extra cash and not the money you need.
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