The Best Football Betting Sites for 2024

The EFL Championship is the second tier of English football. The league sees 24 teams play 46 games home and away, with the top two clubs promoted to the Premier League. The teams that finish third to sixth during the regular campaign compete in the Play-Offs for the last remaining spot. For betting, the Championship can be much more unpredictable than the Premier League. The teams at this level are more evenly matched with higher placed teams known to lose against teams at the bottom.

Did you know: Norwich City have been relegated five times from the Premier League to the Championship – the most of any team.

Spain’s La Liga, also known as the Primera División, is composed of 20 teams and 38 matches. The top four winning teams qualify for the Champions League, and the bottom three go down to La Liga Segunda. Two teams dominate La Liga: Real Madrid and Barcelona. The rivalry between these two teams has been fierce over the years, though there are some strong underdog contenders to consider. Atlético Madrid as well as the likes of Valencia, Sevilla and Villarreal are all ones to watch.

Did you know: As of 2020, Real Madrid have won 34 La Liga titles – the most of any Spanish team.

Italian football has Serie A at the top of its pyramid. The Serie A format is similar to the Premier League with 20 teams competing and the top four earning Champions League places. The bottom three suffer relegation to Serie B. Serie A is often considered a very tactical league with some critics noting it to be slower paced and with a slightly more cautious playing style.

Did you know: As of 2020, Juventus have won 36 Serie A titles – the most of any Italian team.

Germany’s top football league, the Bundesliga features 18 teams that play 34 matches. Just like the Premier League, a top four finish wins a place in the Champions League. When it comes to betting, Bayern Munich have won a staggering amount of titles – it’s not uncommon to see punters place league winner bets way ahead of the season. Another popular market is handicap betting which gives a head start to a weaker team when up against stronger opposition.

Did you know: Nuremberg hold the title for most promotions to the Bundesliga, as well as the most relegations.

Ligue 1 is the top division in French football. The season runs from August to May and sees 20 teams play each other twice, once home and once away. The top three teams then progress to the UEFA Champions League. In recent seasons, Ligue 1 has gained a lot of momentum and huge betting interest. In 2020 alone, Paris Saint-Germain made it to the Champions League final against Bayern Munich. Other teams to keep an eye on include Olympique Lyonnais, Olympique de Marseille and Monaco.

Did you know: Olympique Lyonnais holds the record for most consecutive titles in Ligue 1 (seven titles between 2002 and 2008).

Betting on football doesn’t get much bigger than the Champions League. The format is simple: qualifiers, group stages, knockouts and the final. There are eight pools of four for the group stage with the top two advancing after playing every team, home and away. Just 16 teams are taken forward into the knockout phase. From there, clubs are eliminated until just two are left to battle it out to be crowned European Champions.

Did you know: Real Madrid won the first five editions of the tournament from 1955/56 to 1959/60, when it was known as the European Cup

The Europa League is UEFA’s second tier competition to the Champions league. Over 100 clubs from all over Europe compete starting with a series of qualifying rounds, before being whittled down to 48 for the group stage. Eight clubs from the Champions League then drop into this competition for the knockout phase, where the 32 remaining teams battle it out to reach the final. The winner is guaranteed a place in the following season’s Champions League.

Did you know: The record for most goals in a single UEFA Europa League is 17 held by Radamel Falcao (Porto) 2010/11.

Double chance bets allow punters to choose two of the three match outcomes. The odds are often lower than a single match result bet as the wager is much safer. The different wager combinations include:

1. 1
   Home Team or Draw
2. 2
   Away Team or Draw
3. 3
   Home Team or Away Team

Correct score bets are wagers placed on the final result of a game. For a payout, bettors will need to predict the exact score. This can be notoriously difficult to get right, so it’s crucial to research a team’s recent form and past results to make an informed decision. Even then, correct score can be a difficult bet to win.

Both teams to score, also known as BTTS, is a bet on whether both teams will score or not. Punters aren’t predicting the winner of the match here. Instead, they are wagering on if both teams make it to the scoresheet before the end of the match. Classic BTTS football bets will give you an option of betting ‘yes’ or ‘no’ – it’s as simple as that.

Draw no bet wagers return a bettor’s stake if the result ends in a draw. For example, if you back the home team with a draw no bet wager, you’d still get your stake back if it ends in a draw. See this type of bet as insurance against last minute or unforeseen circumstances.

This bet involves predicting the result of a match at half time and full time. There are nine possible outcomes to wager on:

1. 1
   Home Team / Home Team
2. 2
   Home Team / Draw
3. 3
   Home Team / Away Team
4. 4
   Draw / Draw
5. 5
   Away Team / Away Team
6. 6
   Away Team / Draw
7. 7
   Away Team / Home Team

This football bet covers the regular 90-minute game, meaning extra time and penalties aren’t included.

Punters can bet on a player to be the first or the last to score within a single match. Though tricky to predict, this type of football bet is a great pick if a certain player is on good form. Alternatively, if a team is much better than their opposition then a first/last goal scorer bet would be wise to make.

Over/under 2.5 goals is a wager on the total goals in a single game. In order for over 2.5 goals to win, 3 goals or more have to be scored. Or for under 2.5 goals to win, less than 3 goals have to be scored. The correct score doesn’t need to be predicted here, this bet is solely dependent on whether 3 or more goals occur.

With transfer specials, punters must correctly predict whether a specific player will move clubs or which club they will move to. Be warned, this is a bet that involves a lot of prior research. It’s crucial to gather information from social media, the news and other reputable sources to make the best decision before the transfer window closes.

Accumulators, or accas, combine several wagers within one bet slip for a bigger payout. This is achieved by the odds of each leg multiplying together to act as one combined bet. Popular acca bets tend to include match result and BTTS bets, though there’s no restrictions on what can be selected. Though the odds can be huge, all legs within an accumulator must win in order for a payout. For this reason, accumulators are often a riskier bet to make in comparison to single bets alone.

Hand in hand with accumulators are acca insurance offers. If every selection on an accumulator comes in other than one, then the insurance will return the bettor’s stake. This usually comes in the form of a free bet. Different insurance offers will vary slightly, though the concept stays the same across sportsbooks. Accumulator insurance is an essential for anyone placing acca bets regularly.