Soccer Odds and Betting News 

How to Bet On Soccer

Soccer is the most popular sport on the planet, and an age old favorite with sports bettors. With multiple leagues and championship events each year, the Beautiful Game is unlike like the NBA, NFL, NHL or MLB. Competitions like the English Premier League, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, La Liga, Serie A and the MLS are all part of the game, interlinked with international tournaments like the World Cup, Euro Cup or UEFA Champions League. Although these leagues end at different times of the year, there will always be some sort of professional soccer to bet on -- read on for everything you need to know about betting on soccer online.

Learn How to bet on soccer

Soccer matches are exciting and intense because they're a relatively low-scoring event. When it comes to betting on soccer, there are several options to choose from. Having a firm grasp of soccer odds is a very important part of betting on the sport. If you want an advantage over other soccer bettors, you need to know what the numbers mean.

Soccer Moneylines: Full-Time Result

Like NHL and MLB betting odds, soccer focuses on the most popular sports betting option, moneyline bets. In a moneyline bet, you're simply selecting a team to win, ex. Brazil or France. Where soccer differentiates from these other sports is including the chance for a tie, otherwise known as a three-way moneyline. Ties are decently common in soccer, so selecting a team straight up gives bettors higher odds compared to most moneyline options.

In a two-way moneyline, the draw has been removed as an option. Like the three-way bet, bettors pick an outcome -- will Brazil or France win? The difference this time is if the match ends in a draw, the bettor gets their stake back and the bet is a push. Because the draw was eliminated, payouts on the favorites are higher and payouts on the underdogs are lower.

Soccer Spreads: a handicap for each team

With a point spread bet, bettors wager on the margin of victory in a match. A -2.5 favorite would have to win the game by three goals or more in order to cover the spread. A +2.5 underdog would either have to lose by no more than two goals or win the match outright in order to cover the spread.

The oddsmaker adjusts the soccer odds and betting lines so that the underdog receives an advantage. The lesser team will typically be given +0.5 goals before the game starts, and the favorite starts with -0.5 goals. Odds for a soccer spread usually look like this:

Soccer Totals: OVER/UNDER

Totals or OVER/UNDER betting is for soccer bettors who think they can correctly predict the number of goals to be scored by both teams in a match, and whether that number will be above or below the listed amount set. The average goals total in OVER/UNDER for soccer is 2.5.

If you think a matchup between Croatia and Czech Republic will be a low-scoring affair, you would bet the UNDER. If you believe a match will be lopsided with a strong offensive team vs a weak defensive team, then you would bet the OVER.

What is Asian Handicap Betting?

Similar to a soccer spread, Asian Handicap is when a goal handicap is given to both teams (the favorite and the underdog). For instance, Belgium may have been given a -2.5 goal handicap against Chile, who have been given a +2.5 handicap. What this means is that Belgium has to win the game by three clear goals in order to win the wager. This way, the favorites get better value odds.

It’s kind of like the runline in baseball or the puckline in hockey. Asian handicapping doesn’t include the draw as an option and gives an advantage to the underdog, while each team still has a 50 percent chance of winning.

What are Soccer Futures Bets?

Futures wagers are long-term soccer bets, like predicting which soccer team will win the championship or who will win league MVP. Your money might be tied up for a bit, but a potentially large payoff at the end of the year would make it all worthwhile.

In-Play Betting: Live Soccer Odds

Live betting in soccer is endless. There are so many options for in-play wagering. For example, will a player score off of a penalty kick?

In-game soccer betting odds are available for the most prominent soccer games and are ideal for a bettor who wants to stay engaged in a match. Bettors typically snag the action they like fast. The soccer betting odds move as the match progresses.

What are Soccer Prop Bets?

Prop bets are wagers that are based on occurrences or non-occurrences during a soccer match. These occurrences may not affect the outcome of the game or even the final score like soccer spreads, totals or straight-up bets do. Some examples:

Correct Score

With correct score, you win your wager if you bet on the correct full-time score. Due to the fact that there are so many possible outcomes in a soccer game, predicting the exact final result can be quite challenging. However, higher soccer odds will reflect that.

Both Teams to Score

The full-time score doesn’t matter here. All you have to do is bet on both teams to score at some point during the game. You can also bet “no” if you believe one of the teams will go scoreless.

What are Parlay Bets in Soccer?

With Parlay bets, you wager on multiple bets on a single bet slip. But if even one bet in the parlay is a loss, the entire parlay loses. As difficult as this may seem, you earn a higher payout if all of your picks win, as opposed to betting on each one individually.

If you’re trying to combine odds or figure out the overall payout of your total wagers, Odds Shark’s parlay calculator is the perfect tool to use before making your picks. With this instrument, you can select how you want your odds displayed.

What are the Best Places to Find Soccer Odds Today?

Regardless of whether you’re a footy fanatic or inexperienced in the soccer scene, Odds Shark has the full scope on all the soccer odds today, the latest leagues, and everything else you need to know to bet on soccer. We have guides for the world's top leagues that feature standings, betting trends, game logs, and team reports:

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