Handicap Betting Football Tips Updated for January 2025

Updated: 18th January 2025

Betting on football is a huge business, and to keep punters happy, online bookmakers are introducing new and fun ways to bet on football games, like handicap betting.

Handicap betting is becoming one of the most popular forms of football betting away from the main win/loss/draw market.

For inexperienced punters, handicap betting can look a little daunting at first.

However, once you understand the basic principles, you will enjoy handicap betting football for many years.

What is Handicap Football Betting?

1. Handicap football betting involves making the perceived difference in quality between the two teams redundant in terms of a bet.
2. Essentially, it levels out the playing field when there is an overwhelming favourite in a football match.
3. In terms of football, this means giving one team a head start in a match.

Example of Handicap Betting on Man City vs West Brom

So, if Manchester City were playing West Bromwich Albion at home, clearly Manchester City would be heavy favourites for this match.

Therefore, the odds on Manchester City to win would be so short, it would hardly be worth betting on.

However, thanks to handicap football betting, it is possible to give West Bromwich Albion a two-goal advantage.

This means they begin the game two goals to the good for the purposes of the bet.

If you bet on West Bromwich Albion to win the match using this handicap bet and Manchester City win 1-0, you win the bet.

This is because West Bromwich Albion started with a two-goal lead.

This is the most basic form of handicap football betting and there are other options available.

This includes the no draw handicap bet, which eliminates the draw by using 0.5 goal increments and Asian handicap betting, which is a no draw handicap system and if your bet ends in a draw, you are refunded.

With a basic understanding of how it works, how can you make the most out of handicap football betting?.

Handicap Football Betting Tips

1. Bet on the Favourite

• Arguably the best place to start with handicap betting football tips is to place bets on the favourites to win matches.
• The teams chosen as heavy favourites have been done so for a reason.
• It is because they are considered the much better team.

When handicap football betting, remember you are making the short odds on a favourite more favourable.

Using the example with Manchester City from above, betting on Manchester City to win the match is not very enticing.

This is because the odds are so short.

• You would not back against Manchester City scoring 3 goals against West Bromwich Albion at home.
• So by using handicap football betting, you can bet on them to win the match with West Bromwich Albion starting with a 2-goal advantage.
• This will give you much better odds.

2. Check the Stats first

Always look at the form and history of the teams involved before placing a handicap football bet.

For example, Everton’s overall form may not look very good but one glance at their home form shows they are picking up most of their points when playing at Goodison Park.

If they have a good defensive record at home and have been scoring goals, this makes them a decent bet to defeat a team who may currently sit above them in the table.

You can use handicap football betting to your advantage and give yourself a better chance of winning the bet when betting on Everton to win at home against a team above them in the league.

Using research to see which teams are scoring a lot of goals, which teams are keeping clean sheets and which teams perform better home and away.

This will help you considerably when placing handicap football bets.

This also applies when considering what size lead you wish to give to a team when handicap betting.

Using the internet, it is easy to find out by what margin teams are winning or losing games.

The key here is that not all teams in the top six or seven places in the league will necessarily win more matches by a 2-goal margin than teams in the bottom half of the table.

So, check every team in the league.

This is because a team currently in 12^th place may win more games by a 2-goal margin than the team in 5^th place.

3. Compare the Odds

Finally, always check you are getting the best odds when handicap football betting.

Do not assume the big name football betting sites you see advertised regularly will always have the best odds for handicap betting.

Use a football odds comparison tool and find the best odds before placing your football handicap bet.

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