The advantage is flexibility. Different matches provide different types of information. Sometimes the evidence strongly suggests goals but gives little confidence about the winner. Sometimes a favourite looks stronger but the draw remains a serious possibility. In other fixtures, tactical styles may point toward corners or cards rather than the full-time result.

This does not mean these markets guarantee profits or eliminate risk. No betting market can do that. What they offer is the ability to match your prediction more closely to what you actually know about the game. This guide explains nine football markets that can be more useful than simply choosing a straight winner, how each works, situations where it may make sense, and mistakes to avoid.

What Is a Straight Win Bet?

A straight win is usually found under the Match Result or 1X2 market.

The three possibilities are:

For example, if Arsenal are playing Chelsea and you choose Arsenal to win, Arsenal must be ahead when the market is settled for your wager to win. Standard match-result markets are normally based on 90 minutes plus stoppage time; extra time and penalties generally do not count unless the market specifically states otherwise.

Straight wins remain an important part of football betting, but their biggest limitation is obvious: you must correctly predict one of three outcomes.

You could correctly identify that Arsenal are the stronger team, dominate possession, create the better chances and avoid defeat, yet lose your selection because the match finishes 1-1.

This is where alternative markets become useful.

A good online bookmaker may offer dozens or even hundreds of possibilities for major matches. The challenge in sports betting therefore shifts from simply finding a team you like to identifying which market expresses your analysis most accurately.

Why Consider Alternatives to Straight Win?

Imagine Liverpool are playing a difficult away fixture. You believe Liverpool are unlikely to lose, but the home team's record makes an away victory far from certain.

Taking Liverpool on the straight win forces you to predict only one outcome.

Taking Liverpool or Draw through Double Chance gives you two possible successful outcomes.

Alternatively, Draw No Bet allows you to back Liverpool while protecting your stake if the match finishes level.

Neither option is automatically better in every situation because the bookmaker compensates for the additional protection by offering shorter odds. The question is therefore not simply which market has the highest probability of winning.

The better question is:

Which market best represents what my analysis actually tells me about this match?

That principle is one of the most useful ways to approach alternative markets.

1. Double Chance

Double Chance is one of the easiest alternatives to understand.

Instead of selecting one result from the standard home-draw-away market, you cover two of the three possible outcomes.

The choices are:

1X: Home win or draw.

X2: Away win or draw.

12: Either team wins, meaning the wager loses if the match finishes level.

For example, suppose Newcastle are playing Manchester City at St James' Park. You believe Manchester City are the stronger team but also recognise that Newcastle's home advantage makes the fixture difficult.

Rather than requiring Manchester City to win, you could select X2.

You then win if Manchester City win or if the game finishes level. Only a Newcastle victory defeats your selection.

Current football market guides similarly define Double Chance as covering two of the three standard match outcomes. 

When Double Chance Can Be Better Than Straight Win

Double Chance can be particularly useful when you have confidence that a team will avoid defeat but not enough confidence to predict an outright victory.

It may also make sense when two evenly matched teams are playing and the draw is a realistic possibility.

Suppose a team has lost only once in its previous ten league matches but has drawn five of them. Backing that team repeatedly on the straight win could be frustrating because its ability to avoid defeat is much stronger than its ability to consistently win.

In that situation, Double Chance may better reflect the available evidence.

The trade-off is price. Because two outcomes are covered rather than one, the odds are generally lower.

The lesson for football betting is that a higher probability of success does not automatically mean better value. You still need to compare the probability implied by the odds with your own assessment of the match.

What to Analyse

Look at home and away records separately.

Check how frequently each team draws.

Study whether the underdog regularly remains competitive against stronger teams.

Pay attention to absences, travel, scheduling and tactical matchups.

Double Chance becomes much more meaningful when your analysis suggests “unlikely to lose” rather than simply “I think this team is good.”

2. Draw No Bet

Draw No Bet sits somewhere between a straight win and Double Chance.

You select one team to win, but if the match finishes as a draw, your original stake is returned.

Suppose Aston Villa are playing Tottenham.

You think Aston Villa have the stronger chance of winning but are uncomfortable with the possibility of a draw.

Instead of selecting Aston Villa on the three-way match-result market, you take Aston Villa Draw No Bet.

If Villa win, your wager wins.

If Tottenham win, you lose.

If the match ends level, the wager is void and the stake is normally refunded.

Why Draw No Bet Is Useful

The major attraction is protection against one specific result.

This can be valuable when you favour a team but consider the fixture too competitive for an ordinary straight win.

It is particularly interesting in games involving two closely matched teams, strong home sides facing technically superior visitors, or clubs with unusually high draw frequencies.

Imagine Brighton are excellent at home but face an elite opponent. Your analysis suggests Brighton have genuine winning potential, yet a 1-1 result appears almost as plausible.

Draw No Bet allows you to support Brighton without treating the draw as a complete losing outcome.

The price will normally be shorter than Brighton's straight-win odds because you are receiving that protection.

For football betting, this market is useful because it forces you to separate two questions:

Do I think this team can win?

And how worried am I about the draw?

If the answers are “yes” and “very worried,” Draw No Bet deserves consideration.

Draw No Bet vs Double Chance

The two markets are sometimes confused.

Double Chance 1X wins whether the home side wins or draws.

Draw No Bet on the home side wins only when the home team wins; a draw normally returns the stake.

Because the outcomes and settlement are different, the odds are different too.

Neither market should automatically replace the other. Your choice should depend on your predicted probabilities and the available price.

3. Both Teams to Score

Both Teams to Score, usually shortened to BTTS and sometimes displayed as GG/NG, removes the question of who wins entirely.

You are simply predicting whether both teams will score at least once.

BTTS Yes wins with scorelines such as:

1-1, 2-1, 1-2, 2-2 or 3-1.

BTTS No wins when at least one team fails to score, including:

0-0, 1-0, 0-1, 2-0 or 0-3.

Bookmaker market guides describe BTTS in precisely this way: the final winner is irrelevant as long as the scoring condition is met.

Why BTTS Can Be Better Than Predicting a Winner

Consider a match between two attacking teams with questionable defences.

You might have very little confidence about whether the match finishes 2-1, 1-2 or 2-2.

However, all three scorelines share one characteristic: both teams score.

That means your strongest opinion is not about the winner at all.

Your opinion is about goals.

This is one reason BTTS has become such an important football betting market.

A useful analysis should consider scoring and conceding records rather than simply league position.

A team sitting near the top of the table may still concede regularly. Likewise, a lower-ranked team may possess enough attacking quality to score against stronger opposition.

What to Check Before Selecting BTTS

Consider how regularly each team scores.

Then examine how regularly each side keeps a clean sheet.

Home and away splits are important because some clubs' attacking output changes dramatically depending on venue.

Also consider personnel. The absence of a first-choice striker, creative midfielder, goalkeeper or central defender can change the expected scoring environment.

Game state matters too.

A cup tie where one team urgently needs a goal may develop very differently from a league fixture in which both sides would accept a draw.

This is where online betting becomes less about simply choosing famous clubs and more about understanding what type of match is likely to develop.

4. Over/Under Goals

Over/Under Goals is another market that ignores the winner and concentrates on how many goals will be scored.

The most recognisable line is 2.5 goals.

Over 2.5 requires at least three total goals.

Therefore:

2-1 wins.

3-0 wins.

2-2 wins.

But 1-1 loses because only two goals were scored.

Under 2.5 works in the opposite direction.

0-0, 1-0, 1-1 and 2-0 all qualify as Under 2.5.

Official bookmaker guides commonly define the 2.5-goal line this way.

You may also encounter lines including Over/Under 0.5, 1.5, 3.5 and 4.5.

Why Goal Totals Can Be More Useful

Suppose Bayern Munich face Borussia Dortmund.

You expect an open match with chances at both ends but cannot confidently determine who wins.

Taking Over 2.5 may allow you to focus on the aspect you feel more confident predicting: goals.

The reverse can happen in a defensive fixture.

Perhaps two cautious teams are playing, neither creates many high-quality opportunities, and both would be relatively satisfied with a point.

Under 2.5 could fit that analysis better than choosing either team.

For football betting, totals are particularly useful because football matches contain several independent dimensions. The eventual winner is only one of them.

Don't Base Overs Only on Recent Scorelines

One of the easiest mistakes is looking at five recent results, noticing several high-scoring games and automatically selecting Over.

Ask why those games produced goals.

Were there red cards?

Penalty kicks?

Unusually poor goalkeeping?

Weak opponents?

Late goals after the game became stretched?

Statistics need context.

Expected goals, shot volume, big chances, defensive performance, playing style and personnel can provide a more complete picture than final scores alone.

5. Asian Handicap

Asian Handicap markets can initially look complicated, but they are extremely useful once understood.

The principle is to give one side a virtual advantage or disadvantage before settlement.

For example, Team A -0.5 effectively requires Team A to win.

Team B +0.5 means Team B's wager succeeds if Team B wins or draws.

Whole-number handicaps can introduce the possibility of the stake being returned. With Team A -1, for example, a two-goal-or-greater victory typically wins while a one-goal victory results in a push/refund under standard Asian handicap settlement. Quarter-goal lines can divide the stake across two adjacent handicaps. Because exact settlement rules matter, bettors should always check the operator's market rules before placing the wager.

Asian Handicap is widely recognised as a major alternative to traditional win-draw-loss markets. Academic research has also compared its pricing and efficiency directly with the conventional football market.

Why Asian Handicap Can Be Better Than a Straight Favourite

Imagine Manchester City are heavy favourites at home.

Their ordinary straight-win odds may be extremely short.

If your analysis suggests they are likely not merely to win but to win comfortably, a negative handicap allows you to express that stronger opinion.

Instead of simply Manchester City to win, you might analyse whether they can win by two or more goals.

On the other side, Asian Handicap can allow you to support an underdog with protection.

If a weaker side is receiving +1.5 goals, it can lose the actual match by one goal while still covering the handicap.

That makes handicap analysis particularly useful when your view is about the likely margin of victory rather than simply who finishes ahead.

Important Warning About Handicaps

Do not select bigger handicaps merely because the odds look attractive.

Every additional goal of handicap changes the probability required.

This is one area of football betting where understanding settlement rules is essential. Half-goal, whole-goal and quarter-goal lines behave differently, so beginners should understand the specific line before staking money.

The expanding range available through online sports betting platforms makes these selections easy to access, but accessibility should not replace understanding.

6. Team Total Goals

Team Total Goals takes the Over/Under concept and applies it to only one team.

For example:

Arsenal Over 1.5 Team Goals means Arsenal must score at least twice.

Chelsea Under 1.5 Team Goals means Chelsea must score zero or one goal.

The opponent's number of goals does not directly matter.

If Arsenal Over 1.5 is your selection:

Arsenal winning 2-0 works.

A 2-2 draw works.

Even Arsenal losing 3-2 still produces two Arsenal goals and therefore satisfies the scoring condition, subject to normal market settlement rules.

Why Team Totals Are Underrated

Sometimes the clearest information in a fixture concerns one team's attack rather than the entire match.

Imagine an elite attacking side faces one of the league's weakest defensive teams.

You expect the favourite to generate plenty of chances, but you are unsure whether the opponent will score.

Over 2.5 match goals introduces the opponent into your prediction.

Home Team Over 1.5 allows you to concentrate only on the favourite producing two goals.

The opposite approach also works.

If a team has struggled badly away from home and now faces one of the league's strongest defences, its Under 0.5 or Under 1.5 team total may better reflect the matchup.

This is another example of why football betting does not need to revolve around predicting final results.

Useful Statistics for Team Totals

Study goals scored by venue.

Look at expected goals.

Consider shots on target and big chances.

Review the opposition's expected goals conceded.

Check clean-sheet frequency.

Look at injuries and suspensions affecting attackers or defenders.

Also consider whether the team is expected to dominate possession or play primarily on the counterattack.

The more specifically the statistics match the market you are considering, the more useful your research becomes.

7. First-Half and Second-Half Goal Markets

Not every football match develops at the same speed.

Some teams attack aggressively from kickoff.

Others spend the opening period controlling possession before increasing intensity after the break.

That creates opportunities to analyse individual halves rather than the full game.

Common examples include:

First Half Over 0.5 Goals.

First Half Over 1.5 Goals.

Second Half Over 0.5 Goals.

Second Half Over 1.5 Goals.

There are also first-half result and second-half result markets.

When Half-Specific Markets Make Sense

Suppose a team has repeatedly started cautiously but becomes far more aggressive after half-time.

A full-match goals bet does not specifically capture that pattern.

A second-half goals market does.

Likewise, two high-pressing teams may create chaotic openings before fatigue later reduces intensity.

First Half Over 0.5 could then be more aligned with your analysis.

But sample size matters.

Three matches containing early goals do not prove a team is permanently an early-scoring side.

Look across a larger set of relevant fixtures, and separate home and away behaviour when possible.

For football betting, time-based markets can be valuable because they allow your prediction to incorporate not just what may happen, but when it may happen.

Tactical Context Matters

Managers influence the timing of matches.

A team protecting a first-leg lead may begin cautiously.

A side that must overturn a deficit may attack immediately.

A relegation-threatened club needing three points on the final day could become increasingly aggressive as the match progresses.

Understanding the competition situation can therefore be just as useful as historical statistics.

8. Corner Markets

Corners are one of the most popular alternatives for bettors who prefer analysing playing style.

Typical markets include:

Over/Under total match corners.

Team total corners.

First-half corners.

Corner handicap.

Most corners.

Some operators also offer race-to-a-specific-number-of-corners markets.

Why Corners Can Tell a Different Story

The better football team does not always win.

Likewise, the team creating the most attacking pressure does not necessarily score.

A side can dominate possession, deliver repeated crosses, have shots blocked and spend long periods around the opponent's penalty area while the match remains 0-0.

That pressure may still produce corners.

Consider a strong favourite facing a deep defensive block.

The underdog may pack players around its penalty box, forcing the favourite to attack from wide areas.

Blocked crosses and defensive clearances can increase corner opportunities even if goals remain difficult to find.

In that situation, predicting the favourite's corner count may make more sense than taking extremely short straight-win odds.

What Influences Corner Numbers?

Playing style matters considerably.

Teams that attack from wide areas and cross regularly can generate different corner profiles from teams attempting to play through the centre.

Game state is also important.

A favourite that falls behind early may spend the remainder of the game attacking, increasing pressure and potentially generating corners.

A team leading comfortably may reduce its attacking intensity.

That is why football betting on corners requires more than checking a team's average corner count.

You need to understand how the expected matchup could create those corners.

As online sports betting continues to offer deeper match markets, corners give bettors another way of translating tactical observations into a specific selection rather than forcing every opinion into a final-result wager.

9. Cards and Booking Markets

Card markets focus on disciplinary events rather than goals.

Depending on the operator and competition, markets may include:

Total match cards.

Team cards.

Player to be booked.

First-half cards.

Card handicaps.

Most cards.

These markets can be especially interesting in matches where rivalry, tactical mismatches or playing style suggest a physical contest.

Why Cards Can Be Better Than Predicting the Winner

Consider a heated derby between two evenly matched teams.

The full-time result may be extremely difficult to predict.

However, the history and tactical characteristics of the fixture could suggest a high number of fouls and bookings.

Cards then become a separate angle from the winner.

Similarly, a full-back facing an exceptionally quick winger may be vulnerable to tactical fouls.

A defensive midfielder responsible for stopping counterattacks may also have an elevated booking risk.

For football betting, card markets can therefore reward detailed tactical research that has little relevance to the traditional 1X2 outcome.

Research the Referee Too

The referee matters more here than in many other markets.

Some officials allow physical challenges to continue, while others punish similar contact more quickly.

You should also investigate competition-specific card settlement because bookmakers can differ in how they calculate totals, particularly with second yellow cards, red cards, players on the bench or cards shown after the final whistle.

Never assume every operator settles card markets identically.

How to Choose the Right Football Betting Market

Having more markets does not mean you should use all of them.

A better approach is to begin with your analysis before opening the bookmaker.

Ask yourself what you actually know about the fixture.

If your strongest conclusion is that the home team will not lose, examine Double Chance.

If you strongly favour the home side but think a draw is realistic, examine Draw No Bet.

If both teams regularly create and concede chances, investigate BTTS.

If your analysis centres on the overall scoring environment, examine the goal line.

If the favourite appears capable of dominating by multiple goals, investigate the handicap.

If only one team's scoring prospects stand out, consider a team total.

If timing patterns are important, examine first- or second-half markets.

If tactical width and pressure are the key features, consider corners.

And if the fixture looks physical, study cards.

That process is far more disciplined than opening an online betting site, scrolling through hundreds of options and choosing whichever odds look appealing.

Strong football betting analysis should lead to the market rather than allowing the market to lead your analysis.

Compare Odds Before Placing a Selection

Even when you identify the right market, price matters.

Two bookmakers can offer different odds on the same event.

That difference may look insignificant on a single wager, but consistently accepting worse prices reduces potential returns over a larger sample.

Academic work examining bookmaker pricing has similarly noted that bettors face odds tilted toward the betting house, making relative price comparison relevant when evaluating markets.

If you use more than one licensed online bookmaker, compare like-for-like markets and confirm that settlement rules are the same.

Do not compare two apparently identical prices before checking the details.

Asian handicaps, card lines, player markets and special markets can have operator-specific rules.

Do Not Confuse Higher Win Probability With Better Value

This is one of the most important concepts in football betting.

Suppose Double Chance offers odds of 1.25 and a straight win offers 1.80.

Double Chance clearly covers more outcomes.

But that does not automatically make 1.25 a good price.

Every set of odds represents an implied probability.

Decimal odds of 2.00 correspond to a 50% break-even probability before considering other practical factors.

Odds of 1.50 correspond to roughly 66.7%.

Odds of 1.25 correspond to 80%.

Therefore, your question should not simply be:

“How likely is this selection to win?”

It should also be:

“Is it likely enough to justify the available odds?”

This distinction is central to intelligent sports betting analysis.

A market with a high hit rate can still perform poorly if the price is consistently too short.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Perhaps the biggest mistake is trying to find a “safe market.”

There is no such thing.

Double Chance can lose.

Under 3.5 goals can lose.

A +1.5 handicap can lose.

Even a strong favourite can produce an unexpected result.

Another mistake is combining supposedly safe selections into enormous accumulators. Ten low-priced selections can collectively create a much more difficult wager because every leg must generally succeed for the accumulator to win.

Avoid chasing losses too.

A losing selection does not make the next wager more likely to win.

Likewise, do not increase stakes simply because you feel a result is “certain.”

A disciplined approach to football betting accepts uncertainty rather than trying to eliminate it.

Another common problem in online betting is analysing the team instead of analysing the market.

Saying “Real Madrid are better” may support a match-result selection.

But it tells you very little about whether there will be Over 10.5 corners or whether a midfielder will receive a card.

Your evidence should match your market.

Build a Specialisation Instead of Betting Everything

One useful approach is to specialise.

You may become particularly comfortable analysing goal totals.

Another person may understand Asian Handicap pricing.

Someone else may closely follow a particular league and develop a detailed understanding of its corner patterns.

Specialisation allows you to create repeatable criteria.

For example, if your preferred market is BTTS, your research template might consistently consider goals scored, clean sheets, expected goals, injuries, venue, tactical styles and match context.

If your preferred market is cards, the template would look completely different: referee tendencies, rivalry, player roles, foul rates, tactical matchups and disciplinary records become more important.

This gives your research structure.

Instead of making unrelated predictions every day, you repeatedly evaluate similar situations.

Is There Really a “Best” Football Betting Market?

No single market is universally best.

Different markets solve different analytical problems.

Double Chance reduces your dependence on predicting one exact result.

Draw No Bet protects against a draw.

BTTS allows you to ignore the winner.

Totals let you concentrate on the scoring environment.

Handicaps allow you to analyse margins.

Team totals isolate one attack.

Half markets incorporate timing.

Corners capture pressure and playing style.

Cards capture discipline and tactical conflict.

The best football betting market for a particular fixture is therefore the one where your evidence is strongest relative to the offered price.

That may change from match to match.

You are not required to bet on every fixture either.

Sometimes the best conclusion after completing your research is that none of the available prices adequately reflects your uncertainty.

Skipping the game is also a decision.

Responsible Betting Matters

Alternative markets provide more ways to analyse football, but more choice should not become an excuse to place more wagers.

Set limits in advance.

Do not stake money needed for bills, food, debt repayments, savings or other essential expenses.

Avoid increasing your stake because you are trying to recover a previous loss.

Keep records if you gamble so that you understand your actual spending and results rather than relying on memory.

Safer-gambling organisations provide tools including spending calculators, self-assessment, blocking options and self-exclusion for people who want greater control or need to stop.

The convenience of online sports betting makes it particularly important to decide your boundaries before a match begins.

Treat betting as entertainment involving financial risk, not as guaranteed income.

Final Thoughts

Straight wins will always remain one of the easiest markets to understand, but football provides far more information than the identity of the eventual winner.

Double Chance can help when you expect a team to avoid defeat. Draw No Bet can reduce exposure to a draw. BTTS and goal totals allow you to concentrate on scoring patterns. Asian Handicaps provide ways to express expected winning margins. Team totals isolate one attack, while half markets, corners and cards allow deeper tactical analysis.

That flexibility is what makes alternative markets valuable.

The aim should not be to find a magical market that never loses. It does not exist.

Instead, successful analysis means identifying what you genuinely know about a match, choosing the market that most accurately reflects that opinion, assessing whether the price is reasonable and accepting that every wager contains uncertainty.

Approached that way, football betting becomes less about blindly choosing the team expected to win and more about understanding the many different ways a football match can unfold.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1: Which football market is easier than a straight win?

There is no market that is automatically easy. Double Chance covers two results rather than one, while Draw No Bet protects your stake against a draw, but bookmakers account for those advantages through shorter odds.

The appropriate market depends on the match and the available price.

Question 2: Is Double Chance better than straight win?

It can be when your analysis suggests that a team is likely to avoid defeat but you cannot confidently predict a victory.

However, because Double Chance covers more outcomes, the odds are normally lower.

A lower price can reduce the attractiveness of the wager even when the probability of success is higher.

Question 3: Is Draw No Bet safer than a straight win?

Draw No Bet removes the draw as a losing result because a draw normally causes the stake to be returned.

However, your selection can still lose when the opposing team wins.

It should therefore be seen as a different risk-and-price structure rather than a guaranteed option.

Question 4: Is BTTS better than Over 2.5 goals?

They measure different things.

BTTS Yes requires both teams to score.

Over 2.5 only requires at least three total goals.

A 3-0 result wins Over 2.5 but loses BTTS Yes.

A 1-1 draw wins BTTS Yes but loses Over 2.5.

Your choice should depend on whether your prediction concerns both teams scoring or the total amount of goals.

Question 5: Can a team lose and my Team Total bet still win?

Yes.

If you take Team A Over 1.5 Goals and Team A loses 3-2, Team A still scored twice. The team-total condition has therefore been achieved under normal settlement.

The result itself does not matter unless the market includes a match-result condition.

Author: Tolulope Afuwape

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Reviewed by Olufemi Osunyingbo 

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