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Soccer Betting Tips
Betting research and analysis: how to do it
To be a long term winner, you need to know the basics of handicapping. Here are some simple strategies to approach soccer betting research.
Home and Away Records
The first thing you should look at is how well a team plays at home or away. Some teams are dreadfully bad on the road, but respectable at home. Some top teams never lose at home, but frequently draw away. Look for patterns; they often repeat themselves.
Recent Form
Check the results of both teams from their last six matches. Many teams are streaky: they win a bunch of games, then have a string of losses. This is one area where you can be a step ahead of the bookmaker, because he tends to focus on the league table positioning more than recent form.
Team News
This is crucial. Is a key player missing? Is the coach resting his regular starters? Has a flu virus infected the whole team? Sometimes a team will field a totally second-string group of players, but the bookmakers will be slow to adjust their odds. This is a great way to take advantage of bookies who don't do their homework.
Head-to-Heads
Compare past match-ups between two teams. Does one team tend to win more often? Does the game often end in a draw? Look for situations where one team has a 80% or higher winning record against the other club. That's a profitable bet in the long term.
Motivation
Some teams come into a game highly motivated, desperate for a win. Others are distracted for various reasons, such as an important upcoming game. Try and gauge each team's motivation. But beware of reading too much into this. A team in a "must-win" situation will fail to win more often than you think.
Upcoming Fixtures
Scheduling is important. Some teams are involved in European and national cup competitions on top of their domestic leagues, so they're forced to juggle several matches in their schedule. This often forces a team to make sacrifices, because it's impossible to play with 100% effort if you have a game every two or three days. Find out what games matter most in the schedule and adjust your betting accordingly.
