Few wagers are as much fun to make as those on Football Goalscorer betting. There’s a real sense of pride when you do your research on a game, pick a player to score, and then they go and do so.

Of course, many times, they don’t score. Or they score at the wrong time, or they may even not be selected to play from the start in a game. It is these subtle differences and nuances that make football goalscorer betting so much fun, and also surprisingly difficult!

So in this article, we are going to take a look at the most popular type of bets you can make on goalscorer markets at bet365 Sport. We’ll also compare and contrast some of the different Football Goalscorer betting markets.

Then it’s time for a hefty dose of reality! As we’ll learn a little more about why some of these bets can be far trickier to land regularly than many people expect.

Finally, we’ll give you our tips for how to make better judged goalscorer bets. Including the kinds of players and trends to look for when considering making a bet with bet365 Sport on any of these markets.

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What Is Football Goalscorer Betting?

As the name suggests, football goalscorer betting is betting on a football match where you aim to pick a player that will score a goal during the game.

However, the more you refine your selection, by defining whether the player will score the first or last goal of the game, then the longer the odds on your selection will be. Especially when compared to bets which back a player to score a goal at any point in the match.

In terms of individual match betting, there are four popular goalscorer betting markets. They are: –

• First Goalscorer – A bet on your chosen player being the first goalscorer in the game. (Not just the first goalscorer for their team).
• Last Goalscorer – A bet on your chosen footballer scoring the last goal of the game.
• Anytime Goalscorer – A lower odds bet which is a bet on your chosen player scoring a goal at any point in the game.
• Each Way First Goalscorer – A 2-unit stake bet which covers both the player scoring first and also at any other point in the game.

As you can imagine, by defining whether a player scores the first or last goal in a game, you are ruling out being paid out if they score any other goal in the match, and as such, the prices on these two markets do tend to be very similar and are generally longer odds than anytime goalscorer bets.

In the screenshot above you can see that all the players listed are the same price to score the First or Last goal in the Manchester United vs Liverpool game. For example, Marcus Rashford is 10.00 (9/1) to score the First goal of the game, and the same odds to score the Last goal of the game.

However, you can see the odds for each player for the Anytime market, which covers any goal at any point in the game, are much shorter. For Marcus Rashford the odds are 3.75 to score at Anytime (11/4).

That same pattern is followed through on the other players listed in the screenshot. If you expanded the selection to include every possible player you can bet on, you would likely find the same pattern in the odds repeated across all players.

Which Is The Best Of The Four Goalscorer Betting Markets To Back?

That very much depends on what you mean by the ‘best’. If you want longer odds, then the First or Last Goalscorer markets are your best bet.

However, if you want to have more chance of earning a pay out from your selection, then the flexibility afforded by the Anytime bet makes that a better value option. However, the trade off for this flexibility is that the payout is proportionally smaller due to the shorter odds on this bet.

However, there is the fourth option which combines both a First Goalscorer bet with an Anytime Goalscorer bet. This is bet365’s Each Way First Goalscorer market.

• Each Way First Goalscorer Bets & Multiple Selections Of Goalscorer Bets

Bet365’s Each Way First Goalscorers bet is a two-unit stake opton which sees you divide your stake equally between: –

• A bet on the player scoring first (at the First Goalscorer odds)
• A bet on the player scoring any time in the game (at 1/3 of the First Goalscorer odds)

The bet is a nice compromise if you think that the Anytime Goalscorer market doesn’t offer particularly good value. Or if you feel that the player has a good chance of scoring the first goal in the game, but you want the added insurance of a return if they score any other goal in the match.

Remember too, you can back a player in all three main goalscorer markets, as they can score the first AND last goal in a game and of course, that means they would score at any time too.

For example, if I backed Mo Salah on all three markets and he scored the opening goal of the game and Liverpool went on to win 1-0, then all three bets would win as he not only scored the first goal but also the last and he also scored at any time.

The same would be true if Liverpool won 2-0 and Salah scored both, or Liverpool won 3-1 and he scored the first and last goals of the game.

The truth of the matter is that it depends on how risky you want your bet to be when it comes to football goalscorer betting. First and Last Goalscorer bets are the riskiest options, but pay out better odds. Anytime Goalscorer betting is the safest, but pays out at much shorter odds.

However, Each Way First Goalscorer bets offer a nice compromise between the two, giving you a chance to win a larger amount if your selection scores first, with the added insurance of a return if they score at any other point in the game but miss out on scoring the opening goal.

Are There Any Good Football Goalscorer Betting Hints And Tips I Should Follow?

You may feel that this backing a goalscorer a pretty easy bet to land regularly, but in fact that is not the case. If you decide to back players who regularly score goals, such as Erling Haaland, Mo Salah, Cole Palmer, Alexander Isak and similar, these players are not guaranteed to score every time. Plus, there’s certainly no guarantee they will score the first or last goal of a game!

Similarly, if you back them solely as Anytime goalscorers, then their First Goalscorer odds are usually very short (often evens or odds-on) which means any profit you make will be a percentage of your initial stake, rather than a multiple of it.

As such, in order to get the most from your footballer goalscorer betting, here’s a list of tips to consider.

Football Goalscorer Betting Tips

• Placing Your Bet. Ideally make your chosen goalscorer bets in the last hour before kick off when you know the line up for the team. You don’t really want a player to be sat on the bench if you have backed them to score, especially in that first goalscorer market.
• Void if Player Does Not Start – Yes. If you cannot place your bet early, always select the Void if Player Does Not Start option on the bet365 bet slip. This means if your player does not start the game and is either on the bench, or not even in the squad, then your bet will be voided and your stake returned.

• Check the fixture. Some players have good goalscoring records against certain opponents but not others. Jamie Vardy of Leicester, for example, has always done well against the big six teams in the Premier League. Liverpool star Mo Salah has scored more goals against Manchester United (11), West Ham and Arsenal (both 10) than he has Chelsea, Wolves or Fulham (4).
• Check a player’s form. An in form player is likely to be more confident and likely to take chances that come their way. Erling Haaland, for example, has scored four goals in Manchester City’s first two games of the 2024/25 season. Mo Salah has also scored in both Liverpool’s opening two league games of that season.
• Check for Set Piece Takers and Penalty Takers. This is a great way to get some added value, especially if your teams penalty taker or free kick expert is not a regular scorer. Midfielders and Defenders that take penalties or direct free kicks can offer some good value bets in the Anytime goalscorer market.

Remember too, you can now use the Bet Builder+ feature at bet365 Sport to include several different goalscorer bets (including First, Last and Anytime goalscorer markets) alongside many other markets to build your own accumulator for a massive selection of football games.

Goalscorer betting is great fun when enjoyed sensibly and responsibly. We hope you found these tips useful!

Always remember to gamble responsibly. Check out bet365’s Safer Gambling page for more details.

Updated on 30th August 2024