The goal glut ‘trap’ in soccer live betting

The Best Betting Markets for Soccer Bettors

Outburst of goals in the opening 45 minutes of the match is of utmost importance in soccer live betting. This dynamics can either lead the bettors into making a rightful decision to place the bet on the winner, or it can mislead them into supporting short-priced favourites. The article below puts an accent on the significance of the remarkable and rare events of multiple goals scoring in the first half of the soccer game. The goal glut in the first half of a soccer match or multiple goals in a very short time window can mislead the live bettors and make them misjudge the further dynamics of the match and the performance of the teams. No matter how memorable or spectacular this outburst may seem, it should not trap bettors into false assumption of the end of the match. The Bradford City short-term ‘miracle’ A good example of this is the match between Chelsea and Bradford City. Although Bradford City team was falling behind Chelsea with a score of 2-0, the four goals scored by Bradford City may trap viewers and bettors into believing that Bradford City is superior to the Chelsea team. This is true especially because in all other occasions Chelsea would prove itself as the superior one. Having this in mind we can conclude that besides the spectacular and rare scoring of 4 goals in very short time intervals, this is a very poor indicator of the future development of a match. Analysis of goalscoring schemes The number of goals per game in the Premier League is proportionate to the strengths of the teams and it is set at the average 2.6 goals. However, this number varies. This means that two teams which are evenly strong are expected to score less than the league average total and a mismatch between them is expected to see rise towards 3 goals per game. Statistically, the greater the gap between the teams’ strength, the smaller the likelihood of a goalless match, and as the mismatch between the teams increases, the probability of 4 goals increases as well. Risk taking increases in the second half of the match and thus the second half sees about 55 % of the total goals scored in the course of one match. The average scores for a typical Premier League game are 1.19 for the first half and 1.45 for the second half. One or fewer first half goals is typical for nearly 70 % of the Premier League games, and over 10 % of the matches see a score of 3 or more goals in the first 45 minutes. When analyzing the games, when the first half of the match already ends up in three or more goals, there are usually 2 possible schemes. Namely, if the course of a game is better determined through short-term events that occurred recently, then one may expect this trend in scoring to continue throughout the second half. On the other hand, if we look back to the match between Chelsea and Bradford City, then one can come to a conclusion that extraordinary and surprising development of events may occur randomly in scoring patterns and the odds in the second half should be in line with our pre-game expectations, i.e. the dynamics of the match should be based on the relative strength of the two contestants. This supports the claim that the number of goals in the second period is very closely related to the pre-game estimates about the number of goals that will be scored in the second half. Monitoring a five season period in the Premier League, the findings are that if soccer teams scored three or more goals in the first 45 minutes of the game, then an average of 1.5 goals are to be expected in the second half, and furthermore, in the case of one or less than one goal in the opening half, the second half should see on average 1.52 goals altogether. This pattern suggests that extraordinary scoring in the first half leads to a minor, if any, increase in the second half. Greater scoring in the first period of, for example, three or more goals, leads to greater chances of losing the placed bet because usually those games where scoring was more modest in the first 45 minutes result in greater chances of win. CONCLUSION Taking everything into account, we can conclude that as much as goals can appear in gluts in a single match, this does not imply that this dynamic will continue steadily throughout the match or in any other future matches. This is especially the case with weaker teams playing against a stronger team, when the former has a sudden unexpected burst of goals and scores at a very rapid rate against the latter. The Chelsea and Bradford City example is a perfect one showing how the rising trend of scoring by the weaker Bradford City within the same match should never be mistaken as Chelsea being weak and losing its high place in the Premier League. Nor should it mean that Bradford City is suddenly, out of the blue, on its way towards conquering the Premier League. Short term trends, as shown by Bradford City, are always less predictive of what future holds regarding winners and losers in soccer matches than long term steady performance by already renowned teams. Thus, in soccer live betting one should always make sure to not rely on spectacular gluts of goals in the opening 45 minutes of the match and based on that, place bets on short-priced favourite teams.

The Poisson approach in live soccer betting

 It is a well known fact that the possibilities of a draw in a soccer match rise with every minute that a game remains goalless. In general, the greatest variables in live soccer betting are goals and thus they are the most significant factors that can alter live odds as well. Other game factors which may change the course of a match include red and yellow cards. What one bettor should be aware of when live betting are the current match odds. In order to determine whether the current game odds are accurate, one should be able to consider and calculate all the odds known by that point of time, taking into account the average number of goals each team will score at a particular time, and thus make a close evaluation of the outcome of the game. Poisson approach : Predict the score in soccer betting How to use the Poisson approach In order to better explain the Poisson calculation method, we can take the match between West Ham vs. Manchester City in the 9th week of the Premier League. According to the achievements of the both teams, over a longer period of time, West Ham was rated far below the champions of the year before that, Manchester City, and thus, West Ham was expected to score 0.85 goals against Manchester City, with expectation of 1.90 goals. According to Poisson approach calculations, City would be expected to win 62 % of such games, as opposed to West Ham with 15 % probability of winning and 23 % chance of ending in a draw. These were also the odds available prior to the start of the match. Statistically speaking, goal scoring rises as the match progresses, due to the fatigue of the players and risk taking) and live bettors should be aware of these facts. Furthermore, 45 % of goals shall be scored before the initial period is over, and the remaining 55 % after the half time.   The equation, derived from the Premier League scoring data, for the calculation of the goal expectations of one side at a particular point in the match, is as follows:   Remaining Goal Expectation = Initial Expectation * Proportion of Time Remaining ^ 0.85   If we take a team, for example, which is initially expected to score 1 goal for the entire game, in the beginning of the second half, the average goal expectancy for the remaining time shall be calculated by the equation below: 1*(0.5^0.85) = 0.55 Thus, the initial goal expectation still remains in the second half, after the interval. What is very useful for live bettors here, is that this equation can be used at any time of the match to calculate the chances for remaining goals While no goal was scored in the first 21 minutes, before West Ham took the lead with the first goal and 78 % of the game was yet to be played, the goal expectations for the both teams had fallen from initial 0.85 and 1.9 to 0.69 and 1.54 goals respectively. If we calculate all of this with the Poisson method, we can come up with figures and probabilities which can tell us whether the match will end in a home win, away win or draw. How a goal alters the winning probability in a match If a soccer match remains goalless for 21 minutes, then the probability of a draw shall rise from 0.23 to 0.26. In this fashion, in the example of West Ham vs. City, this event decreased City’s chance of winning from 0.62 to 0.58, but West Ham chances remained similar at 0.16. However, after the first goal by West Ham, the figures changed drastically. Namely, with 21 minutes of the match having elapsed, and with a score of 1-0, after applying decayed initial goal expectations for each side, West Ham gained a 42 % chance of victory. Just as a reminder, the chances of West Ham to win this match, prior to that first goal, were set to 16 %. This is just an illustration of how big an impact a goal may have on a game. Therefore, in each live match and live betting, the possible scenarios regarding the outcome, are always affected by the initial strength of each team, the time remaining and the current score, alongside other factors, such as red cards. On the contrary, the betting data from the day of the match shows that only 35 % chance of winning was predicted for them. The Poisson method can also be used to calculate the likelihood of one team gaining one or three points. Namely, Manchester City, losing by 2-0 against West Ham, has to win the remaining part of the match by scoring two goals to gain a point, or by scoring three or more goals to gain all three points. Although City scored one goal in the 77th minute of the match, the remaining time was still too short and West Ham continued to be the leading team with about 70 % chance of winning immediately after the score by City.   CONCLUSION Generally speaking, a home team will always win in about 70 % of the matches, if they score the opening goal in the first 21 minutes. The Poisson approach predicted 42 % winning chance for West Ham at that point, taking into account the abilities of the respective teams. Hence, the bettors can take great advantages of the Poisson approach since they can calculate the odds during the game, taking into account the field events. They are able to make their own judgments of the outcome in the end of the match, noting when a goal is scored and identifying any opportunities which may be profitable for them in the form of returns.