Best UK Football Betting Sites

Football – that’s right, the beautiful game – is the world’s most popular sport for betting. Everyone has an opinion and their opinion is always right – until it isn’t. That’s what makes the temptation to have a flutter on the football so great. But which bookie should your loyalties lay with? That’s the question this page is designed to answer.

There are dozens of online betting sites on the market – from the big name usual suspects, to bold new entrants looking to steal their crown. What doesn’t help is that practically every bookie offers football markets. You’ll have to narrow down your selection some other way – whether it’s the biggest bonus, the most free bets or the best mobile app. Once you’ve checked out our reviews you’re sure to have found a favourite.

How to find the best football betting site

Our list of top licensed football betting sites features some of the best options available online, but it’s up to you to decide which one is your ideal bookie. Let’s take a look at what you should expect when picking out a top betting site.

The world’s best competitions 

Football is the world’s game – its global appeal is undeniable. So whether you’re looking to bet on the Premier League, or even the Champions League, you should look out for a bookie that provides you with a variety of football betting options. The best bookies provide coverage of men’s, women’s and youth football matches across the globe, but at the very least, you should expect comprehensive coverage of the following major football leagues and competitions:

• UEFA Champions League
• UEFA Europa League
• Premier League
• Championship
• FA Cup
• EFL Cup
• League 1
• League 2
• La Liga
• Serie A
• Ligue 1
• Bundesliga
• Eredivisie

A huge range of betting options

Gone are the days where you simply place a bet on your favourite team to win and hope for the best – there are a huge range of markets for punters to sink their teeth into everyday. Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can take advantage of great prices throughout the season.

• Match betting 
• Match result 
• Both teams to score 
• Result & both teams to score 
• Over/under goals 
• Double chance 
• Handicap 
• Outright betting
• Correct score

The fun doesn’t have to stop once the season is over, however, with international competitions including the prestigious World Cup, European Championship and Copa América, you’ll have the chance to win throughout the summer months too.

Match betting

The most popular type of football bet are ones placed on a single match. These are placed before kick off and winnings bets are only paid out once the final whistle has been blown. In some cases, your wagers are placed on the outcome after 90 minutes, while others include extra time and penalties, should they occur. This is always clearly stated beforehand. Let’s take a look at the most common pre-match betting options available to online punters.

Match result

The most attractive option for many is the match result. It’s as simple as it sounds; pick a winner, or the draw.

Both teams to score

Some matches are too tough to call down the middle, even for the bookies. If two teams have a similar price to win the match, it means there’s no clear favourite. This is good news if you feel confident about making a pick, but you’ll want to steer clear of the match result bet if you’re uncertain. A great alternative is betting on both teams to score.

Result & both teams to score

The ability to combine the match result with both teams is a relatively new addition to football betting. You’ll find great value here, but as you might have guessed, it’s much harder to land a winner when wagering on two outcomes.

Over/under goals

Much like the both teams to score market, betting on the over/under is a great alternative to wagers on the match result. This is simply the amount of goals the match will feature. Not only is it useful for close contests, though; you can also use it to find better value in matches where the price on the bookies favourite isn’t favourable to punters. Most bookies allow you to bet over or under on 0.5, 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 goals.

Double chance

This market involves some compromise from both the punter and the bookie. Punters can cover two of three possible outcomes, such as ‘win or draw’ or ‘home team win or away team win’.

Handicap

The handicap market is arguably the best place to find value when there’s a huge gap in quality between two teams. An FA Cup match could see a Premier League side pitted against a League 2 team, for example. In this instance, there’s little chance of the League 2 side winning and a bet on their Premier League opponents are likely to provide minimal returns. To provide incentive for bettors to wager on these events, bookies use handicaps to level the playing field for bettors.

The handicap is applied to the scoreline, so if you were to bet on ‘Team A -1’, they would simply have to win by more than 1 goal.

Outright betting

You don’t have to restrict your betting to the events of a match. You can bet on the outcome of leagues and competitions, too. Outright bets are usually placed before the season kicks off, but are usually available throughout the season too. Here are a few common examples of outright betting markets:

• Competition winner • Top Goalscorer • Promotion and relegation

In-play betting options 

When searching for your ideal football betting site, you’ll want to make sure it features an array of in-play betting opportunities. Also referred to as live betting, these markets give you the chance to place wagers on a match that’s already underway. So, if you didn’t place your pre-match bets in time, or didn’t fancy the odds on offer, in-play betting is a solid alternative. Odds change in real-time based on the events of the game, giving you a chance to gauge the momentum of the game and make a more informed decision.

Several top bookies live stream matches to allow you to keep up with the action, however, some leagues and competitions, such as the Premier League and Champions League, are only available to watch via sports broadcasters like Sky and BT Sport. If you can’t watch a game live, you can always keep up through your chosen bookie. Bet365, for example, have a Match Live feature, that tells you exactly what’s happening in the match, whether it’s a dangerous possession for the home team or a free kick for the away team.

Bet365’s Match Live feature

You can even keep up to date with stats, which is particularly handy if you’ve placed a bet on a market like corners, throw-ins or booking points. Sky Bet and Bet365 were the first bookies to offer in-play stats powered by Opta’s Fast Player Statistics Feed. The feed pushes high-frequency in-play statistics like shots, passes and tackles to bookies, allowing them to automate pricing and settle in-play bets quickly. In a recent partnership announcement, Stats Perform’s SVP Betting Jack Harlow said:

“If you’re a bettor following in-play events like shots, tackles and passes, it’s like you’re watching an entirely new game. Goals are still the most important thing of course, but shots happen ten times as frequently as goals, and from a wider spread of players, so the new Opta feed has given a way for operators to create compelling new player-focused experiences that occur throughout the 90 minutes. It’s a new level of entertainment for their customers, even throughout a 0-0 draw.”

Live betting can also provide more value for your betslip. For example, let’s say you wanted to bet on Manchester City to beat Bournemouth, but City concede early on. They may still be odds on favourites, but if you fancy them to overturn the deficit, you’ll get better value than you would have in the pre-game markets.

Live streaming 

The best sports betting sites allow you to live stream sporting events to go along with the option of in-play markets. Most sportsbooks will require your account to be funded and to have placed a bet within the last 24 hours, but it means that you can watch some of the biggest sporting events in the world without a TV subscription. Live streaming can really enhance your betting experience – watching the action unfold live means you can make informed decisions when it comes to in-play betting or cashing out. It’s definitely something worth bearing in mind when you make your choice of sportsbook.

What is cashing out?

This is one of the best features of online sports betting. If you’ve placed a few bets before you may already be familiar with how cashing out works. It basically allows you to take out any potential winnings you may have from a bet while the game is still going on. So say you’ve backed Arsenal to win but, while they’re 1-0 up, you can sense the momentum beginning to change. A cash out option puts you in control of your bet and allows you to collect a portion of your potential winnings. Similarly, if things aren’t going well, you may want to cut your losses and cash out any sum that you can, rather than losing all of your stake.

Accumulators

One of the most popular forms of football betting is the accumulator, or acca. These allow you to place a single wager on two or more different selections and, in order for you to win, each of your selections must win. The real beauty of accumulators, however, is that the potential winnings can be enormous. The odds of your various selections are all multiplied together, increasing the reward for winning. From an initially small outlay, you could be in for a huge profit should you win. 

But as you are likely to have worked out, with a greater potential reward there comes a great risk – losing just one leg of your accumulator will lose you the whole bet. That’s why the best sportsbooks feature acca insurance, which will refund you your stake as a free bet. These aren’t available on all markets and only work on five-fold selections and above, but they’re a great safety net should just one selection fall through.

Specials and promotions

The top bookmakers provide fairly similar offerings when it comes to odds, betting markets and features such as cash out. So the very best bookies use their range of specials and promotions to stand out from the rest.

If none of the existing markets give you what you’re looking for, you can create your bet bookies like William Hill and Ladbrokes, via Twitter, through the hashtags #YourOdds and #GetAPrice markets.

Some bookies even offer early payouts and money back specials. PaddyPower’s ‘2 Up You Win’ promotion pays out if your chosen team is winning by two goals at any point during the game, regardless of the final score. You could very well receive winnings for a losing bet.

Types of football bonuses

Bonuses are a huge factor for most punters looking for new football betting sites. Bonus funds can help boost your bankroll at the most and, at the very least, get you familiar with a new betting site. Every top football betting site wants to attract new customers, so there are a bunch of welcome bonus offers out there, but there are also a few betting offers for regular bettors too. Let’s have a look at a few of the most common welcome offers. 

Matched deposit

The matched deposit bonus is pretty straightforward; make your first deposit and your bookie will match it up to a certain amount. You might find a football betting site that welcomes you with an offer of 100% matched first deposit up to £300, for example. In this instance, you’ll be able to bag as much as £300 in bonus funds. There are usually stipulations that come with such large bonuses, such as an expiry date and minimum odds requirements, so be sure to read the terms and conditions before claiming your football betting bonus.

Free bet

Free bets are the most commonly found bonus at football betting sites. They’re offered to new players and existing punters alike, and you’re likely to find one at just about every good bookmaker. A common free bet offer is ‘bet £10, get £10’. Here, all you need to do is deposit and bet £10 to receive your free bet. T&Cs apply, however, which will limit your use of the free bet, so be sure to keep an eye out for those.

Money back offer

More of a consolation prize than a reward, the money back offer gets your stake back if you don’t land a winner. You’ll usually have your stake returned as a free bet coupon, plus there’s almost always a cap on the maximum amount refunded. Despite this, it’s a decent offer, especially if you’re looking to back the underdog.

Enhanced Odds

In order to stay ahead of the competition, bookies can offer enhanced odds or price boosts on certain markets. These will usually apply to specific games that are likely to have big audiences. So if you’re looking for the best odds on a game that’s covered by pretty much every sports betting site, this is a great way for a sportsbook to stand out.

Betting on the go

Pretty much every good football bookie offers a mobile web app these days, with no additional registration required. Some betting sites also offer free native mobile apps, most commonly to Android and iPhone users. You’ll be able to get to your favourite betting markets lightning-quick – perfect for in-play betting, where every second counts. 

An added benefit to betting from your mobile is that push notifications allow you to keep up to date with new promotions and the ever-changing football odds. So with no need to be tied to your desktop, check out the best mobile betting apps today.

Football betting tips

With so many options at your disposal, filling your betslip can often be a daunting task. You might be lucky enough to win off a hunch, but many turn to betting tips when it’s time to place football bets. There are plenty of football betting tips sites and social media pages out there, but they should always be approached with some caution.

While there’s nothing wrong with backing a tip on your betslip, we’d always recommend doing your own research too. A quick look through the league table, head to head stats and recent form is a great way to remain in the know, even if you do follow a tip. It’s also important to remember that no result is guaranteed —even by the most successful tipsters— so never bet more than you’re willing to lose.

If you’re looking for an introduction to betting on English football, our top tips for betting on the Premier League and Championship are sure to give you a nudge in the right direction.

Payment options

The best online bookmakers will take bets through a variety of payment methods these days. Let’s have a look at what you can expect to find. 

Debit Cards

Almost all online bookmakers will take debit card transactions from a range of providers, including Mastercard, Visa and Maestro. Debit transactions are one of the most popular payment methods with online football betting and probably the most familiar to punters with your winnings are available to withdraw as cash within a maximum of 5 workdays. As a result of the Government’s Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures, however, the UK Gambling Commission announced that as of April 14th 2020 credit cards are banned from online gambling.

E-Wallets 

Most casinos will have e-wallet options available like PayPal, Neteller and Skrill. These e-wallet options are totally free to sign up to, are totally secure and are often your best bet to make quick withdrawals. A slight issue, however, may be that certain offers and promotions won’t take e-wallet payments so it is really advisable to check the terms and conditions of a bonus or casino to understand their position on e-wallet options.

Compare & bet

Now you know exactly what to expect from the best football betting sites, it’s time to pick out your favourite. All you need to do is compare the featured bookies on our list and follow our quick links to register, claim your bonus and start betting!

See our references & visit related external links

Please note that Compare.bet is not responsible for the content of third-party websites.

1. statsperform.com – SkyBet and bet365 Revealed as Launch Partners of Opta’s New Fast Player Statistics Feed
2. gamblingcommission.gov.uk – ‘New age and identity verification rules – changes to the LCCP from Tuesday 7 May’