First And Anytime Goal Scorer Bets

Following on from last months guide to Online Sports Betting, this article takes a closer look at the Anytime and First Goal Scorer betting markets. This is a section of football betting and it allows you to predict who you think will score in any given soccer game. Almost every single football match has this betting option. So if you have a particular favourite team, this could be a good one to consider.

First Goal Scorer Bets

There was a time in football when most teams had one or two prolific goal scorers. In the 1993/94 season, Andy Cole bagged 34 goals for Newcastle. The following year Alan Shearer did the same for Blackburn Rovers. More recently, the goal-scoring duties have been spread out across a larger more dynamic set of footballers. So it’s not beyond the realms of possibilities that three or four of the team could each score 15 goals in a season. Even defenders are known to have to occasional successful header!

And there is a reason for this. Heavily relying on one player to score the bulk of your goals is a dangerous strategy. Injury or transfer could mean an instant drought and a drop down the table. So while more scoring options are better for a team, it does make predicting the First Goal Scorer a lot more difficult.

Maybe it’s the difficulty of the bet or the half-decent odds on offer, but First goalscorer bets are very popular with most football punters. It is a straightforward bet. You simply select the match and the player you think will bang in the first goal. If he scores first you win.

It is also one of the most difficult to win. Firstly you need an actual goal to be scored. A game that ends in a goalless draw means you lose your stake. Even if a goal is scored, it can be from either team and within reason, there are a lot of potential scorers. But if you think you can predict who will hit the back of the net first the odds will be higher than those on offer for Anytime Goal Scorer.

Anytime Goal Scorer Bets

This bet works in a similar way to the First Scorer market. The difference is that the footballer you back to get a goal can score anytime in the 90 minutes (including injury time). He is not restricted to being the first goalscorer.

This is often a lot easier to predict. A glance through the top goalscorers for each team will give you a helpful guide as to who is playing well. However, the odds are a lot lower for Anytime goal scorer. If a player is around 5/1 to score first, they will generally be around 2/1 for anytime.

You can improve your chances by selecting players who regularly take part in set pieces. Picking a team’s default penalty taker or free-kick taker can pay dividends, especially if that player is not a striker. Just be aware that big high scoring players will offer almost no value in this market.

If you don’t think the odds pay enough dividends, you could do a goalscorer accumulator. This is where you select multiple players from multiple games to score anytime. If they all score the reward is far higher.

No Goal Scorer

This is very much what it says on the tin. If you think your chosen game will end 0-0 then you can opt for No Goal Scorer. The odds will be the exact same as a correct scoreline prediction. So if a bookmaker offers 7/1 on No Goalscorer, they will also be offering 7/1 on a correct score of 0-0.

Goalscorer Betting Tips

Most bookmakers will have an offer on the bigger games, usually, on the day are to be played. This can include enhanced odds on specific players in the goalscorers market. You may also be able to get MoneyBack specials on first goalscorer wagers so it’s worth checking out current offers before making a bet.