Goalscorer Markets can be a great way to bet with higher odds than the usual Over/Under goals markets and Home/Draw/Away markets. We’ll often see quality goal scorers like Mo Salah, Robert Lewandowski and Harry Kane at odds over 2.0 (Evens) and they can certainly present pretty decent value. In this article we want to look at the three main types of goalscorer markets.

Betting on Goalscorers

There are three markets in the Goalscorers Markets; to Score Anytime, to Score First and to Score Last. Obviously you’re going to get higher odds for the first and last of the bets there but they can be very tough to predict. With the Score Anytime bet you’re going to be assured of your win if your striker scores during the 90 minutes. That in itself is something to be aware of, the vast majority of bookmakers won’t payout if your goalscorer bags a goal in Extra Time and none of them will if they score in a penalty shootout.

It pays to pay attention to odds as well. There are a few UK bookmakers who can be terribly sly about their goalscorer markets. In his hayday at Barcelona Lionel Messi would usually command odds as low as 1.30-1.50 to Score at Anytime but from time to time you’d see him at odds of 5.0. Why so high, well, he wouldn’t even be in the squad because he’d be sidelined with an injury but the bookie will still take your bet because they know that a few people won’t check the team news and without paying attention they’ve lost their stake as soon as they made their bet. In fairness to some bookies, but not all, if a player doesn’t feature during a match they’ll refund the stake, but every bookie is different and you’ll need to keep an eye on their terms and conditions or a faster way would be to ask them on their Twitter or Facebook pages.

Best odds for Betting on Goalscorers

Harry Kane finished as the Premier League top scorer last season with 22 goals, the want-away striker has had a nightmare in front of goal for Spurs this season but last season we were usually seeing odds of around 1.75-1.95, on average, for the England man to get his name on the scoresheet. But the best value last season was with two midfielders, Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes and Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min. This season things aren’t panning out as well as last season for these too but it pays to really pay attention to midfielders who are enjoying goal-scoring runs. The reason being is that most punters in the goalscorers markets will part with their cash on the favourites, the strikers. However, betting on a midfielder who has been scoring of late, or assisting and getting him when he’s hitting form can pay a good return.

Finding Value in the Goalscorer Markets

What then do you need to look out for when betting in the goalscorer markets? First of all you need to check the team news and see if the main attacking threats are fit and playing. Then you need to see if they’re enjoying a run of good form and, of course, if they have a particular ‘thing’ for a certain team. For example, Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku seems to have it in for West Ham United, the Blues’ frontman has played the Hammers 15 times and has scored an incredible 11 times. Likewise AC Milan’s main man, Zlatan Ibrahimovic loves causing problems for Roma, he’s played against them 22 times over his career, scoring 13 goals.

Pay close attention to prices too, don’t get tricked into parting with your money if the odds are suspiciously high as that would indicate the player might be sitting on the bench and nursing an injury. Finally then, shop around among the bookmakers and find the best odds available for your bets.