Regulars on football betting pages will be familiar with BTTS markets. Both teams to score is one of the leading markets on any football odds page, alongside the result, goals over/under and half-time/full-time.
However, some people might be wondering ‘What does BTTS mean in betting?’
After all, there is a lot of jargon associated with sports betting online. A term like BTTS will not be heard in usual football discourse or conversation and is a very specific topic to the betting industry.
Let’s run through some key questions you need to know the answers to before you start looking for BTTS tips:
What Does BTTS Mean In Betting?
Punters are always on the lookout for markets where statistics can be easily researched and applied to a betting strategy and the BTTS bet fits the bill perfectly.
This type of wager is now so popular, many bookmakers offer coupons just for this market and they regularly include BTTS bets in weekly bonuses. The punter must simply predict if both teams in a selected match will score during 90 minutes plus injury time.
Own goals are included in this wager. It doesn’t matter how or when the goal is scored, so long as both teams have scored before the full-time whistle. Most bookies will not include extra time in this market.
Make sure you have a full understanding of the BTTS meaning before placing wagers in this market. Read all the terms and conditions.
How Does a BTTS Bet Work?
A BTTS bet is alive until the final whistle goes. Timing doesn’t matter in this market. All you need is both teams to find the net via whatever means and whatever the final scoreline. A straight-up BTTS bet could cash with the last kick of the game, even if one team was 7-0 down heading into injury time.
This makes it an exciting bet that keeps you in the game until the very end. Others, like half-time/full-time and first goal scorer, can be done for early in proceedings. Even betting a team to win can be all but wiped off before the match is over if they fall a couple of goals behind.
This bet staying alive until the end of the match is one of the main reasons this bet type has become so popular.
Why BTTS Betting?
For those who take a measured approach to their betting, the BTTS market offers the chance to research and analyse statistics.
With so much data available across all the major leagues, it is fairly easy to identify match-ups between teams with high payout percentages in this market.
Some teams have a higher BTTS percentage at home while others rank highly away from home. And some leagues have higher strike rates than others.
Sites like WinDrawWin allow bettors to dive into the statistics to get a good read on where the betting value lies. You can read football predictions for BTTS tips, or you can conduct your own research, and see which teams have been profitable to back in BTTS this season.
How To Bet on Both Teams To Score
Statistics are your friend when figuring out how to bet on both teams to score. You need to look at as much data as possible, including BTTS hit rate, expected goals for and against, and previous meetings between the two teams.
We would also recommend looking at past clashes between managers. For instance, some teams will have seen a lot of change in their personnel and playing style over the last couple of seasons, so how the managers have fared against one another could be a good way to predict the match.
Exercise caution when looking at previous seasons. As an example, Chelsea have seen BTTS land in 62% of their league matches in 2023-24, but BTTS cashed in under half of their fixtures in 2022-23. Trends over multiple seasons are not always helpful when trying to predict future outcomes.
Once you have identified a match where BTTS seems like a good option, analyse the odds available.
Decide if there is value there. It’s also worth considering a BTTS accumulator if there are multiple matches that you expect both teams to score in, especially if the respective BTTS odds are on the short side.
BTTS Betting Trends
A jump back in time to the 2013/14 Bundesliga allows us to see how trends in this area translate into a betting situation.
During that campaign, there were some strong teams in the BTTS category. Hoffenheim were the pick of the bunch with a home record of 82.4% and an away record of 76.5%.
Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart both had a home score of 76.5%, while Mainz and Wolfsburg both had away strike rates of 76.5%.
So let’s look at the results of the matches between these teams, pitching those strong at home with those strong away from home:
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Hoffenheim 2-4 Mainz
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Hoffenheim 6-2 Wolfsburg
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Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 Hoffenheim
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Bayer Leverkusen 0-1 Mainz
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Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 Wolfsburg
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Stuttgart 6-2 Hoffenheim
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Stuttgart 1-2 Mainz
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Stuttgart 1-2 Wolfsburg
As we can see, when these teams were matched head-to-head according to their relative BTTS strengths, seven out of eight matches ended with both teams on the score sheet.
That’s a return of 87.5% across that group of games. That's an excellent return by any standards. Look out for trends similar to this when making your BTTS tips.
BTTS Betting Strategy
By seeking out matches between teams with a high percentage either home or away, the punter increases their chances of a win. Some bettors may set a combined threshold to make their decision easier.
For example, they might decide that a combined score of 140% represents a good betting opportunity.
So, if the home side has a BTTS strike rate of 75%, the away team would need to have a percentage score of 65 or more to bring the bet into consideration.
The higher a punter sets the threshold, the better chance they will have of winning. However, there will be fewer betting opportunities. Once matches have been chosen, punters may then decide to back them all or just the ones that offer the best value.
BTTS Tips For Specific Leagues
You don’t need to know everything about the league or teams involved to place a BTTS bet. Statistics are the key. Anyone who knows how to research and analyse betting trends can craft a BTTS tips strategy.
So long as you know the BTTS meaning and have a willingness to look through the numbers, you can be a successful BTTS punter.
Even if you usually just survey Premier League odds, you can look elsewhere in the search for betting value.
Perhaps BTTS trends show Serie A has been a good place to make a profit because Napoli – as an example – have seen both teams score in eight of their last 10 matches. If they’re then at evens to see BTTS land, you can jump to Serie A BTTS betting without any issues.
Punters can establish such information without being experts in that particular league. BTTS bets require less precise predictions than some other bets such as correct score or first goal scorer.
And punters who enjoy building accumulators can still do so with Both Teams to Score bets.
With so much free information and statistics available, there is no need to bet on gut feelings or instinct alone.
By taking a more mathematical and methodical approach, punters can increase their chances of making a profit in the fun and exciting Both Teams to Score market.
*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*
