Best Sites For First Goalscorer Betting

Author: Last Updated: October 21, 2022

First GoalscorerFirst goalscorer betting is a staple amongst football punters. It’s one of the most popular bets around and if placed with the correct bookie potentially very profitable.

I say very profitable because if you use the correct bookmaker you can double and even triple the odds, and therefore, the payout of your bet.

In general (with just a few exceptions), it tends to be the strikers and goalscoring midfielders who are the lower odds bet for each match with defenders and more defensive midfielders the longer odds.

Heads up: If you’ve come looking for goalscorer tips/predictions for upcoming matches then you should check out the betting tips section instead.

If you want the best odds on first goalscorer bets then keep on reading…

Best Betting Sites For First Goalscorer: Top 5

The following is a list of the best bookmakers for first goalscorer bets & why:

  1. Betfred – double delight promo
  2. Bet365 – biggest bonus
  3. Betvictor – best football odds
  4. Betfair – great exchange odds
  5. Paddy Power – lots of promotions
1
betfred
Bet £10 get £40 bonus
BETFRED REVIEW
CLAIM BONUS!
New UK 18+ only. Register (excl. 13/04/2024) with promo code WELCOME40, Bet £10+ on Sports in one transaction within 7 days of registering. Get £30 Free Bets & £10 free spins within 10hrs of bet settlement. Bonuses expire 7 days after issue. Min odds, eligibility & payment exclusions apply. Full T&Cs apply. Full T&Cs apply
2
Bet365
Bet £10 get £30 free bets
BET365 REVIEW
CLAIM BONUS!
New Customers only. Bet £10* & Get £30* in Free Bets. Sign up, deposit between £5* and £10* to your account and bet365 will give you three times that value in Free Bets when you place qualifying bets to the same value and they are settled. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits. Min odds/bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. T&Cs, time limits & exclusions apply. Registration required.
3
Betvictor
Bet £10 get £40
BETVICTOR REVIEW
CLAIM BONUS!
18+ New customers only. Opt in, bet £10  on any football market at minimum 1/1 odds. No cash out. Get £40 in Free Bets on selected events. Free Bets expire in 7 days. Card payments only. T&Cs Apply, see below. begambleaware.org | Please gamble responsibly
4
betfair
Bet £10 get £30
BETFAIR REVIEW
CLAIM BONUS!
New Customer offer. Place a min £10 bet on the Sportsbook on odds of min 1/2 (1.5), get £30 in Free Bets. Rewards valid for 30 days. SMS verification required. Only deposits via cards will qualify. Please Gamble Responsibly. T&Cs apply.
5
Paddy Power
Bet £20 Get It Back If It Loses
PADDY POWER REVIEW
CLAIM BONUS!
New customers only. Place your FIRST bet on any sportsbook market and if it loses we will refund your stake in CASH. Max refund for this offer is £20. Only deposits made using cards or Apple Pay will qualify for this promotion. T&Cs apply. Paddy's Rewards Club: Get a £10 free bet when you place 5x bets of £10+. T&Cs apply.

Best Odds On First Goalscorer Bets

Double Delight Hat-trick HeavenAll bookmakers will offer odds on the first goalscorer market given its popularity but there are several promotions available that mean one bookmaker will give you the best odds on first goalscorer bets.

The bookmaker I’m talking about is Betfred who run a Double Delight/Hat-Trick Heaven promotion precisely for the First Goalscorer market (on selected games every week).

Firstly what’s impressive about this promotion is that there is no additional requirement on the side of the punter. You simply make your choice of first goalscorer and if your choice of player scores another goal in the game, then you will receive DOUBLE the starting price back in winnings.

If your player then goes on to complete a hat-trick then Betfred will TREBLE your starting price!

For example: This means that if you place £10 on Wayne Rooney to score the opening goal in a game at 5/1 and he scores the opener and then adds two more goals in the match, you will receive back £160 at odds of 15/1.

You don’t need me to tell you how profitable this promo can be so if you want to check it out click here to visit Betfred’s website and select Double Delight from the promotions menu.

Other considerations for best odds…

Another good tip to find decent odds on first goalscorer bets is to head to the betting exchanges (well to Betfair).

Betfair is a good place to look for a bet if you fancy a flutter on an outsider as you can often get considerably better odds on the exchanges on a defender or defensive midfielder scoring than you can in a traditional bookies.

*I only ever use Betfair when the game I’m betting on isn’t part of the promotion at Betfred.

Lastly, other bookmakers often run “Moneyback Special” offers on the first goalscorer market that allow punters a variety of insurances and incentives to bet with them.

Paddy Power are particularly prevalent in the number of offers they run in any given week on a variety of matches and typically these promotions offer you the chance to earn your stake money back if your player doesn’t score the opening goal, but does score the second or last goal of the game.

It’s worth opening an account with Paddy Power just to get on their email list so they’ll notify you of promotions when they run. You can do this by signing up using the link below.

Sign up to Paddy Power here.

First Goalscorer Betting Strategy

It can seem somewhat daunting to bet on the goalscorer market, there are 22 players on the pitch and any one of them can conceivably score and given the vagaries of football, it is not always easy to predict who will score and when.

Yet despite that, there are some excellent tips you can follow to improve your chances of selecting the first goalscorer more often. Here’s the bulk of my first goalscorer betting strategy:

Always check the team news – Personally, I prefer to make first goalscorer bets when I have heard the confirmed teams an hour before the game starts but it is always worth checking the team news each week to see if one of your prime choices has had an injury niggle in training or may not even start in the game.

Focus on the forwards – Forwards are always most likely to score the opening goal in games and as such, if you want to keep the statistics in your favour, then you should focus on this market initially. The odds may not be as attractive as the centre half, but in general, they are much more likely to win your bet.

Check formations – A team playing a 4-3-3 formation with wingers, or a 4-5-1 formation are heavily reliant on that striker scoring goals. In teams such as Manchester United (Robin Van Persie) and Liverpool (Luis Suarez) this is clearly evident. Lone strikers tend to have more of a responsibility to score goals and as such, they make an attractive choice.

Check how the opposition concede goals – Check the stats sites to see how any opponents tend to concede goals. If they concede a lot of goals from set pieces, then it may be worth a speculative flutter on your tall centre back scoring the opener. If they concede a lot of goals to midfielders getting into the box behind strikers, then the talented attacking midfielder in your team may also be worth a look.

Penalties – It is worth noting who the penalty taker is for your team. This is especially pertinent against a team that conceded lots of penalties and if your chosen team has a longer odds player as a penalty taker, or set piece specialist (such as Leighton Baines at Everton).

Last Goalscorer & Anytime Goalscorer Bets

There are variations available of the First Goalscorer bet:

The Last Goalscorer bet is the same bet as the first goalscorer, only applied to the final goal of the game. The one key thing to remember in this bet is not to select players that tend to be substituted in matches and also to be aware that there are a several players who have a fine record of starting on the bench and coming on to score goals.

Good examples of this type of player are Javier Hernandez (when he used to be at Manchester United) and Edin Dzeko of Manchester City.

Anytime Goalscorer bets offer greater flexibility than First or Last Goalscorer bets as it means your selection can score any goal in the game at any time and you’ll still win. The downside is that the odds on offer for this bet are considerably lower than for either the First or Last Markets.

Other Posts In This Series

My post ‘Best Sites For First Goalscorer Betting’ is part of a blog post series I’ve written about where to get the best value when making specific bets on football matches. Here’s some other posts in this series I think you’ll be interested in:

  1. Best Bookies For Scorecast
  2. Best Bookmaker For Accumulators
  3. Best For Both Teams To Score
  4. Best Over/Under Bookmakers