For a lot of people, the excitement of football lies in the goals. As a result, many people like to place bets that are based around said goals, with the Over / Under market being a good one to look at. They always contain a .5 in order to ensure that there is never the chance of a draw or a push, so the question you’re being asked in this example is whether there will be more goals than 0.5 or fewer. More would mean 1 goal or over, whilst the only result that would be a winning one when it comes to the Under market would be a 0-0 draw, with anything else losing.
Over 0.5 Goals: Any Goal Is a Winner
If you’re looking at the Over 0.5 market then you’re hoping that there will be any goal whatsoever. It really doesn’t matter how many goals there are after that point, nor which of the teams or the players score it. All you need is for a goal to be awarded by the match referee and your bet on the Over 0.5 Goals bet will be a successful one. Of course, the fact that this is the case means that the odds you’ll get on it won’t be all that impressive, especially if the teams playing in the game tend to be high-scoring ones most of the time.
Here is a look at the number of times that the Over 0.5 Goals bet would’ve been a winner across ten Premier League seasons:
| Season | Games with Over 0.5 Goals | Percentage with Over 0.5 Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 2012-2013 | 345 | 90.79% |
| 2013-2014 | 353 | 92.89% |
| 2014-2015 | 349 | 91.84% |
| 2015-2016 | 348 | 91.58% |
| 2016-2017 | 353 | 92.89% |
| 2017-2018 | 348 | 91.58% |
| 2018-2019 | 358 | 94.21% |
| 2019-2020 | 359 | 94.47% |
| 2020-2021 | 350 | 92.11% |
| 2021-2022 | 358 | 94.21% |
Across ten seasons and 3,800 games, 3,521 of them ended up having Over 0.5 goals, which is the equivalent of 92.65% of the matches that were played.
Examples
Here is a look at some examples of scores that would see an Over 0.5 Goals bet be winning ones:
- 1-0
- 0-1
- 3-2
- 7-0
- 9-0
Simply put, it is any scoreline in which one of the teams scores a goal. It doesn’t matter whether it is an own goal, a goal from the penalty spot or a screamer from the halfway line, as long as a goal has been scored, the Over 0.5 Goals bet will be declared a winner by the bookmakers and your wager will be paid out on. The other thing to remember, as we’ll cover in more detail in the next section, is that the goal must be scored in normal time rather than extra-time or a penalty shootout.
Under 0.5 Goals: A Goalless Game
If you want a wager that the bookmakers might be a little more generous with, the best thing to opt for is the Under 0.5 Goals market. That’s because it isn’t something that happens all that often, so the odds are much longer to tempt people to bet on a market that isn’t likely to happen. Here is a look at those same ten seasons for the number of times that the Under 0.5 Goals bet would have been a winning one:
| Season | Games with Under 0.5 Goals | Percentage with Under 0.5 Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 2012-2013 | 35 | 9.21% |
| 2013-2014 | 27 | 7.11% |
| 2014-2015 | 31 | 8.16% |
| 2015-2016 | 32 | 8.42% |
| 2016-2017 | 27 | 7.11% |
| 2017-2018 | 32 | 8.42% |
| 2018-2019 | 22 | 5.79% |
| 2019-2020 | 21 | 5.53% |
| 2020-2021 | 30 | 7.89% |
| 2021-2022 | 22 | 5.79% |
During those same 3,800 matches, there were 279 games that finished 0-0 and therefore would’ve been winners if you’d placed a wager on the Under 0.5 Goals market. It is the only scoreline that would be a winner in the likes of a Premier League match, with the exception being cup games in which the game sees goals scored after the full-time whistle.
Examples
When it come to examples of scores that would see bets on the Under 0.5 Goals market become winning ones, there is only one to consider:
- 0-0
However, things become a little more complicated if you’re betting on a cup match. It could have a final score that looks like this:
- 2-1 (A.E.T.)
Despite the fact that there would have been three goals in the game, it would still have been a winning bet on the Under 0.5 Goals market if it had finished 0-0 at the end of normal time, resulting in extra-time having to be played. In such an instance, your bet would be a winning one because bookmakers only consider the score at full-time unless otherwise specified.