The beautiful game encapsulates a nation, and for those who enjoy a little accumulator side-dish with their betting main course of a weekend, the fun can start hours before the 3 pm kick-offs. While you’ll find no shortage of betting strategies and tipsters on Twitter or Facebook who claim to have a winning formula, there is an art to finding some betting indicators via trend analysis and some value. Still, you also need a nice slice of luck to accompany it, too. It could sound convoluted, vague, or mysterious, but it’s all about statistics and data. Recently, Football Whispers, renowned for their expert analysis, shared their latest football betting tips, highlighting key strategies and predictions for the upcoming matches.
Football would be an incredibly dull game if anybody could effectively predict the outcome of every game. In essence, it’s why we love it so much, but it is also why you can find value in the football betting market. Searching for accurate predictions in an unpredictable sport is part of the rush for many people, and certain elements and analyses are more popular as guiding indicators.
Those who use trend analysis will argue back and forth about the most critical element from this list. Still, the consensus revolves around three variables or pieces of data – head-to-head record, current form, and injuries/suspensions. Even looking at these three subsections of data could take hundreds of hours. Although new technology like AI is being used to trim this timescale down, it’s all about knowing where to find nuggets of information that will point you in the right direction.
For instance, Manchester City’s recent dip in form has been mainly attributed to the absence of their influential central midfield talisman, Rodri. The Spaniard is the first name on Guardiola’s teamsheet, scoring a decisive goal in Manchester City’s first-ever Champions League triumph, and considered one of the best players in the world.
While injuries and suspensions might cause a team to lose a key element, this doesn’t mean they’re on par to lose a game. Teams like Manchester City have so much squad depth and talent that losing Rodri shouldn’t cause them to tumble down the league and form table. However, it can play a pivotal role, especially for clubs in a relegation battle, such as if Everton lost Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Dwight McNeil, or Bournemouth lost Dominic Solanke.
Player stats paint a small picture, but team stats are often trend analysis’s most significant swaying indicator. Crystal Palace and their excellent record at the Etihad are things that trend analysts will consider each time the teams go head to head, for instance.
While some old professionals and traditional football fans aren’t exactly for the idea of xG – it is quickly becoming one of the most accurate pieces of mass data collection that trend analysts are using. In addition to these variables, recent form plays a big indicator, and occasionally teams in a rich vein of form, with a strong squad, can cause an upset.
Focusing too much on one derivative market isn’t the wisest move, and betting on the outright outcome often gives you a better chance than betting on a correct score. While you might get better odds, it can be a blow if you’ve done all of your legwork and research, followed some of the top trend analysis, picked a team to cause an upset, and then bet on a 2-1 correct score instead of just an outright selection, and ended up with nothing.
Understanding that there is never just one mitigating factor – even with all of these components at play, trend analysts don’t always get it right. However, it’s a much better idea to digest all the potential game-deciding factors and trend analysts rather than just basing your prediction on the bookmaker’s favorite or a hunch.
Like any tool, trend analysis should be used in conjunction with other approaches. Strong, deep game knowledge should be the foundation for any prediction or bet. Once you understand the inner workings of teams, their form, and how to find potential value in the market, this is the core basis for understanding your betting predictions.
Once you have the stats and knowledge to back up your opinion, amalgamating that with accurate head-to-head records and finding out which players are suspended or injured are considered the most effective ways to try and master trend analysis. However, suppose you want to improve your overall prediction quality; there is no winning formula. As long as you don’t view trend analysis as a magic wand that will help you predict the outcome of games. However, you might notice an increase in the accuracy of your predictions throughout the season.