There are many factors and criteria that define whether a betting site can be classed as ‘the best’ when it comes to football betting.

Along with concerns such as available odds, matches and leagues covered, other football betting needs also have to be taken into consideration too. Does the bookmaker feature ongoing football promotions? Is there live streaming? and so on.

Having trawled through the plethora of available football betting sites available, we have whittled it down to what we feel is our top 10 football betting sites, which when putting all the aforementioned factors together, provide users with the best experience when placing football bets.

After considering lots of excellent bookies, we have narrowed it down to the below list. These betting sites achieve a high standard within all of the relevant criteria and are therefore rated as the best sites for football betting.

Best Football Betting Sites

1. Betfair: Number one exchange in the business
2. Betway: Range of Betway Boosts
3. Bet365: Best live betting in the world
4. Sky Bet: Superb bet builder and promotions 
5. BetVictor: Unique enhanced odds offering
6. 888sport: Fresh new betting platform
7. Ladbrokes: Reliable, classic bookie
8. Paddy Power: Lots of spontaneous promos
9. Betfred: #PickYourPunt bet builder
   
10. Kwiff: Chance to have your bet #Kwiffed for enhanced odds

Markets are the lifeblood of football betting sites, with bookmakers constantly on the lookout for new betting angles to attract football backers. Players can be overwhelmed by the sheer range of football markets available, with popular matches having over 400+ markets to choose from.

Below are some of the most common ways to bet on football, along with some pointers in terms of which bookies do them best.

Full-Time Result

A three-way bet on the winner of the game. You can back either side or bet on a draw. This is, of course, the bare minimum you will find on any football betting site. More often than not, you will find the best match-winner odds on the Betfair Exchange where you bet against other punters.

Draw / No Bet

In this instance, you pick a winner but if it ends as a draw, the bet is voided and you get your stake back. A much safer play but odds are lower than the standard match-winner market.

Double Chance

Perhaps a good option if you are betting on an underdog, you can go for a double chance and this means you win if they draw or win. You'll find this option on all top betting sites, including Betway and Ladbrokes.

Goals Over/Under

This can be a two-way or a three-way market. Two-way is more straightforward, as if the line is set at 2.5 for example, you simply either win or lose. If it is three-way, the line will be set as a whole number such as 2, and 'exactly 2 goals' would be the third option along with the over and under.

On top betting sites such as Bet365, you can bet on Asian total goals, which is more complex again.

Both Teams To Score

This is exactly what it sounds like. A two-way market where you can bet on “yes” or “no”.

First Player To Scorer

A straightforward market that sees a user pick one of the twenty-two players on the pitch (or substitutes) to score the first goal of the match. Some sites also offer bonus winnings if your first player to score selection wins and then scores again, with Betfred's Double Delight, Hat-Trick Heaven the best in this instance, offering double and triple odds, if the selection scores again.

Asian Handicap

Something most beginners would usually avoid, but this can be a fun way to bet on football. The oddsmakers essentially give one team a headstart, making it as close to a 50-50 contest as possible, and then you pick a side. It can get complicated when quarter goals are involved, so be sure to check our Asian Handicap guide and learn all about it.

A good place to start, though, is to understand that if you back a team with an Asian handicap of 0.0, this is the same as draw no bet. If you back a team with an Asian handicap of +0.5, this is the same as double chance.

Bet Builders (also known as create-a-bet) have become the fashionable bet for many football betting fans, with what was a relatively niche option, becoming de rigour for the majority of sports betting sites.

This popular feature allows you to put together exactly the bet you want. You can combine a range of selections such as the match result, goalscorers, cards, and corners into one big bet - essentially, a same-game accumulator.

To further enhance this betting option for football backers, bookies are starting to add cash-out options with this bet, while a few are offering the ability to combine separate bet builders into a double, treble or acca to further boost those odds!

Bookmakers such as William Hill also allow users to add player stats to their bet builder selections. This can range from shots at goal, cards, tackles attempted, passes completed and more, further adding depth to potential bets created.

• Control is Everything

The great thing about creating a bet builder is that there is no right or wrong way of doing things. Whether you pick an easy two-fold bet selection at 11/8, or a ten-fold monster at 80/1, you are in ultimate control.

Our advice is to keep it simple, keep it uncomplicated and ultimately, keep control to give yourself a far better chance of winning, as chasing that moonshot will only let you down!

All the betting sites that we have mentioned above frequently update their sites with offers focused on football. 

It is hard to say which betting site offers the best football offers. It varies, but you can say that Bet365 offer the best promotions for European football.

Classic bookies like Betfred also do a great job in this regard, and you can regularly find free bets on their site. 

Another site that really ramps up these offers is QuinnBet, which has a continuous range of boosts, money-back options and bonuses on football betting. For those looking to avoid the more famous big brands, these offer a very good alternative, with competitive pricing.

A very easy way to keep track of what promotions for football are available is to follow the betting sites on social media. An even easier way is to take a look at our football betting offers page, which details all of the best deals on the market.

The most common football betting offers include, but are not limited to:

• Free bets
• Bet 10 Get 30
• Deposit bonus
• Acca Insurance
• Acca bonus
• Early payout
• Money back

A cash-out feature is vital in order for football betting sites to compete in today’s climate. Therefore, most serious bookies take measures towards that end.

The cash-out offering used to be rigid, but some betting sites now really make an effort to improve their cash-out function. Such improvements include:

• More markets available

Previously bookmakers would limit the types of bets available under cash-out, but as time has moved forward and bookies have gotten to grips with their margins, they have started to offer cash-out options to more and more bets, with Betfair, Sky Bet and BetVictor some of the best exponents of this.

• Partial cash out

Cashing out early is great, but sometimes we want our cake and to eat it too, so partial cash-out lets users take a proportion of the current winning bet, whilst letting the bet ride with a smaller amount staked. This lets players either bet elsewhere on another market or withdraw funds, however they see fit. This is available at William Hill, bet365 and other bookmakers.

• Automatic cash-out

Automatic cash-out lets users decide the point that their bet is cashed in and settled. Players can go to their bets that offer cash-out and specify a particular amount of profit or overall figure to reach, when this is achieved, the bet will be automatically cashed out to the user's account. Among the better football betting sites this is available, include Betfair Exchange and bet365.

• 100% cash out before the event

Sometimes when placing a bet pre-match, backers can get cold feet and decide against the bet. If this is the case and as long as the price has not changed, users can get their money back fully, with Unibet among bookies that provide this option.

Most, if not all bookies offer cash out on football markets, but the best ones are those that tick all of the above boxes. 

The ability to cash out and get your whole stake back before the event starts (as long as the odds haven't changed) is a particularly beneficial feature and one that Bet365 offers users.

Regardless of which football markets you are betting on, you want the very best odds possible. In fact, this is probably the number one most important thing when it comes to deciding which bookie to bet with.

Of course, it cannot be guaranteed that a certain bookie will have the best price for every available bet, but there are some that tend to have better odds across the board than others.

Some football betting sites are more generous when it comes to, for example, player props, whereas others might offer a higher payout percentage on the match-winner market.

A good way to judge the payout rate is by looking at a two-way market that is as close to 50-50 as possible and looking at the odds offered for each option. If the odds on two possible outcomes are 10/11 (1.91) apiece, that is much better than 5/6 (1.83).

You might find that the payout rate, and therefore the odds, are better on the top leagues than more niche leagues because the oddsmakers have more data at their disposal to be able to set accurate lines.

In-play action is a huge part of football betting today, and you can place wagers at any point during a match.

Sometimes, you might like to wait to see how the teams have set up tactically before locking in your wager. Or, if the favourite falls behind early, this represents a chance to back them to win at a much bigger price than they would have been pre-match.

On the best football betting sites for live betting, you'll be able to bet not only on the standard markets such as the result and total goals, but also on things like corners and cards.

Some bookies will even allow you to put together a bet builder in-play, whereas others have in-play boosts or specific football betting offers that are specific to in-play betting.

The top betting sites offer live streaming across a wide range of sports, and this includes the top European football leagues.

You won't be able to watch the Premier League through online bookies, but the likes of Bet365, Betfair, Ladbrokes, and other sites show action from Spain, Germany, Italy, France, and more.

On top of that, lots of niche leagues are widely available to watch. Whether it's in Argentina, Denmark, Japan or Belgium, the chances are, you'll find it on one of the below bookies.

Best Bookies for Live Football Streaming

• Bet365
• Betfair
• Ladbrokes
• Paddy Power
• Betfred