A Complete Guide to Football Each Way Betting

Quick answer: each way betting is less common in football than in other sports, as football matches don’t involve ranked places. However, some bettors may place each way bets on football tournaments or leagues, which can somewhat improve their chances of winning a bet.

Each way betting is hugely popular in horse racing in particular, but that’s not the only sport where an each way bet can be placed.

In other sports like football, which you might not associate with each way betting as individual events don’t involve ranked positions, you can still place each way bets, typically on outright markets.

But is it worth your time to place an each way bet on football? What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing so? And are there any other betting strategies that might be more likely to produce success?

In this article, we’ll answer all these questions as we take you through everything you need to know about each way betting in football.

Each Way Betting In A Nutshell

An each way bet is two bets in one. Part of your bet is on your selection to win; the other part is on your selection to hit a paid place. Your stake is therefore doubled when you bet each way to cover both parts of the bet.

The place part of your bet is paid out at a set fraction of the win odds. In horse racing, that fraction is generally either ¼ or ⅕, but in other sports the fraction can vary more significantly.

If your selection wins, both parts of your bet win, each paid out at its respective odds.

If your selection hits a paid place, only the place part of your bet will be paid out.

And if your selection fails to place, you lose both parts of your bet.

Expert Insight

‘Football outright markets can change significantly over a season as injuries, fixture congestion and managerial changes affect a team’s prospects. A potential each way bet should therefore be assessed against the potential for those circumstances to change, as well as the team’s current position or reputation.’

An example of an each way bet on football

You want to place a bet on your favourite team, Manchester City, to win the Premier League this season. They aren’t the favourites, but you do think they’ve got a reasonable chance.

Just in case they fall short, though, you decide to place an each way bet, rather than an outright one. You navigate to Bet365 and find the following odds:

You go ahead and choose to bet each way on Manchester City at odds of 8. There are two paid places, and the place part of your bet is paid at ¼ of the win odds.

You enter a unit stake of £10 in your betslip and tick the ‘E/W’ box, which doubles your stake to £20 in total.

Now all that’s left is to see what happens in the season, keep your fingers crossed, and await the results of your bet.

Your profits, depending on the outcome, will be as follows:

What Are The Advantages Of Each Way Betting On Football?

The chief advantage of an each way bet on football is that the bettor gets a sort of ‘second chance’ of winning something from their bet, even if their team doesn’t actually win overall.

Because it’s easier to hit a paid place than it is to win, you’re increasing your chances of a return on your bet. This type of bet is therefore popular with bettors who consider their team to have a great chance of placing high, even if they aren’t convinced they’ll end up winning altogether.

It also allows the bettor to split the difference when it comes to the benefits of a selection with high odds (and thus a high return) and one with low odds (the best chance of actually winning).

Each way betting on football is far from being the most popular choice for most football bettors, but you can see why an each way football bet might be tempting to anyone planning to bet on a futures market.

Data Insight

The Premier League consists of 20 teams playing each other home and away across a season, totalling 380 matches. This illustrates the scale of a league outright market, with both a large number of competitors and significant potential for the chances of success to change over time.

- Premier League

What Are The Risks And Downsides Of Each Way Betting On Football?

Each way betting may increase your chance of winning at least part of your bet, but it does have some risks and downsides that it’s important to be aware of.

Expert Insight

‘A team finishing in a paid place doesn’t automatically make an each way bet worthwhile. The real question is whether the combined win and place terms offer sufficient value for the price you’re paying. A more likely outcome can still represent a poor betting decision.’

Are There Any Other Strategies You Can Use When Betting On Football To Maximise Your Profits?

While each way betting on football can increase your chances of a win, it cannot lock in a profit, or even shift the advantage to your favour instead of the bookie’s. If your aim is to bet intelligently, in a way that gives you the edge, there are several better strategies that we’d recommend employing.

Matched Betting

Here are Outplayed, we’re big fans of Matched Betting, and much of our software is dedicated to making it easy and profitable to pursue a Matched Betting strategy. Football, being by far the most popular sport in the UK, is one of the very best choices for Matched Betting.

Matched Betting involves placing bets both for and against the same outcome, meaning that one of your bets must win. Your bet for an outcome is known as a ‘back bet’ and is placed with a bookmaker, while your bet against that same outcome, known as a ‘lay bet’, is placed with a betting exchange.

You make a profit by taking advantage of bookmaker offers, and the great thing about Matched Betting on football is that there are so many bookie offers specific to football, meaning you have plenty of opportunities.

Locking in a profit is typically a two-step process, as follows:

1. Place what’s known as a ‘qualifying bet’ with a bookmaker, which unlocks a free bet or another reward. You match this bet at a betting exchange, which typically results in a small loss of a few pence, known as a qualifying loss.

2. Once your initial bet has settled, you repeat the process with the free bet you’ve unlocked. Generally speaking, this results in a profit of 70-80% of the value of your free bet (e.g. on a free bet of £10, you’d expect to make £7-£8 in profit).

To find out how you can get started, check out our Beginner’s Guide to Matched Betting, which talks you through exactly what you need to do to make your first profits from Matched Betting.

Arbitrage Betting

Arbitrage betting is a very similar technique to Matched Betting, which again involves placing bets for and against the same outcome.

But instead of using bookmaker offers to profit, arbitrage involves finding pairs of disproportionately favourable odds that allow you to lock in a profit with every single bet. The great thing about arbitrage betting on football is that there are so many matches and markets, resulting in more arbitrage opportunities.

Arbing is easiest when you place a back bet with a bookmaker and a lay bet with a betting exchange, as you would when Matched Betting. All you need to do is find odds for your back bet that are higher than the lay odds; if this is the case, you’ve got an arbitrage bet, which will generate you a profit regardless of the outcome of the event.

It’s also possible to use two or more bookmakers to create an arbitrage bet (which is a form of dutching), but it can be harder to locate pairs of odds that will produce a profit.

To find out more, take a look at our dedicated guide to arbitrage betting for all you need to know about how this strategy works.

Value Betting

Value Betting is a more advanced strategy than arbitrage betting or Matched Betting. Because it does involve risk, we recommend that bettors build up both their experience of sports betting and a strong bankroll before they get started.

If that already applies to you, Value Betting can provide a massive boost to your profits. It relies on a similar principle to arbitrage betting - that of locating particularly favourable odds from bookies. Specifically, odds that are higher than the true probability of a win would imply.

By betting only on selections with disproportionately favourable odds, you put yourself in a position where you’re statistically likely to end up profiting overall, even though you aren’t locking in a profit on any individual bet.

Value betting on football can be a highly successful strategy, especially if you use dedicated software, such as Outplayed’s Edge Finder or Steam Chaser, to locate selections that hold the best value.

To find out more about how Value Betting works and how you can get started, check out the dedicated Outplayed guide.

Data Insight

The FIFA World Cup 2026 featured 48 teams and 104 matches, compared with 32 teams and 64 matches at the 2022 tournament. The expanded format demonstrates how many opportunities there can be for canny bettors to find value, as well as the risk involved in a bet based only on chance.

- Wikipedia

Summary

Each way betting isn’t the most popular bet type in football, as it can generally only be applied to outright markets like the winner of a particular league or tournament.

However, the appeal of a second chance at a profit even if your choice only hits the paid places is logical enough, so we can see why sports bettors may choose to place this kind of bet.

Unfortunately, from the matched bettor’s point of view, it isn’t really possible to exploit an each way football bet, although experienced value bettors may be able to take some value from this market.

For most bettors, we’d recommend Matched Betting as a far better place to start to make money from football betting. To find out more, check out the Outplayed Beginner’s Guide to Matched Betting for all the information you need to get started.

Or if you’re already sold and ready to get going, take out our free trial to make your first Matched Betting profits completely free of charge!

FAQs

1. Can you each way bet on any football match?

No - individual football matches don’t allow for each way markets, as a rule. However, you can place each way bets on football leagues and tournaments.

2. Why does my stake double when I place an each way bet?

An each way bet is two bets in one; when you enter your stake, you’re setting your ‘unit stake’, i.e. your stake for each half of your bet. It therefore doubles when it becomes an each way bet.

3. Am I guaranteed to profit from an each way bet?

No, there’s no guarantee of profiting from a standard each way bet. You’re a little more likely to make a return due to the place part of your bet, but you’re certainly not guaranteed to end up with a profit.

4. Can I use matched betting techniques with each way betting on football?

It’s not hugely likely. Although it’s possible that a bookie might run an offer on a football each way market, we don’t tend to see an equivalent of a horse racing extra place offer on football, which means that this isn’t really a suitable market for matched betting.

5. Is each way betting on football beginner-friendly?

It isn’t difficult to do, and it does have the benefit of increasing the possibility of a win thanks to the place part of the bet. However, you could easily lose your full stake, so beginners should be especially careful never to bet more than they can afford to lose.