Fantasy Football (in this case, soccer, not American football) is now more popular than ever, and so too is betting on the outcome of professional football matches online from a PC or mobile device at a fully licensed and regulated iGaming website.
On this page, we will be taking a closer look at how leveraging the many different fantasy football statistics can help you place smarter, well-informed betting decisions and fewer bets that are less likely to bring you a return on your initial investment.
With that said, let’s dive in to discover which key statistics can be of use when you next decide to place a wager on an upcoming football match.
What is fantasy football?
Fantasy football is traditionally a risk-free form of light-hearted entertainment that’s now played online on a handful of fantasy sports websites.
It can also be described as a sports-themed management game that puts you in control of a virtual sports team, which you can assemble from the ground up and then maintain throughout the season to win points and climb any leaderboards you have entered to potentially win prizes.
A fantasy sports team might be based on imaginary players and use computer-generated data, or it could be based on actual professional athletes using real-world data and statistics. For example, a typical Fantasy Football Premier League website will use actual data gathered week in and week out from the English Premier League.
If the EPL players you select in your team score goals, keep clean sheets, get yellow or red cards, or sustain injuries, the points will be reflected online in your fantasy Premier League team.
At the start of each season, each participant who registers their fantasy football team is given the same amount of money to assemble their team, and throughout the season, they can tweak their team by making transfers, changing the formation, and making other important decisions.
Most fantasy football teams are free, but you can also spend money to enter paid leagues, where real cash prizes can be won. These digital entertainment websites are now more popular than ever.
How can fantasy football leagues be leveraged to make smarter betting decisions?
Most fantasy football websites are packed with vast amounts of football statistics, and when you start to understand some of these key stats, it can help you place far more strategic football bets on trusted South African sportsbooks, such as the official 10Bet (https://www.10bet.co.za/) iGaming website.
Some of the key information you can typically gather from a typical fantasy football websites that can aid you in your betting decisions are the following:
- Current form of Premier League teams (always best to check this information for both teams for at least the past three to five latest games)
- Current league standing for both teams
- Starting lineup
- Injuries
- Historical results between the two teams
- Goal scorer and assist stats
- Average time of first/last goal
- New signings
- Important of the match for both teams
- Yellow/red card stats
Some of the other key stats and information worth considering before placing football bets are the average number of corners typically made in a match between certain teams, the total number of goals scored (over/under), first-half/second-half result, and whether both teams will score, to name just a few.
You may also want to learn some of the terminology used in fantasy football, which can help improve your betting decisions, or vice versa – learn some of the unique betting terminology to help you make better fantasy football team management decisions.
What else can I do to make more strategic betting decisions?
You should always take your time to research a fixture before placing a bet and try to understand better what the latest odds and implied probability rates are trying to convey. Avoid placing too many outsider bets with long odds, and consider looking for value bets (which is a long-term betting strategy).
Start by setting a reasonable spending budget before depositing money to place real money wagers, and stick to playing on fully licensed and regulated sports betting sites like 10bet, especially if you live in South Africa. In other words, gamble responsibly and avoid betting on unlicensed and unregulated iGaming sites.
Final thoughts
If you can master the art of fantasy football and understand what the various statistics mean, you can apply this information to your sports bets, and you should notice an improvement in your bets. However, using as many stats as you can get your hands on still doesn’t guarantee that your bets will win.
The important thing to remember is that anything can happen in a typical game of football to upset the sports betting odds, meaning the odds-on favourites don’t always win. Just be aware that you are subject to losses and that the odds can change at any time without warning.
Another way you can improve your betting decisions besides using the latest fantasy football stats is to stay on top of the latest football news from reputable sources.