football has become a multi-billion-dollar company and betting on the football games has been legalized in several parts of the world. A number of parameters are considered for predicting the outcome of a game. Presence of key players and their form is one of the prominent ones. Since injury can sideline a key player of the team and can affect the overall morale and performance in the turf, injury reports have been mandated as per the new Acts.
Here is the overview of various factors that are affected by injury reports in football Betting. We will also cover how one can use them to the benefit and win a football bet.
But first of all, let’s understand what injury reports usually comprise of.
Injury reports – what do they mean
Injury report divides injury in four levels – probable, questionable, doubtful, and out. Probable means the player has more than 50% chance of playing in the match. Questionable indicates a player’s 50 pc chance of playing. Doubtful stands for the fact that there is 75% chance that the player will stay out. And the Out means the player is given rest and not included in the squad.
All these levels are quite subjective and the team management may not give the correct status of the player as the situation may mean different for different people.
How injury reports affect the football bettors
Publishing injury reports has been mandated by the authorities. This is an important insider news piece that affects the performance of the team to some extent. Some of the ways bettors use it for making the betting decisions are:
Determining the strength or weakness of a team
The bettors have an idea about the strength or weakness of the current squad by referring to the information about injured players. They can determine whether the attack or defense of the team is affected due to the absence of injured player or not. It is helpful in prop betting and helps make decisions based on the latest facts available.
The bettor can guess the Over/Under bet, BTTS bet and a few of the live bets such as next team to livescore the goal etc. by factoring the injury report in their research.
The current form of a player is determined
Injured report tells which body part of the player is affected. The opponent team may take advantage of this fact and target that body part while playing. It leads to fouls and penalties. Thus, whether the match is going to offer numerous live bet opportunities or not can be guessed by referring to injured report.
This report also tells how fit the player is. The fitness of player determines if there will be lots of goals or none from a team. Since the ability to possess the ball for longer time is affected due to poor form of an injured player, the impact is seen on the scorecard. Thus, correct score, both teams to score, clean sheet and Over/Under are some of the goals-based bets that can be guessed by referring to injury report along with other facts.
Affects the odds and lines
When a key player is sidelined due to injury and the same is made evident with an injury report, the bookmakers alter the odds and lines. The probability of event affected by the presence of an injured player brings the change in the size of odds and lines. Thus, the bettor gets to decide whether the bookie has been correct in altering the odds. Sometimes, the injury is not reported correctly, or the impact is not that great on the performance. As a result, the condition for a value bet arises and bettor finds a good chance to make money.
Use injury reports as a guide
The bettors can use injury report as a good resource for research. The players who are reported probable are mostly seen at the turf. Thus, it does not affect the betting scene much. Statistics reveal that roughly only 3% players from the teams are listed doubtful. It is a very small sample size and cannot alter the facts needed for making a betting decision. So, apart from other facts like home vs away ground, weather conditions, management scuffles, etc. the injury report serves as a good guide and helps make correct bets.
Take a look at the practice report for better decision
The practice report can be considered for making betting decisions. You can see the red flags if a particular player is not present at the practice for three to four days. This fact can take a beating if the concerned player is a veteran. The veterans display this pattern of showing up in the field even after skipping the practice sessions. So, make decisions accordingly.
Injury report may have some problems….
Having said that injury report is a good resource for research, it is not entirely dependable. The report may have some loopholes which can bar a bettor from making correct decisions. A few of the problems are:
- Inaccuracy in the report: The team management may not report the correct site of injury. If it is an ankle injury, it may be reported as knee injury to protect the player from getting attacked on the affected part. There is no check on this kind of reporting, and so, the correct impact on performance cannot be guessed.
- No change in gameplan: The bettor may expect the team of injured player to change its gameplan, but the team may have not thought on the same lines. Thus, the calculation goes south and the handicapper may find it difficult to make any use of this information.
To sum up,
Injury report is an important resource for football betting. It can be used as a guide to make betting decisions. However, it has to be used along with the other facts because last minute changes in the field are quite likely to occur. Tipsters at footballtipster.net can be used to get second opinion as they consider several other facts along with the injury report. Thus, use their advice for deciding the handicap and proceeding with the bet.