Sports Wagering Gambling Guide - Home Field Advantage in Soccer

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Soccer Betting – Use the Home Field Advantage to Your Advantage

The home field advantage in soccer may be bigger then any other sport. Often times you can check some of the biggest leagues in the world, such as the English Premier League and Italian A League, and find clubs that are great at home, but many games below .500 away from their home pitch. Even if a team is on the top of their league table, you have to take the home field advantage into account when betting on soccer.

Unlike most sports, especially in American sports, soccer teams do not travel very far for away games. They do not have to hop on a plane and cross a few time zones in order to play a match. The lone exception is for international competitions such as the Champions League or the UEFA Cup. So you may think if teams do not have to travel far, why is there such a big home field advantage?

One of the main reasons is that soccer fans are a little more fervent then other fans. You have heard of soccer hooligans right? Soccer fans are in the true sense of the word fanatics. There can be a lot of bad blood between team’s supporters and many times fans of opposing teams have to be cordoned off so they do not get in fights with the home fans. Home teams can get a huge lift from their rabid fans and they will definitely hear it from the fans if they do not perform. When a home team is ahead in a match it can make coming back very difficult. When they are losing their fans will let them know and spurn on their beloved team to come back. It is never easy to win away from home and this is especially the case in soccer. You can find great value bets in soccer by looking at the home record of a team. When you look into betting on soccer you have to look into the home and away record of a team. For example, Inter Milan has been at the top of the Italian A League table for a few years now, but they do lose away from Milan. Betting on elite teams away from their home pitch is dangerous, as those types of teams do not get good odds and there is a good chance they will lose.

Often times, bookies take home field advantage into consideration when they come up with soccer lines. However, recreational soccer bettors do not take this into consideration when a superior team is playing on an away pitch. The lines can be a bit skewed and there can be good value found with a team is at home and below a better team in the league table. Even teams that are not good on the road can, many times, be very hard to beat on their home pitch.

You should look at home/away records before you wager on a soccer match and you can find good value bets, especially when a good team is playing a weaker one away. Teams at the top of a league table in away games will often lose to weaker teams because if the immense home field advantage in soccer.