Soccer game lines
Both teams to score: how to research the number
By DeepChamp research team · Updated · Methods and limitations
Short answer
A both teams to score bet, often shortened to BTTS, asks whether each side scores at least one goal in the match. To research it, assess each team's chance creation and defensive weaknesses separately, think about how the first goal changes the match, and compare the yes and no prices with the probability you give to both teams finding the net.
What it is and how it settles
Both teams to score is a yes-or-no market. Yes wins if each team scores at least once in regulation time and stoppage time, and no wins if at least one side fails to score. The total number of goals does not matter, only that both columns are above zero. Own goals are commonly credited to the team that benefits, extra time and shootouts are usually excluded, and the treatment of an abandoned match depends on the operator.
Settlement rules to check
- Own goals are typically credited to the team that benefits, so a team can 'score' without a player scoring; check the operator's wording.
- Extra time and penalty shootouts are normally excluded, so a knockout tie level at full time settles on the ninety-minute goals.
- Some operators offer both teams to score combined with the result or the total; each combination has its own settlement and its own price.
What moves both teams to score
The weaker attack sets the ceiling
Yes needs both teams, so the side less likely to score matters most. When a dominant favorite faces a team that rarely creates chances, yes depends on whether the underdog gets one clear opportunity or a set piece.
Defensive fragility
Check how often each defense concedes, from what kinds of chances, and whether that has changed with injuries or a new system. Teams that give up chances through the middle or from set pieces can concede even in matches they dominate.
What the first goal does
If one team scores early and the other must respond, the match stretches and chances appear at both ends. If the favorite scores and then controls the game, the underdog may not get another look at goal.
Late-game incentives
Sides trailing in the closing stages push extra players forward, which makes a goal at the other end possible and also gives the leading team room on the counter. Check whether either coach tends to chase a game or to protect a result.
Goalkeeper and back-line availability
A change of goalkeeper or a missing center-back can alter the clean-sheet chance for a team that otherwise concedes rarely. Read availability for both defenses with the same care as for the forwards.
Style pairing and competition context
Two open, pressing sides make a different match from a cautious team in a second leg protecting an aggregate lead. Review the competition context and whether either side prefers to avoid conceding first.
How to research it, step by step
- 1Rate each team's chance of scoring at least once, separately, using chance quality and the opponent's defensive record.
- 2Combine the two estimates, remembering that they are not fully independent because one team's early goal changes the other's incentives.
- 3Review how often each team has kept clean sheets or failed to score in matches that resemble this one, bearing in mind the sample is small.
- 4Check team news for absences in attack and in defense, since each one affects a different half of the yes or no.
- 5Compare the yes and no prices with your combined estimate, and work out the margin built into the pair.
- 6Consider how this market interacts with total goals and the result, which share many of the same scorelines.
Worked example: the number and the price
A hypothetical mid-table home side hosts a visitor that is strong going forward but leaky at the back, and the operator offers yes at +110 and no at -140. Your own made-up estimate is that both teams score a little over half the time.
| Both teams to score: yes at +110 | 47.6%break-even probability |
|---|---|
| Both teams to score: no at -140 | 58.3%break-even probability |
| Both sides added together | 106.0%a margin of 5.6% of the market |
| No-vig probability for Both teams to score: yes | 44.9%fair price about +122 |
| Your hypothetical estimate | 51.0%+3.4 points against break-even |
| Expected value on a 100 stake | $7.10only if the estimate were exactly right |
An estimate only slightly above the price's break-even is a thin gap in a market where one injury, one early goal or a changed lineup can swing both teams' chances. The estimate is built from two uncertain parts, one per team, so the error compounds.
Hypothetical numbers for arithmetic only. They are not a current price, a prediction or a recommendation.
Common mistakes
Treating a high total as a sign both score
A match can finish 3-0, which lands the over on total goals while both teams to score loses. The markets overlap but are not the same bet, and they depend on different parts of a team's play.
Counting clean sheets from the wrong sample
A defense's clean-sheet record from a stretch with a different goalkeeper or back line may not describe this match. Match the sample to the current lineup before reading anything into it.
Overlooking game-script incentives
A leading side can slow the game and an underdog may stop trying to score, so a yes that looks supported by season averages can be unlikely in one particular game script.
Ignoring that the no side has a price
Researching only the yes side and comparing it with one price can hide how the margin sits across the pair. Look at the no price and at both sides together.
Common questions
Does an own goal count for both teams to score?
Commonly yes: an own goal is credited to the opposing team, so that team has scored for settlement purposes. Rules can differ, so check the operator's definition before relying on it.
How does both teams to score settle when a cup tie goes to extra time?
Standard markets use the score at the end of regulation time plus stoppage time, so a goal in extra time is excluded. A match that is 1-0 at full time settles as no even if both teams score later.
Is both teams to score the same bet as over 2.5 goals?
No. They overlap, since three goals often involve both sides, but a 3-0 result lands the over while no wins, and a 1-1 draw lands yes while the under wins. They are related markets with different conditions.
How do you estimate the chance that both teams score?
Estimate each side's chance of scoring at least once, then combine them, remembering that the two are linked by the flow of the game. Multiplying the two figures is a starting point, not a precise answer.
This is educational research content. Examples use hypothetical numbers and are not live odds, picks, or claims about performance.
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