What Is Tackles Betting in Football?
- After the emergence of card betting in recent years, it was only a matter of time before markets opened on tackles and fouls.
- Tackles in betting refer to an individual player’s action on the pitch and their ability to win the ball back successfully for their team.
- A tackle occurs when a player connects with the ball in a legal challenge that takes the ball from an opposition player.
- Tackle markets are tracked by official stat providers, such as Opta, rather than bookmakers themselves.
Types of Tackles Betting Markets
- Several bookmakers offer individual tackle markets, and bettors can bet on the number of tackles each individual player successfully completes.
- Markets usually start at one or more successful tackles and punters can usually use historical data to try and help form their selections.
- Alternative markets combine an individual player’s tackles and successful interceptions.
- These markets can often be included in Bet Builders to boost odds, and they add a different dimension to a bet, instead of just backing an outcome in the full-time result market.
- Some bookmakers provide markets for the total number of tackles made by a team, but these are far less common.
What Counts as a Tackle?
When looking at player tackles markets and tackles betting tips, it is important to learn the terms and conditions for what counts as a successful tackle.
Opta define a tackle as “when a player connects with the ball in a legal, ground-level challenge and successfully takes the ball away from the opposition player.”
They add that the tackled player must have controlled possession of the ball to be tackled by a member of the opposition team.
A tackle is won when the tackler or a team-mate recovers possession, or if the ball goes out of play.
However, a tackle is lost if a tackle is made, but the ball goes to an opposition player.
When a player cuts out a pass, that is not deemed a tackle and can often be misinterpreted.
As always, when it comes to tackle markets, the rules and parameters are set by official stat providers, such as Opta, and they make the final decision.
How to Place a Tackles Bet
While looking at how to bet on tackles, it may seem that betting on more common markets is more straightforward. However, these individual markets are easy to find.
Customers just need to find the match they want to bet on and find the specific tackles market. From there, they need to pick a player and a line, for example, 2+ tackles, and then place a stake and confirm the bet.
Tips for Betting on Tackles
- It is easier to expect defenders and defensive midfielders to have more success in the player tackles market.
- They naturally have more defending to do, but will be offered at a shorter price than most attacking midfielders and strikers to make a successful challenge.
- If a team is expected to see little of the ball, their best defenders are worth considering, while stats can be found online which list how many tackles individual players make per game.
- However, it is always worth remembering that players can be substituted at any point, so to have more success, it is wise to select players who often play 90 minutes and are in the thick of the action as a defender.