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Under 4.5 goals betting market – Meanings and how to use it!

Alongside the match odds bet on who will win the match there are a large number of other markets that you can bet on in football and one of these is the number of goals to be scored. You can bet on an exact number of goals, but it’s more popular to bet on whether the total goals will be higher or lower than a set amount.

It does not matter how much higher or lower the final result is you will succeed with your bet regardless as long as it ends up in your favour. Over and under markets can be used for a wide range of sports that have goals or points scored in them, however, here we will concentrate solely on one that relates to a specific football score.

 

What is Under 4.5 Goals In Betting?

Under 4.5 goals is a bet that will when under five goals are scored in a match. The 0.5 is added for the simple reason that scoring half a goal is impossible so the bet can only be a winner or a loser with no event of a tie. If you bet on a match in tournament play the goals must be scored in the regulation 90 minutes with any further goals scored in extra time or penalties not counting toward the bet.

Let’s look at a Premier League Season for some idea of how many goals are scored per match – in  2023/24 there was a record 1,246 goals, which divided between the 380 games played was an average of 3.28 per match. This year was remarkably high though and for context the previous record was 1,222 goals in the 1992–93 season (which had 462 games, an average of 2.65 per match).

Generally speaking, you can see that an under 4.5 goal bet will be odds on and more probable than an over 4.5 goal bet.

 

Where can I bet on Under 4.5 goals?

Most bookmakers offer an under/over goals market and a range of options from 0.5 upwards to choose from for that particular match. From these you should see under 4.5 goals as an option from our research one of the best for this is 1xbet.

1xbet has a huge range of football leagues to bet on from all around the world and virtually all allow under 4.5 goals to be bet on for each match. The odds are usually the best available from the sites we recommend, and they settle winning bets quickly, meaning you can have your winnings back in your bank account at record speed.

 

Under 4.5 goals – Betting Definition

The bet on this market is a simple one in that you win if less than 5 goals are scored in the match. Once the fifth goal is scored in the match, your bet becomes a loser. No distinction is made between the way the goals are scored, be they penalties or own goals, nor does it matter which team scores the goals.

  • “Under” – In the context of this bet, “Under” means less than, or fewer than, the stated amount. In this case 5.
  • “Goals” – A goal is the method of scoring in football where the ball crosses the goal line of the opposition. The goal must be allowed within the rules of the game and in some leagues, will be checked by VAR or goal-line technology to ensure it’s a legal goal. In leagues where this technology is not available, if the goal is given in the game by the referee it will count toward the bet.
1xbet Definition of the total goals market

1xbet defines the total goals over/under market as follows: “The bet “(Total) Over/Under” is indicated as “Total”.

This is a bet on the total number of goals, points, games (etc.) that have been scored, earned, played (etc.) by teams (players etc.). The Customer must predict how many goals, points, games (etc.) will be scored, earned, played etc. (more or fewer than the total number quoted). At the bet settlement playing time stipulated hereby for each sport is taken into account, unless the market states otherwise.”

 

Under 4.5 goals odds

The odds on this bet will vary from match to match and from league to league but it will not be far away from evens. This is because it is most common for matches to end with between 3 and 4 goals per game. Some examples of the odds available on a recent Premier League match can be seen below:

Betting SiteWest Ham United vs Leicester City under 4.5 odds
🏆 20Bet1.14
🪙 Megapari1.14
🏅 1xbet1.14
💰 22bet1.13
🏦 Rabona1.13

 

Examples of winning and losing under 4.5 goal bets

Some examples of potential scorelines and whether or not that would have resulted in a win or loss for an under 4.5 goals bet can be seen below:

Final ScoreTotal goalsUnder 4.5 Win / Loss
0 – 00Win
1 – 01Win
0 – 11Win
1 – 12Win
2 – 02Win
0 – 22Win
2 – 13Win
1 – 23Win
3 – 03Win
0 – 33Win
2 – 24Win
3 – 14Win
1 – 34Win
4 – 04Win
0 – 44Win
Every other scoreXLoss

 

What betting markets are similar to under 4.5 goals?

  • Under 0.5/1.5/2.5/3.5 goals – are all very similar to under 4.5 goals and will win as long as the goals scored are below the stated amount
  • Under 3 goals – Some bookies will offer a bet without the 0.5 this means that a tie is possible and if exactly 3 goals are scored then your stake would be returned if it is an Asian Handicap bet.
  • Over 3.5 goals – Over 3.5 goals is another popular market and is the same as under 2.5 or under 3.5 goals except it only wins if there are four goals or more rather than three or fewer.

 

Tips and strategies for betting on under 4.5 goals

There are a number of things to think about when placing an under 4.5 goals to ensure the best chance of your wager being successful.

  • Is a team in good scoring form
  • Does one team have a strong defensive record
  • Are the attackers in good form
  • Do teams play an attacking or counter attacking style, a match between 2 defensive teams should have more chance of less than 4.5 goals
  • Are there injuries so star defenders or attackers will be missing subsequently increasing or decreasing the chance of goals

Other things to do are:

  • Look for equal teams – Games between unevenly matched teams can lead to high scoring by the stronger team. When two teams are evenly matched, they should cancel each other out and lead to a match with fewer goals in it.
  • Use Accas to raise the odds – The odds of under 4.5 goals will usually be just over odds on.. This means that there will not be a big win on a single match unless you stake a very large amount, increasing your risk. In order to get a big win without having to risk too much combining several under 4.5 goals bets into an accumulator will quickly ramp up the odds.
Author
Saul Mumford - Content writer and sports expert
Content writer and sports expert
Saul has always been a keen sportsman and latterly sports fan who is a close follower of football, hockey, and lawn bowls. Having always been someone who could identify value, his gambling insights come through in his writing, offering in depth, well researched, and thought provoking articles.
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