The term clean sheet in footballing terms means to make it through a match without conceding a goal. From a betting perspective the clean sheet market, like most markets, exclude extra time. If a team wins a game 1-0, they have kept a clean sheet. This bet must be settled in 90 minutes.
When you are backing a team to keep a clean sheet in a football match, that team is not required to win. The game can finish 0-0 and you will have bet on a winner providing your team does not give away a goal.
Pros of the clean sheet bet type
- Betting on the clean sheet market can be a higher price than a win market, so it may help you find better odds when betting on a favourite.
- Many bookmakers offer the clean sheet as an in-play market that can be cashed out. This can give you the opportunity to lock in a profit should you see that dreaded goal coming
Cons of betting on a clean sheet
- It only takes a second for even the weakest side in the league to score against the strongest side. For this reason, clean sheet betting can be risky.
- Many people believe that the clean sheet market does not offer value, and does not truly represent the chances of a team keeping a clean sheet
What is the Clean Sheet bet type?
There are two options when you bet on the clean sheet market in football. Clean sheet: Yes and Clean sheet: No. Clean sheet: Yes means you're betting on your chosen team to keep a clean sheet. They don't need to win the game. It can finish 0-0, 1-0, 5-0, 10-0. How many goals a team scores and if they win or draw does not matter.
What does matter is that the team you have bet on to keep a clean sheet do not allow their opponent to score a single goal. Keeping a clean sheet is the act of preventing your opponents from scoring a goal in 90 minutes regular play. Extra time in cup competitions do not alter the outcome of clean sheet bets.
Betting on "Clean Sheet: No" means you are betting that a team will concede a goal. Again it doesn't matter if they win, lose or draw that game, as long as they allow their opposition to score a single goal at some point during the 90 minutes.
Who uses the Clean Sheet betting market?
This is a betting market that is exclusive to the world of football betting. Clean sheet betting is a betting market that may be in the artillery of a professional bettor but would not be a favourite. It only takes a mistake, an own goal or a penalty for the the best teams in the world to concede a goal, so the risk is constant. Form and history are good indicators and if the odds are right and someone feels it's the right bet for the game, then a professional bettor may use it. It isn't necessarily more to the liking of a casual punter though, as it doesn't offer overly enticing odds like the win to nil betting market. It's a slightly risky market and with higher than average bookmaker margins it can be hard to profit long term, so it isn't a betting market that appeals to too many sports bettors.
If a team are winning games and keeping clean sheets then maybe handicap betting, half time/full time betting and the win to nil market (which does offer much bigger odds) may be worth chancing, but the clean sheet market on its own is a bit of a nerve jangler and doesn't offer that greater an incentive than some more straight forward markets. Where the odds allow it, it's much better to simply bet on a team to win.
In a tight game where goals may be hard to come by, it may even be better to use the both teams to score yes/no betting market rather than piling all of your eggs into one basket. The clean sheet betting market is one that should be used as and when appropriate on a game to game basis, rather than treating it as a betting market than could be incorporated into a long term profitable betting strategy.
Got the hang of the different bet types? See how successful tipsters make their mark by exploring our betting strategy guides.