Weekend Half-Time Tips: Is the Favourite Ahead?

A halftime bet covers the first 45 minutes plus stoppage time: who leads at the break, or how many goals are scored before it. The table below has the weekend’s halftime tips from an outside prediction provider, shown as published. This page answers two questions weekend lists raise. Are first halves any different on Saturday and Sunday? And how do the two halves of a match compare?

The figures use 33,324 league matches with half-time scores over five seasons.

Today’s tips

Half-Time Today Goalscorers Predictions For Today Double Chance Predictions For Today
Corners Today Asian Handicap Predictions For Today Both Teams To Score Predictions For Today
Yellow Cards Today Half-Time/Full-Time Today Heavy Favourites Of The Day

Ar2

Ferrocarril Midland
Deportivo Maipú

354223
X
12°
9/10
FT
2 – 0(1 – 0)

Kz1

FK Aktobe
FK Atyrau

483815
1
25°
37/20


Ca1

Forge FC
Vancouver FC

233839
2
26°
4/1
FT
0 – 1(0 – 1)

Bo1

Real Tomayapo
CDT Real Oruro

422930
1
23°
19/10
FT
1 – 2(1 – 1)


Br2

Ceará SC
Ponte Preta

394120
X
29°
5/4
FT
2 – 0(1 – 0)

LC

Columbus Crew
Pachuca CF

373231
1
32°
–
FT
2 – 1(2 – 0)

LC

Charlotte FC
Club Atlas

453916
1
32°
–
FT
2 – 0(0 – 0)

Bg2

Marek
Etar Veliko Tarnovo

281358
2
22°
6/1
FT
1 – 0(0 – 0)

Ec1

LDU
Ind del Valle

163350
2
20°
–
FT
0 – 2(0 – 1)

Ua2

Niva Ternopil
UCSA

553015
1
20°
7/4


Ru4

FK Astrakhan
PSK Dinskaya

146818
X
24°
9/10
Cancl.


LC

FC Cincinnati
UNAM Pumas

334225
X
28°
–
FT
2 – 0(1 – 0)

AtN

Wallern / Marienkirchen
Kuchl

243244
2
18°
–


Cl1

Universidad Católica
Cobresal

512722
1
10°
7/10
FT
2 – 0(0 – 0)

Co2

Deportes Quindío
Cortuluá

135136
X
19°
1/1
FT
1 – 1(0 – 0)




Cl2

Deportes Santa Cruz
Puerto Montt

284527
X
34°
21/20
FT
0 – 0(0 – 0)

Nz2

Waterside Karori
Napier City Rovers

173846
2
10°
–
FT
1 – 3(1 – 2)

Ar1

Independiente Rivadavia
Estudiantes Río Cuarto

374815
X
8°
23/20
FT
2 – 1(0 – 0)

Mx2

Alacranes Durango
Piratas

186318
X
28°
3/2
FT
0 – 3(0 – 0)

Mx2

Tepatitlán de Morelos
Atletico La Paz

184340
X
22°
6/5
FT
0 – 5(0 – 2)

Sv1

Isidro Metapán
CD Águila

246610
X
32°
21/20
FT
2 – 1(0 – 0)

Ni1

Real Estelí
CD Walter Ferretti

196516
X
29°
–
FT
4 – 1(1 – 1)

Ar3

Juventud Antoniana
Alvarado Mar del Plata

303733
X
17°
17/20
FT
0 – 2(0 – 0)

LC

Tigres UANL
Minnesota United

294031
X
31°
–
Pen.
FT
4 – 2

0 – 0(0 – 0)


MxW

Atlas W
Pachuca W

5859
X
16°
–
FT
1 – 1(1 – 0)

Pe1

Universitario
Sporting Cristal

334027
X
22°
23/20
FT
1 – 1(0 – 0)




Pa1

San Francisco FC
Herrera FC

106129
X
25°
–
FT
3 – 1(2 – 0)

Cr1

CS Cartaginés
Sporting (CRC)

234533
X
26°
21/20
FT
2 – 1(0 – 0)

Gt1

Malacateco
Club Xelajú MC

55144
X
31°
19/20
FT
2 – 2(0 – 0)

Nz2

Wanaka
Selwyn United

661915
1
5°
–
FT
2 – 1(1 – 0)

Nz2

Miramar
FC Western

622414
1
11°
–
FT
12 – 0(4 – 0)

LC

Vancouver Whitecaps
FC Juárez

233344
2
22°
–
FT
1 – 3(1 – 1)

Nz2

Ferrymead Bays
Nomads United

393823
1
10°
–
FT
1 – 2(1 – 0)

Nz2

Eastern Suburbs (NZL)
Fencibles United

523216
1
12°
–
FT
4 – 1(2 – 0)

Nz2

Auckland United
Tauranga City United

652115
1
15°
–
FT
3 – 0(1 – 0)

Nz2

Wellington Phoenix (R)
Wellington Olympic

174241
X
10°
–
FT
0 – 2(0 – 2)

Nz2

Petone
Western Suburbs

293140
2
13°
–
FT
0 – 2(0 – 0)

Nz2

Island Bay United
Upper Hutt City

354223
X
11°
–
FT
4 – 2(2 – 0)

AuT

South Hobart
Riverside Olympic

533116
1
13°
9/20
FT
5 – 2(2 – 1)
More

Tomorrow and the weekend

Weekend Both Teams To Score Double Chance Tomorrow Weekend 1X2
1X2 Tips For Tomorrow Weekend Goalscorer Tips Football Tomorrow
Weekend Yellow Card Tips Yellow Card Tips For Tomorrow Weekend Corner Tips

How these bets are settled

Only the first half counts, including added time at the end of it. A goal in the 46th minute doesn’t count for a halftime bet. The usual bets are the halftime result (home, draw or away), first-half goal lines such as over 0.5 or 1.5, and the half-time correct score. A match that’s postponed or abandoned before the break is normally void, and abandonments after it follow each bookmaker’s rule.

Are weekend first halves different?

Not really. We split the matches by day:

Day Matches First-half goals Level at the break Over 1.5 first-half goals
Saturday 15,389 1.20 41.7% 34.1%
Sunday 8,994 1.23 40.2% 34.6%
Tuesday to Thursday 4,216 1.19 41.1% 33.7%

At the weekend as a whole, first halves averaged 1.21 goals and were level in 41.1% of matches. Tuesday to Thursday it was 1.19 goals and 41.1% level. The two sets of numbers are as close as they could be. If you’re told weekend first halves are livelier, the data doesn’t show it. Sunday was a shade higher on goals and a shade lower on level breaks, and the differences are tiny.

The two halves compared

The second half is the bigger half. The first averaged 1.20 goals a match and the second 1.49, so 44.7% of goals come before the break and 55.3% after it.

That’s not the same in every match. The second half had more goals than the first in 43.9% of matches, fewer in 29.4%, and exactly the same in 26.7%. Goals in both halves happened in 55.8% of matches, and 70.3% had at least one goal before the break.

For a halftime bet, the point is that most of a match’s goals arrive after the break, so a first-half line is a bet on the smaller half. That’s why the lines start at 0.5 and 1.5 and not higher.

What a weekend list looks like

Take a list of forty matches. At the measured rates, about 28 will have at least one first-half goal and 12 will be goalless at the break. Fourteen will have two or more first-half goals. Sixteen or seventeen will be level at half-time, and the rest will split between home leads and away leads, with the home lead more common.

None of that depends on whether it’s Saturday or Sunday. What changes the numbers is the league mix: a list full of Bundesliga and Premier League matches will have more first-half goals than one full of Spanish and Italian second-division games.

Which leagues start fast

League makes a bigger difference than the day:

League First-half goals Level at the break Over 1.5 first-half goals
Bundesliga 1.47 35.9% 43.8%
Eredivisie 1.36 38.7% 41.1%
Premier League 1.30 38.4% 37.5%
Serie A 1.15 40.9% 31.8%
La Liga 1.14 44.1% 31.2%
Segunda División 1.02 46.6% 27.7%

A first-half over 1.5 landed in 43.8% of Bundesliga matches and 27.7% of Segunda División ones. A weekend list that mixes the two needs two different baselines. The Segunda División’s break was level almost half the time.

Five rules for weekend halftime tips

  1. Don’t expect a weekend effect. First halves look the same on every day.
  2. Start from the league. The spread between the fastest and slowest is almost half a goal.
  3. Remember the second half. More than half the goals come after the break.
  4. Respect level breaks. About four matches in ten are level at half-time, more in Spain’s second division.
  5. Keep halftime and full-time separate. They’re different bets with different odds.

Common mistakes

The first is backing an early-goal bet in a slow league. Over 1.5 first-half goals is a long shot in the Segunda División.

The second is treating a goalless first half as a bad sign for goals. 55.8% of matches had goals in both halves, and the second half usually has more.

The third is assuming Sunday matches are different from Saturday ones. The two days are within a few hundredths of a goal.

Questions people ask

Do weekends have more first-half goals? No. 1.21 at the weekend and 1.19 midweek.

Which half has more goals? The second, with 1.49 against 1.20.

How often is a match level at half-time? 41.1% of matches at the weekend and midweek alike.

Which league has the most first-half goals? The Bundesliga, with 1.47 a match.

Which has the fewest? The Segunda División, with 1.02.

Where are today’s tips? On the halftime today page. For the combined bet, see half-time/full-time for the weekend.

Tips are estimates, not promises. You must be 18 or over to bet, and a stake should be money you can do without.