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Bet Builders have become a really popular type of bet in the last few years. They allow bettors to combine different angles within the same match in a single bet.
This guide is designed to help you understand what a bet builder is, how to put one together, and which angles to potentially look for when the tournament kicks off to put into a bet builder selection.
🗒️ Bet Builders
All bookmakers have slightly different brands for their bet builder products, but the essential ingredients are the same.
There will be a variety of markets available for a match, all listed in one section of the match bets, which will be labelled ‘Bet Builder’ or ‘Build-A-Bet’ or something similar.
If a bet is selected from outside of the designated markets that can be used in the bet builder, then it will appear on the bet slip as a single, separate bet, not factored into the total odds of the bet builder.
Different bookmakers include different markets in their offering for bet builders, and, sometimes confusingly, bookmakers offer different markets for different levels of matches – when it comes to the standard of the competition. Often, the bigger, or more popular, the match, the more markets the bookmaker will have available for the match i.e. Premier League matches have a lot of markets available in the bet builder offering, whereas an EFL Championship match may have fewer markets, and a lower league match may have fewer still.
However, it is worth having a look at some of the key markets found in the Paddy Power bet builder offering to familiarise ourselves with the product.
🔑 The key team Bet Builder markets
The main match odds for the win, lose or draw markets are always included in the bet builder options, so if one has a real fancy for the way the match will go then this can be included as one of the legs of the bet.
Handicap betting
Especially useful for when one expects a team to really dominate their opponents. More often this will be used to get a more generous price on an odds-on favourite, but, if a bettor fancies a team strongly, even if they are an outsider, this can be a lucrative addition to a bet builder.
In group stage play, the handicap market can sometimes be used if it is the case that a team needs to win by a certain amount to progress.
Correct score
Correct score is not often a market used in a bet builder because of the nature of the bet. Correct scores will often be big prices to begin with, and a lot usually has to fall right for one to land on its own.
Under/Over corners
A market that does what it suggests, a bet struck on how many corners there will be above or below a certain line i.e. Over 8.5 corners or Under 9.5 corners.
This can usually be split into a match market, i.e. the total number of corners, or betting on either individual team’s corner count.
Corner match bet
Which team will earn the highest number of corners in the match? Bear in mind the potential of a tie in this market though.
Under/Over cards
A market that does what it suggests, a bet placed on how many cards there will be above or below a certain line i.e. Over 3.5 cards or Under 4.5 cards.
This can usually be split into a match market, i.e. the total number of corners, or betting on either individual team’s corner count.
For cards markets it is worth looking into the terms provided by the particular bookmaker. In the case of Paddy Power, they outline that yellow cards are worth one card, as are single red cards, whereas two yellows shown to equal a red card would count as two cards. Some bookmakers may use booking points, or some may give two cards for a straight red.
Team to receive the most cards
Sometimes one may have a particularly strong fancy that one team will receive more cards than the other, whether that be because of the style of play of one team, or whether the previous history indicates that one team may be more likely to collect more cards than the other.
One thing to bear in mind again here is that the chances of a draw are much higher than they are in the corner match bet market.
Red cards
A market simply for the chances of a red card in the match, or for a particular side. Often used in big derby games or games with a referee who has a record of sending players off.
🔄 Paddy Power Super Sub
Ahead of looking into more individual markets it is worth mentioning at this point about Paddy Power’s new Super Sub feature.
This feature is designed with bet builders in mind, as, if the player that you have bet on to complete a certain action i.e. to score a goal, or to commit a foul, is taken off and replaced by a substitute, then that substitute assumes the role of your initial player.
This means that your bets in particular markets will continue for the whole game, regardless of whether your player is subbed off or not.
This could be a particularly good enhancement for a bet builder.
The markets that Super Sub applies to will be specified when they are discussed, and they are highlighted on Paddy Power via the use of the graphic shown below.
- Player to commit 1+ fouls
- Player to be fouled 1+ times
- Player to commit 1+ fouls in 1st Half
- Player to have 1+ shots on target
- Player to be shown a card
- Player to score
- To score or assist
- To score or to be shown a card
- Anytime assist
- Player to have 1+ shots on target in 1st half
- Player to have 1+ shots
👕 Individual player and goals bet builder markets
Both teams to score
Self-explanatory, either bet on both teams to score or both teams not to score.
Under/over goals
Betting on the number of goals in a match under or over a certain line, or the number of goals that a single team will score under or over a certain line i.e. Under 3.5 goals or Over 1.5 goals.
Goalscorers (Super Sub)
Bet on which individual players might score. You can bet on who might score first, or who could score anytime in the match. With the use of Super Sub, if any player that you bet on is replaced during the match, the bet will continue if it hasn’t settled already – transferred to the incoming player.
This is good news, especially if the manager makes an attacking change.
Anytime Assist (Super Sub)
The assist is the pass that directly leads to a goal. This market is betting on a player to provide an assist at anytime. The rules on assists are different to games such as FPL, so it pays to be aware of the differences i.e. a penalty earned by a player which is subsequently scored is not classed as an assist.
To Score or Assist (Super Sub)
Betting on an individual to score or assist in the match.
Commit 1 or more fouls (Super Sub)
A market in which a bettor can back a player to commit at least one foul.
Commit multiple fouls
A player can be backed to make two or more, or three or more fouls in the match.
Player to be fouled 1+ times (Super Sub)
In a slight twist, a player can be backed to be fouled, usually lines are set at 1+, 2+ and 3+ fouls won.
Team fouls
The number of fouls that the team makes in the match, usually over a particular line.
Player shots (Super Sub)
The number of shots that a player takes in the match. On Paddy Power this is displayed in sections: 1 or more shots, 2-3 shots, 4-6 shots.
Super Sub is only in play for 1+ shots bets.
This market is also available for different halves.
Player shots on target (Super Sub)
The number of shots on target that a player has in the match. This is set up in two separate markets on Paddy Power, one or more shots on target and multiple shots on target.
This market is also available for different halves.
Team shots/shots on target
Betting on a team’s shot line and a team’s shots on target line over the duration of a match.
For high profile games there may be some passing markets. These markets are often divided into different lines to bet over and under.
Some matches will also have a market for the number of saves that a goalkeeper makes in the match.
Overview of key stats
Now that we are familiar with the markets that will be in the European Championship bet builders, it is worth taking some time to look into some data to see which teams, and which players, might be worth following in some of those key markets.
To do this we can use the rich data available from Euro 2024 qualifying. Where applicable we may also look at some other sources of data, but this will be clarified as and where appropriate.
🥅 Goals & Assists
Euro 2024 Qualifying – Goals
| Player | Nation | Goals per 90 |
| Romelu Lukaku | Belgium | 2.13 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 1.25 |
| Kylian Mbappé | France | 1.23 |
| Harry Kane | England | 1.19 |
| Zeki Amdouni | Switzerland | 1.11 |
| Rasmus Hojlund | Denmark | 1.06 |
| Barnabas Varga | Hungary | 0.97 |
| Marcel Sabitzer | Austria | 0.97 |
Portugal’s qualification group was fairly weak and Belgium had two very weak opponents in their group, so the data should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Euro 2024 Qualifying – Assists
| Player | Nation | Assists per 90 |
| Denzel Dumfries | Netherlands | 0.89 |
| Jeremy Doku | Belgium | 0.88 |
| Bruno Fernandes | Portugal | 0.86 |
| Kylian Mbappé | France | 0.68 |
| Dusan Tadic | Serbia | 0.56 |
| Andrew Robertson | Scotland | 0.55 |
| Jose Luis Gaya | Spain | 0.55 |
Players such as Bruno Fernandes and Kylian Mbappé might be interesting in the to score or assist market, based off of this data.
Denzel Dumfries is one to watch for an anytime assist for the Netherlands.
🚩 Corners
Which nations at Euro 2024 are good for corners betting and which might be better for the unders markets?
We have compiled some data from the last World Cup in 2022 and some data from the Euro 2024 qualification rounds.
Euro 2024 Qualifying – Corners Stats
| Nation | Corners per attack | Corners per match |
| Denmark | 15.13% | 8.20 |
| Belgium | 18.32% | 7.63 |
| Slovakia | 17.10% | 7.30 |
| Netherlands | 17.47% | 7.25 |
| Portugal | 13.61% | 7.20 |
| Spain | 11.83% | 6.88 |
| Poland | 14.69% | 6.80 |
| Italy | 15.00% | 6.75 |
| Switzerland | 11.92% | 5.90 |
| Croatia | 11.96% | 5.88 |
| Serbia | 12.84% | 5.88 |
| France | 11.22% | 5.63 |
| Turkey | 12.29% | 5.38 |
| Austria | 13.13% | 5.25 |
| Czech Republic | 11.65% | 5.13 |
| Hungary | 13.36% | 5.13 |
| Romania | 12.25% | 5.00 |
| England | 11.04% | 4.50 |
| Scotland | 10.61% | 4.38 |
| Ukraine | 14.63% | 4.20 |
| Slovenia | 11.01% | 3.80 |
| Albania | 8.08% | 2.63 |
| Georgia | 6.71% | 2.10 |
World Cup 2022 – European Nations
| Nation | Corners per match |
| Germany | 8.30 |
| Denmark | 7.00 |
| Belgium | 5.70 |
| Portugal | 5.60 |
| France | 5.10 |
| England | 5.00 |
| Switzerland | 5.00 |
| Spain | 4.30 |
| Croatia | 4.00 |
| Netherlands | 3.80 |
| Serbia | 3.00 |
| Poland | 2.80 |
| Wales | 2.00 |
Denmark, Belgium, and Portugal are the nations that show up best for corners per match across the two sets of data.
A note to mention that Germany didn’t have to qualify for the tournament, so are not counted in the Euro 2024 qualification data.
🚀 Shots
Euro 2024 Qualifying – Shots
| Nation | Shots | Matches | Shots per match |
| France | 166 | 8 | 20.75 |
| Portugal | 193 | 10 | 19.30 |
| Croatia | 146 | 8 | 18.25 |
| Spain | 142 | 8 | 17.75 |
| Netherlands | 142 | 8 | 17.75 |
| Czech Republic | 134 | 8 | 16.75 |
| Austria | 133 | 8 | 16.63 |
| Switzerland | 163 | 10 | 16.30 |
| Poland | 160 | 10 | 16.00 |
| Italy | 126 | 8 | 15.75 |
| Denmark | 156 | 10 | 15.60 |
| Turkey | 124 | 8 | 15.50 |
| Hungary | 123 | 8 | 15.38 |
| Belgium | 119 | 8 | 14.88 |
| Romania | 145 | 10 | 14.50 |
| Serbia | 111 | 8 | 13.88 |
| Slovakia | 133 | 10 | 13.30 |
| Slovenia | 125 | 10 | 12.50 |
| England | 100 | 8 | 12.50 |
| Georgia | 112 | 10 | 11.20 |
| Ukraine | 107 | 10 | 10.70 |
| Scotland | 81 | 8 | 10.13 |
| Albania | 72 | 8 | 9.00 |
World Cup 2022 – European Nations
| Nation | Shots per match |
| Germany | 22.7 |
| France | 14.1 |
| Portugal | 13.0 |
| England | 12.6 |
| Belgium | 11.7 |
| Denmark | 11.3 |
| Serbia | 10.7 |
| Spain | 10.3 |
| Croatia | 10.1 |
| Switzerland | 9.3 |
| Netherlands | 8.2 |
| Poland | 7.8 |
Again, we need to bear in mind that Germany weren’t in the qualification process, but their shot data from the World Cup is wild.
Unsurprisingly, France show up very strongly with the number of shots that they take per match, alongside Portugal. Croatia, Czech Republic, and Austria could be dark horses in the shots markets.
Interestingly, England are to be found towards the bottom of the shot data in the qualifiers.
🚀 Player Shots
Euro 2024 Qualifying – Player Shots
| Player | Nation | Shots per 90 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 5.74 |
| Kylian Mbappé | France | 5.21 |
| Michael Gregoritsch | Austria | 4.90 |
| Zeki Amdouni | Switzerland | 4.80 |
| Romelu Lukaku | Belgium | 4.41 |
| Tomáš Čvančara | Czech Republic | 4.40 |
| Wout Weghorst | Netherlands | 4.19 |
| Marcel Sabitzer | Austria | 4.12 |
Portugal and France are represented on the individual shot charts by Ronaldo and Mbappé respectively.
Michael Gregoritsc and Zeki Amdouni could be interesting options for shots markets too.
🎯 Shots on target
Euro 2024 Qualifying – Player Shots on Target
| Player | Nation | Shots on target per 90 |
| Romelu Lukaku | Belgium | 2.74 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 2.37 |
| Andrej Kramarić | Croatia | 2.33 |
| Michael Gregoritsch | Austria | 2.26 |
| Zeki Amdouni | Switzerland | 2.21 |
| Kylian Mbappé | France | 2.19 |
| Marcel Sabitzer | Austria | 1.94 |
| Rasmus Hojlund | Denmark | 1.82 |
Lukaku and Andrej Kramarić are high on the shots on target chart, despite not being on the shots chart at all.
🛑 Fouls
Euro 2024 Qualifying – Most Fouls Committed
| Player | Nation | Fouls |
| Mykhailo Mudryk | Ukraine | 18 |
| Ondrej Duda | Slovakia | 18 |
| Joao Palhinha | Portugal | 17 |
| Giorgi Kochorashvili | Georgia | 14 |
| Tomas Soucek | Czech Republic | 14 |
The biggest foulers from the qualifiers that will be present at the finals are mainly attacking players.
Euro 2024 Qualifying – Fouls Against
| Player | Nation | Fouls suffered |
| Dominik Szoboszlai | Hungary | 25 |
| Ondrej Duda | Slovakia | 23 |
| Kvicha Kvaratskhelia | Georgia | 21 |
| Giorgi Kochorashvili | Georgia | 19 |
| John McGinn | Scotland | 19 |
| Nicolae Stanciu | Romania | 18 |
It is also interesting to note that there is a slight crossover between the players that are fouled and those that commit fouls. Both Ondrej Duda and Giorgi Kochorashvili appear in both lists from the qualifiers.
Another interesting trend is ball carriers from midfield. Dominik Szoboszlai and John McGinn could be classed as that, and Kvicha Kvaratskhelia is another frequent dribbler.
🟨 Cards
Euro 2024 Qualifying – Discipline
| Nation | Fouls per match | Cards per match |
| Georgia | 11.10 | 2.43 |
| Turkey | 11.25 | 2.40 |
| Romania | 10.70 | 2.15 |
| Switzerland | 9.20 | 2.07 |
| Poland | 12.00 | 1.67 |
| Spain | 9.75 | 1.64 |
| Hungary | 12.25 | 1.63 |
| Ukraine | 13.60 | 1.62 |
| Slovakia | 11.70 | 1.54 |
| England | 9.25 | 1.51 |
| Belgium | 8.63 | 1.51 |
| Scotland | 12.63 | 1.50 |
| Austria | 10.00 | 1.50 |
| Albania | 10.75 | 1.49 |
| Croatia | 8.25 | 1.33 |
| Denmark | 8.50 | 1.29 |
| Czech Republic | 12.25 | 1.22 |
| Portugal | 11.50 | 1.22 |
| Italy | 11.50 | 1.22 |
| France | 9.88 | 1.22 |
| Serbia | 11.63 | 1.03 |
| Netherlands | 12.25 | 0.98 |
| Slovenia | 11.30 | 0.88 |
It is interesting to observe the extremes of this chart. Georgia and Turkey, at the very top of the chart, play each other in Group F, so a cards bet could be in order there.
Also, Slovenia and Serbia play each other in Group C, and they reside at the bottom of the chart. It is interesting because many would consider an overs bet on cards with this being a former Yugoslavian derby.
There are three nations averaging under nine fouls per match as well: Croatia, Denmark, and Belgium.
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Written by Andy Robson
