In the world of football, a clean sheet doesn’t mean that a team has done well to make it through the night without making a mess of the bed they were in. Instead, it is a reference to completing a full match without conceding a goal. For this type of bet, it doesn’t matter who scores the goal or how many goals are scored, just whether or not the team that you have bet on has made it through the 90 minutes plus added time without conceding. The bet is settled within the 90 minutes plus any stoppage time added on by the referee, so provided there is a 0 next to the team you’ve bet on when the referee blows the full-time whistle, you’ll have won your bet.
Do Your Research
If you’re considering placing a bet on a team keeping a clean sheet, the most important thing that you can do is plenty of research before kick-off. If a team has conceded a goal every time they’ve played a match during the campaign that you’re betting on, you would be mad to bet on them keeping a clean sheet for the upcoming match. Similarly, if a team has kept plenty of clean sheets then it is worth finding out why that is the case. Do they have a particularly strong goalkeeper, for example? Is there a defensive leader who has whipped them into shape at the back? If so on either front, are both players starting the game you’re betting on?
You can also find out whether teams have strengths and weaknesses that are likely to play a role in the outcome of the game. If one of the teams has aerially dominant centre-backs who often score from set-pieces, for example, whilst the other one regular concedes from free-kicks and corners, it would be folly to bet on the second team to keep a clean sheet. That doesn’t mean that it won’t happen, of course, but the stats are there to suggest that it isn’t the smartest wager to place. You need to think about those sorts of things, as well as whether the chief goalscorer for one of the teams is out injured, perhaps.
It is a Binary Bet
In terms of how the Clean Sheet bet works, it is binary. That means it is either a winning bet or it is a losing one, depending on how the match pans out. Bookmakers present it in such a way, with the following being the odds on the Clean Sheet during Manchester City’s game against Aston Villa at the Etihad during the 2023-2024 Premier League campaign:
| Man City – Yes | Man City – No | Aston Villa – Yes | Aston Villa – No |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11/10 | 4/6 | 12/1 | 1/25 |
It is easy to see from those odds that the bookmakers considered Manchester City to be overwhelming favourites for the game, with Aston Villa not considered likely to keep a clean sheet across the 90 minutes plus stoppage time of the match. City, meanwhile, were considered slightly more likely to concede at least one goal than not.
Think About the In-Play Market
The Clean Sheet wager is a bet that is going to be resolved in a very clear manner during the course of the football match that you’re watching. The moment that a goal is scored, a Clean Sheet is wiped out as a potential thing for a team to achieve. It is why a lot of people looking towards the In-Play market around Clean Sheets. More specifically, many consider the Cash Out option as a good way of avoiding losing out on a Clean Sheet bet, presuming that it is available. If you sense that a game is turning against the team that you’ve placed a bet on then you can Cash Out your wager and ensure that you get at least a slight return.
The Final Score is All That Matters
When all is said and done, the only thing that matters around Clean Sheet betting is the final score. If a game finishes 2-2, bookmakers aren’t going to care about who scored the goals or whether the referee awarded a penalty unfairly. Instead, the only thing that they are going to consider is whether or not the two teams kept a clean sheet. If one of the sides has a 0 next to it then Clean Sheet bets will be paid out on, whilst if they have any number at all next to them they won’t be. You might consider it to be unfair that your side conceded a soft penalty in the final minute of the game, but bookies will have little sympathy.