Elsewhere on the site, you can read about the Next Team to Score market, which is exactly what it sounds like. That is a bet on which team is the more likely to score the next goal in a game or whether there will be no more goals in the game. A more specific bet that you can place that is therefore likelier to have longer odds is a bet on the Next Player to Score market.
This requires you to not only figure out which team, if any, will score the next goal but also which actual player it will be that puts the ball into the back of the next. It is a binary wager, insomuch as if your chosen player scores then you win your bet but if they don’t you lose it.
What You’re Betting On
A bet placed on the Next Player to Score market is one that is exactly how it sounds. It requires you to work out which of the players on the football pitch for the game that you’re watching will score the next goal in a game. Most bookmakers will treat this in the same sort of way as a First Goalscorer or Anytime Goalscorer bet, insomuch as they will offer you odds based on the likelihood of the player to put the ball in the back of the net. Unlike those games, though, they will look towards what is happening live in the moment in order to ensure that this In-Play wager is as up-to-date as possible for you to bet on.
Unless the bookie in question offers ‘Own Goal’ as an option, any own goals scored will not count towards the settling of the bet, so if there is a goal but it is considered to have been scored by a player against their own team then your wager will still be a live one. Obviously each bookmaker has their own rules in place around that sort of thing, though, so make sure that you read the small print before you place your bet. You can choose between any of the players on the pitch at the time that you’re looking at placing your wager, as well as the No Goal option, should you think that there will be no more goals in the game.
Things to Think About
The first thing to think about when it comes to Next Player to Score bets is the fact that bookies often won’t offer it on matches that they don’t know a huge amount about. During the 2023-2024 season, for example, there was an Oman Professional League game between Al Nasr Salalah and Oman FC taking place that Oman FC were leading 1-0 in. Although you could place bets on the likes of the Full-Time Result and the 1X2 market, our chosen bookmaker didn’t know enough about the league or the teams to offer us the Next Player to Score options that they will have done if it had been a Premier League game, say.
Another thing to think about is the fact that different bookies will call this market different things. Some will label it as Next Player to Score, whilst others might call it something like Player to Score the Second Goal, Third Goal, etc. It is the same bet, it is just that the bookmaker that you use has decided to name it something different. As well as the various names that a bet might have, another thing that you should do is ensure that you’ve done your research before you look to place a bet on a player scoring or no more goals being scored before the game is over. If you’re betting on one of the top leagues, there will be plenty of information out there for you.
It might be the case that one player tends to score more goals as games wear on, whereas another may only score once the team that they play for has established a comfortable lead. If the former, you could look to place a bet on that player if the game is entering the final stages, whilst if it’s the latter then there would be no point placing a bet on the individual in question if the score is 1-1. You can also ensure that you do your own research by watching the match that you’re betting on, given that this will tell you if there is a player that keeps getting chances and is therefore more likely to score than one of their teammates.