Being a successful sports bettor in the 21st century requires a lot of research before placing a bet. Nowadays, there are numerous sources of information available that significantly improve the chances of a bet being successful. In this article, we will show you the 13 best football stats websites and explain how you should make the best use of them.
Times are changing for both bookmakers and sports bettors. Nowadays, both parties use extensive statistical information in order to make as few mistakes as possible.
Whereas a few decades ago it was quite common for big bookmakers to make blunders when laying odds, nowadays you can hardly hope for such profitable mistakes. On the other hand, sports bettors have statistics at their disposal that were not even available to oddsmakers a few years ago.
With the right use of the available resources, sports bettors can equalize the information advantage of the betting providers and find value bets. You just have to know where to look for which stats and how to interpret them.
These are the 13 best football statistics sites:
1. Overlyzer
2. Statsbomb
3. Wyscout
4. Transfermarkt
5. Opta
6. Soccer Association
7. CIES Football Observatory
8. WhoScored
9. Sofascore
10. Understat
11. FBREF
12. The Athetic
13. OptaAnalyst
1. Overlyzer
Overlyzer is a new tool for sports betting that completely turns the betting world upside down, especially when it comes to live betting. A specially developed algorithm shows the match progress in real time using charts so that users can interpret the current strength of the teams involved in a matter of seconds.
Overlyzer’s unique feature is that all live games can be filtered and sorted according to a selection made by the user.
Imagine that on a Saturday afternoon hundreds of games are taking place worldwide at the same time. With Overlyzer, you can now filter the games to see, for example, only those matches where the difference in pressure between two teams is particularly high and where a goal will be scored soon. This way, you only have those matches on your radar where the chance of a team scoring a goal is very high.
This could be, for example, a match from the Vietnamese or the second Swedish league, i.e. a match that you would otherwise probably not have included in your betting selection and thus simply overlooked. Overlyzer covers over 1000 leagues and competitions.
So, you’ll find profitable live bets and value bets that you wouldn’t have discovered without Overlyzer. So, for serious sports bettors, a Overlyzer subscription is an absolute must.
Apart from the live betting tool, Overlyzer also offers an „Over/Under Tool“. This calculates the probabilities of over and under bets for around 250 leagues. However, the live section is definitely Overlyzer’s centerpiece.
Besides a desktop version, Overlyzer is also available as an app on the Google Play Store and the App Store.
Pros:
+ Cutting-edge live betting tool with in-house developed algorithm.
+ Extensive filter function
+ 1000 leagues and competitions
+ Cost-effective subscription model
+ Fast customer service
+ Seven different languages
Cons:
– Does take some learning time before mastering the program
Overlyzer
Sports: Football
Why sports bettors need this: Best live betting tool on the market, unique filter function
Overlyzer price: Full version 19€ per month or 49€ per quarter; Over/Under tool is free to use
Similar sites: One-of-a-kind
2. Statsbomb
Statsbomb conquered the football world in no time at all, although it all started rather quietly. Ted Knutsen had been running a football blog since 2013 and analyzed matches there, whereby the focus was already on statistics at that time.
This led to the development of StatsBomb IQ, a platform on which football data was excellently visualized. More and more analysts worked with Knutsen, and the team soon reached its limits. The quality of the available data was not sufficient for the Knutsen, so new measurements and metrics were created that even the very biggest football clubs appreciated.
An example of this is the Statsbomb xG model, which is more meaningful and more accurate than most of the competing models and is therefore also very interesting for sports bettors.
The big disadvantage of this site, however, is that only a few of these statistics are made available to the public and that one has to master the programming language „R“ to use the limited free data. The Statsbomb price for all the data or even just for a single league is unfortunately very high and is only disclosed upon request.
Statsbomb was developed for big football clubs and media companies and not for sports bettors, but that should not diminish our admiration.
What Knutsen and his team have achieved since 2013 is simply fantastic. Even if more than 99.99% of all sports bettors can’t afford paid access, which is probably in the range of a five- to six-figure sum per year, one should still at least take a look at the instructive Statsbomb articles. Since 2022, the company has also included American football in its program.
Pros:
+ High data quality
+ Perfect visualisations
+ Extremely innovative
Cons:
– Extremely expensive, as large clubs and media companies are the clients
– Free data is limited and programming skills are necessary
Statsbomb
Sports: Football, American Football
Why sports bettors need this: Fantastic visualisations and very high data quality.
Statsbomb price: on request (five- to six-figure sum per year)
Similar sites: Wyscout, Opta
3. Wyscout
Wyscout was founded in Genoa in 2004 and has been operating out of the small Ligurian town of Chiavari since 2007. Founders Matteo Campodonico and Simone Falzetti can look back with pride on the growth of their business, which was even praised by Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Monti in 2012 as an exemplary Italian technology company.
From the beginning, Wyscout’s main focus has been on videos. Using a self-developed video player, customers can specifically call up every single action of a particular player or team in a matter of seconds. For example, analysts or coaches can analyze the last 30 corner kicks or all key passes of the upcoming opponent at the push of a button.
Wyscout’s price is excellent value for money. In addition to the relatively expensive video packages, there is also an excellent data package (Bronze pack), which is available for €270 per year. Here you can find all the important metrics, such as expected goals, expected assists and numerous other statistics. Additional statistics, such as the expected points of the respective teams, can be found in the comprehensive reports, which you have to order separately. 20 reports per month cost about 648€ per year.
Compared to competitors such as Statsbomb and Opta, which cover similar statistics, the Wyscout costs are thus many times more beginner-friendly. After all, the target groups are not only the very biggest clubs and media, but also smaller clubs, as well as journalists and bloggers. No surprise then that Wyscout, by its own admission, serves around 4,000 clubs as customers alone.
We recommend the data package and 20 additional reports per month to be able to work properly with Wyscout. From our own experience, we can tell that at least a 10 per cent discount can be negotiated via email. For the extension of our subscription (Bronze pack + 20 reports) we paid exactly 835€ at the end of 2022. An investment that has already paid for itself many times over.
The costs are kept within reasonable bounds, at least for ambitious sports bettors, and you get a lot of useful statistics for your money. As a sports bettor, you can do without the video packages – they are more interesting for coaches and scouts.
Pros:
+ Huge database with extensive statistics
+ Excellent data quality
+ Great customer service
+ Good value for money
Cons:
– Reports and videos are quite expensive
– Subscription renewal is not automatic, but via email communication
Wyscout
Sports: Football
Why sports bettors need this: Lots of in-depth data for (relatively) little money
Wyscout price: From 270€ per year (Bronze-Pack without video and reports)
Similar sites: Statsbomb, Opta
4. Transfermarkt
Transfermarkt has become an indispensable part of the online football world. The ambitious project was founded in 2000 by Matthias Seidel. One year later, with the help of a large online community, the database was released, which is still lovingly maintained and updated by the numerous users.
Since 2008, Axel Springer Verlag has held 51 percent of the website. The next milestone followed in early 2009 with the launch of the English version, which can still be found on transfermarkt.co.uk today. Further expansions followed, among others to Spain and the Netherlands.
In addition to a wide range of statistics and data, Transfermarkt also offers a news platform where users are informed about current rumors and completed transfers.
One reason why the online platform is so popular is because of the estimated market values of the players. Although these are purely estimations that should not be taken too seriously, they are certainly useful as a rough guide and quickly provide an overview of the key players of a team.
Sports betting fans will find plenty of interesting statistics on the site. For example, if you want to know which player is the regular penalty taker of a certain team, you can find this information quickly with just a few clicks. This is essential if you want to place a bet on a certain goal scorer or top scorer of a tournament:
Pros:
+ Huge database and lots of statistics
+ Good design and user interface
+ Free of charge
Cons:
– No in-depth statistics like xG, xPoints etc.
Transfermarkt
Sports: Football
Why sports bettors need this: Many statistics and information
Transfermarkt price: Free of charge
Similar sites: SoccerAssociation, FBref, WhoScored.com
5. Opta
Opta is one of the pioneers when it comes to sports statistics at a professional level. The British company started analyzing Premier League matches in 1996 and signed a contract with Sky Sports. The very next season, Opta became the official data provider of the Premier League.
Several changes of ownership followed and the collection of data was further expanded. In 2006, Opta started to collect real-time data from football matches, which accounts for the majority of the company’s business today.
In order to obtain high data quality, a mixture of computer-assisted and human data collection is used, as well as AI models.
In addition to a large amount of high-quality data, Opta also excels in visualization, which is why the product is very popular with large media companies and clubs. In addition to Sky Sports, the customer base includes ESPN, BBC Sports, The Guardian, Arsenal FC, Manchester City and the MLS.
Unfortunately, Opta is not suitable for sports bettors, which of course is not due to the quality of the data, but rather due to the high cost involved. As with Statsbomb, Opta’s pricing is unfortunately very high.
Individuals are not necessarily part of Opta’s target market, which is of course a pity, as the data could provide new insights that could lead to better decisions on the betting market.
In any case, we can recommend Opta’s Twitter accounts, which cover different sports in several languages and share interesting statistics with their followers.
Pros:
+ Large amount of in-house collected data
+ High data quality
+ Great visualizations
+ Numerous sports
Cons:
– Very expensive, as the target group are large companies
Opta
Sports: 30 different types of sports
Why sports bettors need this: In-depth statistics with high data quality
Opta price: on request (five- to six-digit per year)
Similar sites: Statsbomb, Wyscout
6. SoccerAssociation.com
Soccer Association is a website that has accompanied us on our journey through the world of football for more than a decade.
The website looks a little outdated and admittedly there are no statistics that you wouldn’t get for free on other sites. However, due to the straightforward structure and the well-designed user interface, you will find the data you are looking for much faster than on other sites.
Soccer Association offers the data of 250 leagues from 80 different countries. In total, there are around 175.000 players in the database.
The basic package costs 5.99 British pounds per quarter, but we recommend the „International“ package, which costs 38.99 pounds per quarter. In addition to more detailed player information, this package also contains the data of the national teams.
With Soccer Association, trends can be quickly identified at the touch of a button, such as a team’s strength at their home ground.
Pros:
+ Large player database
+ Reliable data quality
+ Very well structured
+ Relatively cheap
Cons:
– The same data can also be found on sites that are free of charge
– Does not go into depth
SoccerAssociation.com
Sports: Football
Why sports bettors need this: Very quick access to basic statistics
Soccer Association Price: Packages from £5.99 per quarter
Similar sites: Transfermarkt, FBref
7. CIES Football Observatory
The International Centre for Sports Studies, usually abbreviated to CIES, is an independent research and educational organization based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. One of the research groups, the CIES Football Observatory, deals with statistical studies on football-related topics.
Since January 2015, CIES has been publishing reports every month that take an in-depth look at many aspects of the world of football. For example, they shed light on developments in the transfer market and examine the efficiency of youth academies.
Users thus gain insights into areas that are otherwise little covered by sports journalists. In the meantime, these reports are made available free of charge, which is not a matter of course. Between 2006 and 2014, the publications could only be purchased.
Here we have a small excerpt from one of the monthly reports for you:
Pros:
+ Interesting statistics that shed light on current developments.
+ Free of charge
Cons:
– Not many articles per month
CIES Football Observatory
Sports: Football
Why sports bettors need this: Insights into current developments in the world of football
CIES Price: Free of charge
Similar sites: The Athletic, Opta Analyst
8. WhoScored.com
In London, some football analysts and software developers got together to found the website WhoScored.com. The ever-evolving database is quite impressive, as it now contains around 15.000 teams and 250.000 players.
On WhoScored, there are numerous statistics that also represent added value for sports bettors. For example, in the pre-match reports you can see the possible line-ups of the teams as well as the currently injured and suspended players. There are also the latest news on the teams, which often include the latest form. These statistics in particular are interesting, as trends such as current over/under tendencies of teams are highlighted here on a case-by-case basis.
Unfortunately, only the top 5 leagues offer detailed statistics, although WhoScored is allowed to use Opta data to some extent. The algorithm that rates the players after each game is also interesting.
In the previews, you can also see the average ratings of the respective players:
Pros:
+ Well-structured previews with useful information
+ Large database
+ Free of charge
Cons:
– Only the top 5 leagues feature detailed stats
– Some of the information is computer-generated and not complete (Mbappé’s characteristics are missing, for example, that he is a very fast/dynamic player)
WhoScored.com
Sports: Football
Why sports bettors need this: Good forecasts and injury updates
WhoScored.com Price: Free of charge
Similar sites: Transfermarkt, FBref
9. Sofascore
Sofascore took the football world by storm in 2010 and became arguably the best livescore app. The company was founded in Croatia by Zlatko Hrkać and Ivan Bešlić, who launched a mobile version of Sofascore in 2012.
There is a reason why the Croatian company appears in our list among the best football stats. Sofascore is not only a livescore app, but has been offering more and more statistics since 2014. This is made possible by a cooperation with Opta Sports, so you can assume that the data quality is very high.
There are also some interesting innovations such as the Attack Momentum, which is similar to the pressure ratios displayed by our test winner Overlyzer. Unlike the number 1 in this list, however, there is no filter functionality for the Attack Momentum, which is of course a pity for live bettors.
Statistics can be found not only for numerous teams and games, but also for individual players.
Pros:
+ Best livescore app
+ Interesting and extensive statistics
+ Free of charge
Cons:
– Statistics like xA and XPoints are missing
Sofascore
Sports: 22 different sports
Why sports bettors need this: Livescore app plus great statistics
Sofascore Price: Free of charge
Similar sites: Livescore.com, Fotmob and other livescore apps.
10. Understat
Understat is a website that does not have a particularly large range of content and only focuses on one aspect. The developers have set themselves the goal of developing the best xG model ever.
We would not go so far as to agree that the values are more accurate than those of the big data providers Statsbomb, Wyscout and Opta. However, the data makes a very good impression and by no means has to hide.
As a football fan, it is not easy to get reliable xG and xPoints values for free. Understat is a reliable source for this information, at least if one does not want to spend money to obtain this information.
In addition to the xG values, the expected points are particularly useful, because you should know whether a team has performed above or below the statistical expectation in recent weeks and months before placing a bet.
A particularly practical feature is that the expected points can be displayed not only for the entire season, but for any given date. If, for example, you want to bet on a team that is currently on a run, it is advisable to check whether the team has been very lucky in recent weeks and has performed far above the statistical probability.
Unfortunately, the data is only available for the top 5 leagues in Europe plus the Russian league.
Pros:
+ Good and free xG and xPoints model.
+ Simple and clear website
Cons:
– Statistics only available for six leagues
Understat
Sports: Football
Why sports bettors need this: Free xG and x-Points model
Understat price: Free of charge
Similar sites: FBref
11. FBref.com
Behind the FBref.com project stands the Sports-Reference platform, which is primarily known for the statistics websites „Baseball-Reference“ and „Basketball-Reference“. FBref.com started in 2018 a football section and initially covered only six different leagues, with more countries being added quickly.
The interesting feature of the site is the high data quality, as FBref cooperates with Statsbomb and is allowed to use some statistics from this excellent data provider.
If you are looking for statistics on women’s football, you won’t get past FBref anyway, as there is hardly any other site with so much data.
Similar to Understat, FBref also offers expected goal and expected points statistics. FBref.com offers a large number of other statistics, but they are not presented quite as clearly, so that users need a little time to familiarize themselves with the site in order to find all the available data or the data they are looking for.
All in all, however, Sports-Reference must be given a lot of praise and if you know how professional the company’s baseball side turned out to be, you can imagine that there will also be more to come in the relatively new football section.
Pros:
+ Lots of data
+ Free of charge
Cons:
– Somewhat cluttered user interface
Understat
Sports: Football
Why sports bettors need this: Access to some Statsbomb statistics
Price: Free of charge
Similar sites: Understat
12. The Athletic
Some readers will certainly wonder why the sports platform „The Athletic“ appears in this list. After all, only sports articles can be found on this website.
That is certainly true, but the quality of the articles is extremely high and many are based on detailed researched statistics that cannot be found anywhere else on the internet.
The Athletic was founded by Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann and was one of the first news platforms to use a subscription model. In return, there is no advertising on the portal, which is now owned by the New York Times. Besides football, it primarily covers the major US sports.
What makes The Athletic stand out are the fantastic journalists like Raphael Honigstein and Michael Cox, as well as numerous articles by former players and coaches, such as Alan Shearer or Mauricio Pochettino.
Many stories are underpinned by numerous statistics, which give the reader a better understanding of the game and are extremely informative.
Football fans who love the sport should definitely treat themselves with a subscription.
Pros:
+ Great articles and stories with interesting statistics
Cons:
– Requires payment
The Atheltic
Sports: Football, US sports as well as boxing, motor sports, golf etc..
Why sports bettors need this: fantastic articles that lead to a better insight.
The Athletic Price: 7.99$ / month
Similar sites: Opta Analyst, Spielverlagerung.com
13) Opta Analyst
Data-driven storytelling for sport – this is how the Twitter account of Opta Analyst introduces itself and there is no better way to describe the project.
The analysts on this interesting website are allowed to use parts of Opta’s data to generate informative and entertaining articles.
In addition to football, numerous other sports are also covered. The focus is on basketball and American football, but fans of baseball, rugby, golf, tennis and cricket also get their money’s worth.
As with The Athletic, sports fans and sports bettors benefit from a better understanding of their favorite sport and can gain insights into Opta data that would otherwise remain hidden from most users due to the high costs involved.
Pros:
+ Interesting analytical work with the support of Opta data.
+ No costs
Cons:
– You can’t actively search for specific statistics
Opta Analyst
Sports: Football, Basketball, American Football, Rugby, Golf, Tennis, Cricket
Why sports bettors need this:: Good analyses with Opta data
Price: Free of charge
Comparable sites: The Athletic
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