Betting on corners can be a minefield at times, so I thought I'd cut through some of the jargon as well as giving you some helpful tips and sites that you can keep in your betting arsenal to take down the bookies. Here's our 3 key steps to being a successful corner bettor:
1) Know Your Markets
A lot of people see corners as Over or Under, but it's much more than that and there's more than one way to skin a cat. From totals, handicaps, team corners, corner times and more, corners are a great market to squeeze value from in numerous places. Obviously this all depends on the level of the game and the markets that are available to you at that time, but make sure you check out the full offer available before making your decision.
If you've got two sides who are always decent / always poor for corners, your obvious go-to market is the Over / Under totals line. If you've got a team who is always dominant on corners, knocking in loads whilst conceding very few, the handicap could be the way to go. If you've got a team who regularly knocks in 7 or 8 corners but do concede quite a few, the team corners could be the right call.
Don't forget that if you are considering the handicap, make sure you also look at the Asian lines. You can often get a better price or line there that could make you decision for you.
2) Know Your Stats
With corners more than any other market, stats hold a very heavy bearing on the result. Teams that usually deliver on corners usually deliver on a regular basis and you rarely find teams who hit 15 corners one match then 3 the next. It's all to do with style of play and providing there hasn't been a recent managerial change, teams usually play the same way most week. Teams who aren't afraid to have a pop at goal or who like to play wide and fizz crosses into the box are always great corner teams. One key thing in corners is formation as there are formations that deliver plenty of corners and formations that don't. A formation with plenty of width, pacey wing-backs who love to get forwards and teams who pile in plenty of crosses are always more productive than the narrow diamond shapes who love to pass the ball around.
Check out our useful sites below for places to find yourself some stats on corners. They might help you out. But also, keep your own notes too. There's no reason not to keep a note on your phone somewhere of teams who consistently deliver on corners, so when you see Hougang Untied knocking in 20 corners a game every week, keep them in your little black book.
3) Know The Game
As much as knowing your stats and knowing which market you like the look of can help you on pre-match bets, the true art of inplay betting on corners is following the game. A favourite falling behind to an early goal, a team pushing in the last 10 minutes or a red card for an underdog can all be ingredients to cook up a perfect corner storm. It's also important to consider the state of previous games too. Sure, Trencin may have had 18 corners in their last game but was it a one-off because the team they were playing got an early red card? All of these are factors worth considering.
Remember as well that there is an opposite side to all of this. If a team in their last 7 games has hit an average of 8.5 team corners per game and they are currently on 2 at half time, surely they're going to knock a few more in right? Well maybe, yea, but what if they are 5-0 up? Why would they be popping shots off if they've already got the game won. Try and talk yourself out of backing a bet, and if you can't, then you're usually onto a winner.
Useful Tools & Sites
There are loads of sites out there that can help, here's a few of them. Bear in mind that you'll inevitably have to pay for some services if you want really decent stats though:
CornerStat - one of the oldest tricks in the book, cornerstat has been around for a long time. The software is a little dated and it's not great on mobile, but you won't get much better in terms of corner stats. Memberships range from £10 - £39 a month depending on the level of access that you want but if you're looking for basic stats, the basic membership is well worth it
Adam Choi- one of the better user platforms to use for the main leagues. There's no lower leagues here or anything like that, but some cracking stats for the main leagues that you will be used to betting on and it's completely free!
Other sites:
www.corner-stats.com (PAID)
And as well as websites worth following, sometimes you just have to admit that people know better than you on certain things. @CornersByChris has been smashing corner bets for god knows how many years and the likes of @DubsAndTrebs and their stat cards are also worth a look.