Goal in Both Halves: How Often Each Half Sees a Goal, by Price
Over 1.5 asks for two goals. A goal in both halves asks the match to stay alive either side of the break, and that turns out to be a very different bet.
Goal in both halves is a market I keep coming back to because it asks something Over 1.5 never does: does the match produce a goal before the interval and again after it? That half-by-half thinking is the same thing behind my free HT/FT picks page. For this study I tested it across 75,470 matches from 21 European divisions, 2016/17-2025/26, each with half-time scores and pre-match prices.
The headline is that at least one goal came in each half in 55.3% of matches, which gives fair odds of 1.81. Over 1.5 landed in 74.6% of the same games, so the two bets are not substitutes. The pre-match Over 2.5 price tells you a lot about which way a match is likely to fall.
Test 1Shorter Over 2.5 prices bring far more goals in both halves
This chart splits every match into four outcomes: goals in both halves, first half only, second half only, or nothing at all. Across the whole sample the first half alone held the goals in 14.4% of matches, the second half alone in 22.9%, and 7.5% finished 0-0.
The price bands do most of the work. Where Over 2.5 was priced under 1.50, a goal in both halves landed 70.7% of the time. In the 2.30+ band that fell to 44.4%, with a steady slide through every band in between.
View the data: where the goals fall, by over 2.5 price
| Both halves | 1st half only | 2nd half only | No goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1.50 | 70.7% | 10.4% | 16.4% | 2.5% |
| 1.50-1.64 | 64.1% | 11.8% | 19.4% | 4.8% |
| 1.65-1.79 | 59.6% | 13.4% | 21.3% | 5.7% |
| 1.80-1.99 | 55.1% | 14.8% | 23.0% | 7.1% |
| 2.00-2.29 | 50.7% | 15.5% | 24.7% | 9.1% |
| 2.30+ | 44.4% | 16.8% | 26.9% | 11.9% |
What stands out to me is the lopsided split in the low-scoring matches. In the 2.30+ band the second half alone held all the goals in 26.9% of matches, against 16.8% for the first half alone. Tight games tend to open late, when legs tire and someone has to chase. That matches what I see in HT/FT work, where cagey first halves are the norm rather than the exception.
Test 2Over 1.5 lands far more often than goals in both halves
Here the two bets sit side by side on the same matches. Over 1.5 landed in 74.6% of games against 55.3% for a goal in both halves, a gap of 19.3 points. That gap is made up entirely of matches where two or more goals arrived in the same half.
The gap holds up across the board. In the 1.50-1.64 band it was 82.7% for Over 1.5 against 64.1% for both halves. In the 1.80-1.99 band it was 74.5% against 55.1%.
Error bar = 95% range on the both-halves rate.
View the data: goal in both halves vs over 1.5
| Over 1.5 goals | Goal in both halves | 95% range | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1.50 (4,500 matches) | 88.0% | 70.7% | ±1.3 |
| 1.50-1.64 (8,524 matches) | 82.7% | 64.1% | ±1 |
| 1.65-1.79 (13,005 matches) | 78.7% | 59.6% | ±0.8 |
| 1.80-1.99 (19,037 matches) | 74.5% | 55.1% | ±0.7 |
| 2.00-2.29 (20,987 matches) | 70.5% | 50.7% | ±0.7 |
| 2.30+ (9,417 matches) | 64.6% | 44.4% | ±1 |
Across all six price bands the gap ranged from +17.3 to +20.2 points, which is remarkably stable. Whatever the expected goal count, roughly the same slice of matches bunches its goals into one half. I would never price a goal in both halves as Over 1.5 with a small discount. It is a meaningfully harder bet at every level.
Test 3Eredivisie and Bundesliga lead, Segunda División trails well behind
The league view covers 11 top flights plus the five biggest second tiers. Eredivisie topped the list at 63.9% across 2,986 matches, with the Bundesliga a whisker behind at 63.8% and 2. Bundesliga next at 59.2%. At the bottom, Segunda División managed just 47.1% across 4,598 matches, with Super League Greece on 47.9%.
The Premier League sat at 58.7% and La Liga at 52.6%. That is a fair gap between two leagues that often get lumped together as high-quality, open football.
View the data: goal in both halves by league
| Share of matches with a goal before and after half-time | |
|---|---|
| Eredivisie | 63.9% |
| Bundesliga | 63.8% |
| 2. Bundesliga | 59.2% |
| Belgian Pro League | 59.0% |
| Premier League | 58.7% |
| Süper Lig | 58.0% |
| Serie A | 57.5% |
| Scottish Premiership | 56.7% |
| Ligue 1 | 56.6% |
| Primeira Liga | 53.6% |
| Serie B | 52.9% |
| Championship | 52.8% |
| La Liga | 52.6% |
| Ligue 2 | 49.8% |
| Super League Greece | 47.9% |
| Segunda División | 47.1% |
I treat this as context rather than a standalone filter. The Over 2.5 price already carries much of what makes a league open or tight, so a Dutch match with a long goals price is still a long goals price. Where league and price point the same way, I am more comfortable with the read.
Test 4Fair odds run from 1.41 to 2.25 across price bands
This table converts each band's hit rate into fair odds, simply one divided by the observed frequency, with no margin. The Yes side runs from 1.41 in the under 1.50 band to 2.25 at 2.30+. In the 2.00-2.29 band it sits near even money at 1.97, against 2.03 for the No.
The No side, meaning at least one goalless half, landed 55.6% of the time in the 2.30+ band, a fair price of 1.80. The caveat that matters most is that no prices for this market exist in the data, so I have not calculated any return. These figures are break-even marks to measure an offered price against, not evidence of profit. They also cover the match-level market, not the harder team-level version.
| Over 2.5 price | Matches | Both halves | Fair Yes | Fair No |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1.50 | 4,500 | 70.7% | 1.41 | 3.41 |
| 1.50-1.64 | 8,524 | 64.1% | 1.56 | 2.79 |
| 1.65-1.79 | 13,005 | 59.6% | 1.68 | 2.48 |
| 1.80-1.99 | 19,037 | 55.1% | 1.81 | 2.23 |
| 2.00-2.29 | 20,987 | 50.7% | 1.97 | 2.03 |
| 2.30+ | 9,417 | 44.4% | 2.25 | 1.80 |
Lab verdict
| Short goal lines favour Yes | With Over 2.5 under 1.50, goals came in both halves 70.7% of the time, a fair price of 1.41. Anything offered meaningfully shorter than that leaves little room. |
|---|---|
| Long goal lines favour No | At Over 2.5 2.30+, at least one half stayed goalless 55.6% of the time, with the second half alone carrying the goals in 26.9% of matches. A No price above the fair 1.80 is the comparison to make. |
| Not a cheaper Over 1.5 | The gap to Over 1.5 ran from +17.3 to +20.2 points in every band. Price the two separately, and remember team-level 'to score in both halves' is a different, harder bet. |
Questions bettors ask
How often is a goal scored in both halves of a football match?
Across 75,470 European matches, at least one goal came in each half 55.3% of the time. That works out at fair odds of 1.81 before any bookmaker margin.
Is goal in both halves the same as Over 1.5 goals?
No. Over 1.5 landed in 74.6% of the same matches, because two goals can arrive in the same half. The gap was 19.3 points overall.
Which league has the most matches with a goal in both halves?
The Eredivisie had the highest rate at 63.9%, just ahead of the Bundesliga at 63.8%. Segunda División was lowest at 47.1%.
I'm Daniel Pendleton, and after years of obsessing over match patterns, I now focus my betting writing on HT/FT outcomes and corner markets.
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