Odd or Even Total Goals: How Often Each Side Lands, by Price
I tested odd and even total goals across 38 leagues, sorted by Over 2.5 price, favourite price, league and season. The split barely moves, and the reasons why are useful.
Archie AshfordCorrect Score & Over/Under 2.5 specialistReviewed by Oliver Hartley, Editor-in-Chief7 min read
Odd/even goals looks like the laziest market on the coupon. There's no team news to weigh and no shape of the match to picture, just whether the final number divides by two. I wanted to know whether it really is a coin flip, or whether price and league quietly tilt it one way. That matters to me because the same goal counts drive everything on my football correct score tips page.
The headline answer is that it is about as close to a coin flip as football gets. Across 114,316 matches, the total was odd in 49.6% and even in 50.4%, which puts fair odds at 2.02 for odd and 1.98 for even. The more interesting part is what sits underneath that split, and the small, logical ways it bends at the extremes of the market.
Test 1Two and three goals carry almost half of all matches
Odd and even are just a regrouping of exact totals, so this is where I start. Two goals is the most common result at 24.4%, with three close behind at 22.1%, then one goal at 18.0% and four at 14.4%. The tail thins quickly: five goals in 8.0%, six in 3.5% and seven or more in 2.0%.
The detail that changes how I think about this market is the goalless draw. A 0-0 counts as even, and it made up 7.6% of matches. Take those out and odd totals won 53.7% of the remaining 105,629 games. The 0-0 is effectively what holds even level with odd.
View the data: exact total goals: the parts of odd and even
| All 38 leagues, % of matches | |
|---|---|
| 0 goals (even) | 7.6% |
| 1 goal (odd) | 18.0% |
| 2 goals (even) | 24.4% |
| 3 goals (odd) | 22.1% |
| 4 goals (even) | 14.4% |
| 5 goals (odd) | 8.0% |
| 6 goals (even) | 3.5% |
| 7+ goals | 2.0% |
So when I picture a match, the question isn't really odd or even. It's whether this game is likely to be dead, which hands even a free result, or open enough to land on one, three or five.
Test 2Over 2.5 price barely moves the odd/even split
You might expect the goals market to tell you something here, and it does, only a little. When Over 2.5 was priced under 1.50 across 4,504 European matches, odd landed 50.4%. At 2.40 or longer, across 5,734 matches, it fell to 48.1%. Across all six bands the odd rate stayed between 48.1% and 50.4%.
The direction makes sense once you look at the exact goals chart. Low-scoring games carry more 0-0s, and those feed straight into even. The longest band produces fair prices of 2.08 for odd and 1.93 for even, which is a lean, not a gap.
| Over 2.5 price | Matches | Odd | 95% range | Fair odd | Fair even |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1.50 | 4,504 | 50.4% | ±1.5 | 1.98 | 2.02 |
| 1.50–1.69 | 12,455 | 49.7% | ±0.9 | 2.01 | 1.99 |
| 1.70–1.89 | 18,780 | 49.8% | ±0.7 | 2.01 | 1.99 |
| 1.90–2.09 | 18,281 | 50.0% | ±0.7 | 2.00 | 2.00 |
| 2.10–2.39 | 15,759 | 48.6% | ±0.8 | 2.06 | 1.95 |
| 2.40+ | 5,734 | 48.1% | ±1.3 | 2.08 | 1.93 |
Test 3Heavy favourites nudge the total towards odd
This is the widest swing in the study. By favourite price, odd totals ranged from 47.4% to 52.4%. With a favourite under 1.30, the split was 52.4% odd and 47.6% even. As the match gets tighter on the 1X2, even creeps back ahead, and it's highest when the favourite is 2.60 or longer.
My read is that a mismatch rarely ends 0-0, so the even side loses its cheapest result. Evenly priced games are the ones that stall, finish 1-1 or stay goalless. It's the same logic I use for Correct Score: a strong favourite tilts the scoreline, and here that shows up as a small move from even to odd.
View the data: odd vs even total goals by favourite price
| Odd | Even | |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1.30 | 52.4% | 47.6% |
| 1.30–1.49 | 51.2% | 48.8% |
| 1.50–1.79 | 50.2% | 49.8% |
| 1.80–2.19 | 49.1% | 50.9% |
| 2.20–2.59 | 49.2% | 50.8% |
| 2.60+ | 47.4% | 52.6% |
A few points either side of halfway still isn't much to bet on, though, and the next charts show how quickly that kind of difference shrinks.
Test 4League differences are small and mostly within noise
An odd total was most common in the J1 League at 51.9% across 2,862 matches and least common in the Bundesliga at 46.3% across 3,060. That looks like a story until you check the margins. Each league's 95% range runs about ±1.5 to ±2.5 points, so most of the leagues on this chart could swap places in a different sample.
The Bundesliga result is the one I'd keep an eye on, because it sits further from the middle than most. Even so, I'd treat it as something to monitor rather than a rule to bet on.
Leagues in the middle are not shown.
View the data: odd total goals by league
| 8 highest and 8 lowest of 38 leagues | |
|---|---|
| J1 League | 51.9% |
| Brazilian Série A | 51.5% |
| Chinese Super League | 51.2% |
| League of Ireland | 51.2% |
| Primeira Liga | 51.1% |
| League One | 51.0% |
| Romanian Liga I | 50.9% |
| Veikkausliiga | 50.8% |
| Ekstraklasa | 48.4% |
| Danish Superliga | 48.4% |
| Swiss Super League | 48.4% |
| Eredivisie | 48.2% |
| Argentine Primera | 47.9% |
| Austrian Bundesliga | 47.4% |
| Serie B | 46.4% |
| Bundesliga | 46.3% |
Test 5Season by season, the odd rate barely shifts
Across the European divisions, the odd rate by season ranged from 48.7% to 50.4%, with the high point coming in 2022/23. The line hugs halfway through every campaign from 2016/17 onwards. Nothing in it suggests a trend you could get ahead of.
Here's the main caveat. The dataset has no prices for this market, so everything is measured against fair odds with no margin. Real odd/even prices carry a bookmaker's cut, and with an overall gap of −0.8 points between odd and even, that margin will usually be bigger than any edge these splits suggest.
View the data: odd total goals by season
| Odd total | |
|---|---|
| 2016/17 | 49.2% |
| 2017/18 | 49.9% |
| 2018/19 | 48.9% |
| 2019/20 | 48.7% |
| 2020/21 | 49.7% |
| 2021/22 | 49.3% |
| 2022/23 | 50.4% |
| 2023/24 | 48.9% |
| 2024/25 | 49.9% |
| 2025/26 | 49.8% |
I find that oddly reassuring. When something is this stable over this many matches, the honest conclusion is that it's built into how football scores, not a pattern waiting to be exploited.
Lab verdict
| Default to coin flip | With odd at 49.6% and even at 50.4%, fair odds sit at 2.02 and 1.98. Any typical price with a margin built in will be on the wrong side of break-even for both. |
|---|---|
| Mismatches lean odd | With a favourite under 1.30, odd totals reached 52.4%. That's the strongest tilt in the data, but compare it with the margin on offer before treating it as value. |
| Respect the goalless draw | The 0-0 made up 7.6% of matches and is what keeps even level. Without it, odd won 53.7%, so your view on a dead game matters more than league or season. |
Questions bettors ask
Is odd or even total goals more common in football?
Even is very slightly more common. Across 114,316 matches, even totals landed 50.4% and odd 49.6%, a gap too small to be a reliable edge.
Does 0-0 count as even in odd/even goals betting?
Yes, a goalless draw settles as even. It accounted for 7.6% of matches, and without those games odd totals won 53.7% of the rest.
Which league has the most odd goal totals?
The J1 League topped the study at 51.9% odd across 2,862 matches, while the Bundesliga was lowest at 46.3%. Most league differences sit within their 95% ranges, so treat them with caution.
I'm Archie Ashford, and after years of calling scorelines from my sofa, I now specialise in Correct Score and Over/Under 2.5 markets.
View profile →
