Laying 0-0 means betting on an exchange that a football match won’t finish goalless. You take the other side of a 0-0 correct score bet, so if anyone scores you collect the backer’s stake. If the match does end 0-0, though, you pay out at the full odds, which can be many times your stake.
This guide explains the steps, the liability and the sums behind the trade, and shows what a year of match data says about goalless games.
Read the transcript
Laying nil-nil in the correct score market is about as simple as trades get. As soon as anyone scores, the bet is won.
Lay ten pounds at ten and your liability is ninety pounds. That's the amount you need in your account to place the bet.
The moment anyone scores, nil-nil can't happen any more. Your lay wins ten pounds, less commission.
Only six point eight per cent of matches ended nil-nil last season, and seven in ten had a first-half goal, which settles the trade early. But the market already prices low-scoring games shorter, so choose carefully.
So size your stakes for the liability, not the ten pound win, and please bet responsibly.
Key points
- You collect your lay stake if any goal is scored, less commission.
- Your liability is lay stake × (lay odds − 1), so £8 at 12.0 puts £88 at risk.
- In our data, 6.8% of matches finished 0-0, and the price already reflects that.
- A high strike rate doesn’t make it a good bet when the liability is many times the stake.
What laying 0-0 means
The correct score market lists every likely scoreline, with 0-0 among them. Backing 0-0 means betting on a goalless match. Laying it means betting the opposite, so any other score pays you.
The appeal is obvious: most matches have at least one goal, so the bet comes in most of the time. But 0-0 is usually a long price, and the liability grows with the price, which is why the returns are small and the liability large. For the basics of laying and liability, see our football trading guide.
Step by step
- Find 0-0 in the correct score market on an exchange and check the price and how much money is available.
- Work out the liability as lay stake × (lay odds − 1), and only go ahead if the whole liability fits your budget.
- Lay 0-0, usually before kick-off.
- If a goal goes in, 0-0 can no longer happen and the bet settles in your favour. There is nothing else to do.
- Decide in advance at what point you will close if it is still goalless, by backing 0-0 at the current price: back stake = lay stake × lay odds ÷ back odds.
Unlike many trades, the good outcome needs no second bet. Once anyone scores, 0-0 is dead and you collect the lay stake, less commission. The trading part only starts if the match stays goalless and the 0-0 price shortens as time passes.
Worked example
Worked example
Before kick-off you lay 0-0 in Brighton v Leeds for £8 at 12.0 (prices for illustration only).
- Liability: £8 × (12.0 − 1) = £88.
- A goal goes in after 20 minutes, so 0-0 can no longer pay the backer.
- You collect £8, less commission on that market.
- At 2% commission you keep £7.84, and at 5%, used here only as an example rate, £7.60.
So you are risking £88 to collect about £8. A price of 12.0 implies an 8.3% chance (1 ÷ 12.0), and whether that is good value depends on whether the real chance of 0-0 is above or below 8.3%.
There are other risks too. Correct score markets often hold less money than match odds, so a closing bet may not be matched at the price you see, and prices can jump during the in-play bet delay. Our Betfair Exchange (Lesson 8 out of 25 in the Masterclass) guide explains liquidity in more depth.
What the data says about goalless games
We looked at 7,149 league matches across 20 European leagues from 20 October 2025 to 19 October 2026, using data from football-data.co.uk. These averages describe the market rather than a winning strategy.
- 0-0 at full time: 6.8% of matches.
- 0-0 at half-time: 29.0%. A goal in the first half: 71.0%.
- Of matches goalless at half-time (2,075), 23.3% finished 0-0 and 76.7% had a second-half goal.
- Average goals: 2.77 a match, with 1.23 before the break.
The fair price for any outcome is 1 ÷ p, where p is its chance. With the average 0-0 chance of 6.8%, that is 1 ÷ 0.068 = about 14.7, before commission.
That average covers every match, though, including high-scoring ones where 0-0 is priced far above 14.7. When the market prices 0-0 at 12.0, it is saying this match is tighter than average, with an 8.3% chance. So the 6.8% figure tells you nothing about one particular game. It only shows what the market is already allowing for.
The half-time figure shows how fast things change. At 0-0 at the break, the chance of a 0-0 finish was 23.3%, a fair price of about 4.29, which is why the 0-0 price is so much shorter by half-time than at kick-off.
The honest limits
Laying 0-0 means accepting small returns against a big liability, here eleven times the stake. A good run can make the bet look much safer than it really is.
The price already reflects how often matches finish goalless, so long-run profit would mean finding games where 0-0 is priced too short, which requires judging the chance better than the market. Results can still swing widely, as our betting variance (Lesson 13 out of 25 in the Masterclass) guide explains.
To compare a 0-0 price with your own estimate, the calculator below turns any price into an implied chance. Our free Value Predictor doesn’t price correct scores, but it does show each team’s recent goals record. Its picks come from a form rule, not a guarantee.
Odds converter
Above all, never lay at a liability bigger than your budget allows. Set a fixed budget first, as our bankroll management (Lesson 11 out of 25 in the Masterclass) guide explains.
Related guides
- Football trading explained
- Lay the draw
- How to green up
- Under 2.5 trading
- First-half goals (Lesson 17 out of 25 in the Masterclass)
18+ only. Betting should stay fun. Set a budget before you start, only bet what you can comfortably afford, and take a break whenever you need one. For free, confidential support, visit BeGambleAware.org or call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133.