Both Teams to Score (BTTS) Explained: Odds, Stats and Fair Price

Both teams to score (BTTS) is a football bet on whether each team scores at least one goal in the 90 minutes plus stoppage time. "Yes" wins on 1-1, 2-1 or 3-3; "No" wins on 0-0, 1-0 or 4-0. Across Europe's five big leagues it lands about half the time: Pinnacle's own five-season table (2015-16 to 2019-20) puts the Premier League at 51.25% and the Bundesliga at 56.65%.

The useful part is the price. A BTTS "Yes" at 1.80 needs a 55.6% chance to break even. Whether a match gets there depends less on the total goals line than on how those goals are split between the two teams. This page shows the arithmetic.

Definition. BTTS Yes: both teams score one or more goals in regular time. BTTS No: at least one team scores zero. Extra time and penalty shoot-outs do not count in a usual 90-minute market.

BTTS dropping odds on Pinnacle — how to read them

A BTTS drop is just a price move on a goals market, not a tip. Read it with the main totals and handicap: a shorter favourite handicap can lengthen BTTS Yes if more goals sit with one team. Grade related pre-match 1X2, Asian handicap and totals moves 0–10, then judge the BTTS price against a fair probability.

Key takeaways

• BTTS is a two-way market. Break-even = 1 / odds: 1.80 needs 55.6%, 2.00 needs 50%.
• Pinnacle's data (Andrew Beasley, 20 April 2020): BTTS in 51.25% of Premier League matches 2015-20; Ligue 1 lowest at 48.68%, Bundesliga highest at 56.65%.
• Total goals had the strongest link with BTTS (Spearman 0.616); goal difference (0.032) and league position (0.021) had almost none.
• With a Poisson model, the same 2.8 expected goals gives 47.6% BTTS if split 2.0/0.8 and 40.1% if split 2.2/0.6. The split matters as much as the total.
• BTTS and Over 2.5 are correlated. Do not multiply their prices for a bet builder.

How does a BTTS bet settle?

Like most match markets, on the score after 90 minutes plus stoppage time. Pinnacle's betting rules (read 8 November 2026) say all match markets "are based on the result at the end of a scheduled 90 minutes of play unless otherwise stated", which excludes extra time, a shoot-out or a golden goal. The rules page has no BTTS-specific rule, so read the market name for cup ties and check your book's rules for abandoned matches.

There is no push in a standard BTTS market. Every score settles one side or the other.

How often do both teams score?

Pinnacle's Betting Resources published this table in "Both Teams To Score (BTTS) in soccer betting" (Andrew Beasley, 20 April 2020, read 8 November 2026). 2019-20 runs only to the March 2020 suspension.

These are old seasons, so treat them as a base rate, not as today's number. Single teams swing much more than leagues: the same article lists 82.35% for Hoffenheim and Werder Bremen matches in the 2018-19 Bundesliga and 23.68% for Nancy in the 2016-17 Ligue 1.

What predicts both teams scoring?

The article ranks Premier League team stats over the same five seasons by Spearman correlation with BTTS:

Two practical points come out of it:

• Kick-off time. In the 2018-19 Premier League (380 matches), both teams scored in 45.83% of Saturday 15:00 games, against 56.96% of the 79 games kicking off at 19:30 or later. The league figure was 51.32%.
• Relegation sides are not "low scoring" by default. As of 8 April 2020, Bournemouth and Aston Villa were in the bottom three with BTTS rates of 55.17% and 64.29%. Weak teams concede, and that pushes BTTS up.

The previous match is a weak signal: after a BTTS game, the next game was BTTS 54.62% of the time in 2018-19, against the 51.32% league rate.

How do you work out a fair BTTS price?

Model each team's goals as a Poisson distribution. If the home side is expected to score λh goals and the away side λa, and the two are independent:

P(BTTS Yes) = (1 − e^−λh) × (1 − e^−λa)

Fair odds = 1 / probability. Our arithmetic, 8 November 2026:

Read the two 2.8 rows together. Same expected total, but a lopsided match drops BTTS from 47.6% to 40.1% because the weaker side is more likely to blank. That is why BTTS on a heavy favourite often prices "No" short even when the total line is high.

Independent Poisson is a starting model. Real scores show some dependence between the two teams, and models such as Dixon-Coles adjust the low scores (0-0, 1-0, 0-1, 1-1). The Poisson calculator gives the full score grid for any pair of expected goals.

Get λ from the market, not from a hunch

You can back out expected goals from Pinnacle's own over/under and handicap lines, then price BTTS from them. If a book's BTTS Yes is longer than the price your λ pair implies, that is a line to check. If you only have a BTTS Yes/No pair, strip the margin with the devig calculator and compare fair with fair.

Is BTTS the same as over 2.5 goals?

No. 2-0 and 3-0 are Over 2.5 but BTTS No. 1-1 is BTTS Yes but Under 2.5. The two outcomes are positively correlated: if both teams score, at least two goals are on the board. That is why "BTTS and Over 2.5" in one bet builder should not be priced as the product of the two odds. Correlated markets works through that case with a joint Poisson grid.

When does the BTTS price move?

When the expected goals for either team move. Team news, a goalkeeper change, a red-card suspension or a big total-line move all feed through. A drop on the favourite's handicap can lengthen BTTS Yes, because more of the goals now sit with one team. Football dropping odds covers how 1X2, Asian handicap and totals moves sit together, and over/under dropping odds covers the totals side.

How Pinnacle Terminal handles this

Pinnacle Terminal tracks Pinnacle's football 1X2, Asian handicap and totals lines, which are the inputs a BTTS model needs. Each pre-match move is graded 0–10 (Big move, Sharp drop of about 20% or more from the recent high, Limit-backed, Downtrend, Rebound, Standard). Live in-play drops are shown and filtered, without a grade. Every line has a fair price (Power by default). The terminal does not accept bets and is not affiliated with Pinnacle. Product: Pinnacle dropping odds. Plans: pricing.

FAQ

Does Pinnacle Terminal grade BTTS drops?

The terminal grades pre-match moves on Pinnacle's football 1X2, Asian handicap and totals, which are the inputs a BTTS price needs. A BTTS shortening is still only a price change; compare it with a fair probability and later with closing line value.

What does BTTS mean in betting?

Both teams to score. "Yes" wins if each team scores at least once in regular time; "No" wins if at least one team fails to score.

Do own goals count for BTTS?

It depends on the book. Pinnacle's rules page (read 8 November 2026) has no BTTS-specific rule; its own-goal exclusions are written for markets with named competitors, such as anytime goalscorer. Check the BTTS rule of the book you bet with before you bet.

What percentage of games end with both teams scoring?

About half in the big European leagues. Pinnacle's 2015-20 table gives 48.68% (Ligue 1) to 56.65% (Bundesliga), with the Premier League at 51.25%.

Is BTTS a good bet?

Only when the price is longer than the fair price. A 50/50 base rate does not make 1.90 good value; in the 2.20 / 0.60 expected-goals row above, the fair Yes price is 2.493.

Does extra time count in BTTS?

Not in a usual 90-minute market. Cup ties can have separate markets that include extra time; read the market name.

Sources

• Pinnacle, Andrew Beasley, "Both Teams To Score (BTTS) in soccer betting", Betting Resources, 20 April 2020 (read 8 November 2026): league table 2015-20, team extremes, Spearman correlations, kick-off-time split, previous-match split, relegation examples.
• Pinnacle, Betting rules (read 8 November 2026): soccer match markets settle on 90 minutes plus stoppage time, no extra time or shoot-out.
• Poisson BTTS table and break-even rates: our arithmetic, 8 November 2026.

Try it

Watch Pinnacle's totals and Asian handicap lines move with a fair price on each and every pre-match move graded 0–10: start the Pinnacle Terminal 7-day free trial. Nothing is charged before day 8. Plans: pricing.

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