What is a Clean Sheet in Football?

A Clean Sheet refers to a team completing a match without conceding a single goal and, while good fortune will always play its part in that, it is a decent measure of a team's defensive prowess.

And inevitably, in these days of ever-growing sport books, it also adds up to a betting opportunity that seems to be popular. 

How Does a Clean Sheet Work?

A Clean Sheet is defined by a team - and/or a goalkeeper - not conceding a goal in a game.

When is a Clean Sheet Officially Recorded?

Most bets are settled using 90-minute rule betting, which includes regulation time and any stoppage time plated. A Clean Sheet is officially recorded on the full-time whistle of any game.

Extra time and penalties are generally excluded so if you have backed Arsenal to keep a clean sheet in a Champions League tie against Inter Milan and the score finishes 0-0 at full-time, 1-1 after extra time and 5-4 on penalties to either side, the Clean Sheet bet is normally paid out as a win.

If Liverpool beat Everton 2-0, Liverpool have kept a Clean Sheet, Everton have not. If Liverpool win the game 2-1, neither side has kept a Clean Sheet.

Clean Sheet Betting Markets Explained

The simplest way to play a Clean Sheet market is to bet on a Team to Keep A Clean Sheet - Yes/No. In a match between Chelsea and Fulham, Chelsea might be 7/4 to Keep a Clean Sheet and 2/5 Not to Keep a Clean sheet.

A traditionally more popular - and more nuanced - bet is Both Teams to Score - Yes/No. In that same game between Chelsea and Fulham, Both Teams to Score might be a 1/2 chance, Both Teams Not to Score 6/4. Backing the latter - ie Both Teams Not to Score - in this market means only one team needs to keep a Clean Sheet.

Accumulators have become more and more popular and if bettors decide that they like, for example, three teams in three different matches to keep a Clean Sheet, they could back all three in a clean sheet accumulator, the upside being potentially higher returns, the downside if it's a straight three-fold is that only one team not keeping a Clean Sheet wrecks the bet.

Another specific market is Win to Nil or Team A (or B) To Win and Keep a Clean sheet. Clearly both eventualities - the win and the Clean Sheet, so 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 and so on - need to happen.

Strategic Factors for Clean Sheet Betting

As with all bets, sensible players will only bet on Clean Sheets if they have a strong view about a game or feel the sports book's odds are wrong.

There are many things to consider, with form clearly being significant. If a team has kept three successive shutouts in football, they are surely defending well.

Punters may also look at xGA (expected goals against), a blunt metric given the number of confounders, but an occasionally useful tool to understand how many decent chances teams restrict opponents to.

The stats will tell you home advantage is important in any football bet and Clean Sheets would be no different, though usually the prices will reflect that advantage.

It pays to understand the goalscoring weaponry of an opponent while gauging, for example, whether a match between a counter-attacking side against a team who press from the front throws up a possible bet. Is there previous form between two sides with those characteristics to help make a case either for or against a Clean Sheet?

And, of course, team news must be factored in. If Newcastle are shorn of their entire first-choice defence, they would in theory be less likely to keep a Clean Sheet.

Are There Any Drawbacks to Clean Sheet Betting?

There are drawbacks in Clean Sheet betting as much as any other bet because of the nature of football. Arsenal can be defending superbly against Crystal Palace and set for a Clean Sheet when one moment of brilliance from Palace, one error from Arsenal, and one goal undoes all the good work.

There is more added time in matches these days, as well, with referees under instruction to play on to prevent time wasting and again, that means more opportunities for goals.

How Do I Place a Clean Sheet Bet?

Under any match on a sports book there should be markets - usually under a 'goals' tab - along the lines of To Keep a Clean Sheet Yes/No. That is where you will also find Both Teams to Score Yes/No or Teams to Win to Nil, though those markets might also be on the front page of any match.

Simply tap the preferred option, indicate a stake, place the bet and wait for the game to start.