Football Guide

Strategies

After signing up you should have some strategies from the strategy database (under the tools menu) to play with. These can be deleted if you so wish.

Main Buttons

At the top are four buttons: +New Strategy, Import Strategy, Export Strategy and Re-order.

+New Strategy

Here can enter a strategy name and any notes you wish to store for this strategy. You can have up to 25 strategies.

Import Strategy

If someone has shared a code with you, or you see one on a strategy video, enter it here to automatically import the strategy and its filters.

Export Strategy

If you want to share your strategy, choose a strategy from the dropdown and either share the code for others to import, or share the link shown. The link will automatically import the strategy without the need to click Import. Export and import are also useful if you wish to duplicate one of your strategies

Re-order

If you have many strategies but want them in a certain order you can do so by dragging a strategy up or down in the pop up.

Strategies List

Your strategies appear after the main buttons.

Click on the strategy name to load the strategy and display the filters and upcoming fixtures matching the strategy.

Click on the pencil icon to edit the name of the strategy and the strategy notes. You can also choose whether the strategy will appear on the homepage.

Click on the trashcan icon to delete the strategy.

Filters

Once you have created a strategy you can start adding filters. Each strategy requires at least one filter, and you can have a maximum of ten. The default is GP Avg >= 8. This means you're looking for fixtures where the average number of games played for the two teams is greater than or equal to 8. A full list of abbreviations and their meanings is available in the abbreviations tab. Each filter corresponds to fixture stats for a match (under the stats menu, click fixtures).

Change the dropdowns/values below for an explanation of the filter.

Applies to:

Avg: Average of the two teams
Home team: Home team only
Away team: Away team only
H@H: Home team when playing at home
A@A: Away team when playing away
Venue: Average of H@H and A@A

Min/Max:

Some stats can have a negative value (e.g. H v A and Goal Edge).
|>=| allows you to filter numbers greater than or equal to the positive (absolute) value.
For example |>=| 3 means greater than or equal to 3 or less than or equal to -3.
the | | symbol simply turns any negative number into a positive.
The same applies for |<=|: less than or equal to the positive number.

Click the 'Add filter button to create a new filter. Click the trashcan on the right of each filter to remove it

Choose Leagues

You may wish to trade only certain leagues. Here you can choose any leagues you wish, and they will be stored with the current strategy. Tick any league you wish to include. There are buttons for selecting all leagues and deselecting all leagues. At least one league is required so if you remove all leagues then they will all be ticked again after saving. There is a dropdown box for favourite leagues. Five sets of favourite leagues can be edited in the Settings menu (see the members tab on this page for more information).

Sportsbook odds

Expand this section to choose Sportsbook current odds from Betfair and bet365. These are Sportsbook odds NOT exchange odds. Selecting these odds will show the corresponding odds columns in the Upcoming fixtures table to help narrow down your selections.

Once you're happy with all your selections, click 'Save Filters' to save and reload the page.

Upcoming Fixtures

When you load your strategy the software will find all matches for the next 3 days that match your chosen filters. An example of the table looks like this:

Top toolbar

The show fixtures dropdown is set to 10 by default. You can change this value if for example you have 30 fixtures over 3 pages and want to show them all on the page at once.

Use the search box to search anything within the table, e.g. team name, country, league. You can try it on the table above.

The CSV and Excel buttons will automatically download a csv or Excel file of everything in the table. If you have filtered the table using the search it will only download the fixtures shown.

Ordering

The fixtures are ordered by earliest kickoff time (ascending) by default, which you can see by the green arrow. Click on any heading to order by that column instead. Clicking again will reverse the order (descending). You can try it on the table above.

PnL

Clicking the $ icon in the first column will add the fixture to your Profit and Loss page (PnL). This is accessible from your profile menu at the top right of the page when logged in (see the members tab on this page for more information).

Once added the icon turns green and will stay that way when you next load the strategy. Clicking again will remove the fixture from your Profit and Loss fixtures. You can click the icon in the table above to see the change.

List

Clicking the list icon in the second column will add the fixture to your Daily List. This is also accessible from your profile menu and allows you to view fixtures you're interested in for any day. The fixture is removed from your list after 7 days.

Betfair and Stats icons

Clicking the yellow Betfair icon will open in a new window the Betfair league page where you can see the fixture to trade. If the icon is greyed out, it means Betfair do not cover that league. Sometimes Betfair cover a league but do not have any fixtures available yet so you may end up on a 'page not found'. The default link is for Betfair UK. If you live in another country with a different Betfair version you can change this in your profile's settings menu (see the members tab on this page for more information).

Clicking the green stats icon will open in a new window the fixture stats page for that match. This icon appears throughout the site.

Fixture and League columns

Clicking a team name will open in a new window the team stats page for that team. Hover over a flag to see the country in the league column. Clikcing on the league name will open in a new window the league stats page.

Backtest

After creating a strategy, you can backtest to see how it would have performed from previous results.

The layout of this page looks and behaves much like the strategies page in that you can add a strategy, import and export a strategy and re-order your list. You can also update your filters and leagues.

IMPORTANT: When you run a backtest it will use the filters and leagues on the page. This means if you change a filter or update your chosen leagues without first saving, the backtest will run on the changed filters. This is handy if you want to test different ideas but only want to save when you're happy with the backtest results.

Backtest options

There are three main options under the 'looking for' heading.

Win by

For your strategy you are looking for previous fixtures where a team won by a certain number of goals. For example, the home team to win by over 1.5 goals.

Match goals

You are looking for a certain result and number of goals. For example, the away team to win and there to be over 2.5 total goals in the match.

Team goals

You are looking for a certain result and a specific team to have scored a certain number of goals. For example, an away win and the home team to score more than 3.5 goals.

Period to test

Next you want to decide which period of the match to test.

Whole Match

This will test the match from beginning to end. For example, if your strategy requires there to be over 3.5 goals in the game.

First Half

This will test only the first half. For example, if your strategy requires there to be over 1.5 goals in the first half.

Second Half

This will test only the second half. For example, if your strategy requires there to be over 2.5 goals in the second half.

Between

Here you can select which period to test in minutes. For example, the last ten minutes of a match you would choose From: 80' and To: 90'.

NOTE: when you select 45' for the end of the first half, or 90' for the end of the match it will include all added time.

After 1st Goal

You will be testing only the period after the first goal. For example, if the first goal was at 30', the period will be from 31' to the end of the match.

Both Halves

You will be testing both halves separately. The outcome you're looking for would have to happen in both halves.

At period start

If your period is Second Half, Between (excluding from minute 1) or After 1st Goal, you will have the option to choose what you want the state of play to be before the period starts. The options are: Any score, Home winning, Away winning, Draw, Either winning, Exact score, Over and Under. For example, you may want to test the second half and want the home team to be winning at half-time.

If you choose 'Exact score' you have the option to choose the scoreline. For example, for the last ten minutes of the second half you may want the score to be 0-0 at the 79th minute.

Choosing 'Over' or 'Under' allows you to select from 0.5 to 8.5. For example, you may want to test the second half when there have been over 3.5 goals in the first half.

Both halves

You will be testing both halves separately. The outcome you're looking for would have to happen in both halves.

Outcome

The options beneath the period to test will change depending on the main option at the top you have chosen.

Win by

Choose the team first: Home team, Away team, Either team, Favourite or Underdog. The favourite is classed as a team that had odds of 2.0 or less before kickoff. The underdog is over 2.0. If neither team has odds 2.0 or less, there is no favourite or underdog, so the fixture is ignored if you choose one of these options.

Next choose by how many goals you want the team to win by (in the period selected). Options are Over, Under, Exactly or Between.

Examples:
Away team to win by exactly 2 goals
Favourite to win by over 1.5 goals.
Either team to win by between 2 and 3 goals (inclusive).

Match goals

Choose the result you're looking for (in the period selected): Any result, Home win, Away win, Draw, Either win, Home win/draw, Away win/draw.

Next choose how many goals you want in the period selected. Options are Over, Under, Exactly or Between.

Examples:
Away win and exactly 3 goals.
Home win or draw and over 2.5 goals.
Any result and between 1 and 2 goals (inclusive).

Team goals

Choose the result you're looking for (in the period selected): Any result, Home win, Away win, Draw, Either win, Home win/draw, Away win/draw.

Next choose a team: Either team, Both teams, Home team or Away team.

Next choose how many goals you want that team to score in the period selected. Options are Over, Under, Exactly or Between.

Examples:
Away win and home team to score exactly 3 goals.
Home win or draw and both teams to score over 2.5 goals.
Any result and either team to score between 3 and 4 goals (inclusive).

First to score (period only)

Choose fixtures where the first team to score is the home team, away team, favourite or underdog. You can also select ignore. Any fixture where the team chosen did not score first will be ignored. If you choose favourite or underdog and no odds are available, the fixture will be ignored.

Change the dropdowns/buttons below for an explanation of the backtesting.

Use Pre-Match Odds

If you wish to filter matches by odds click the checkbox and the odds filters will appear as below.

Choose your market and selections and use greater than or equal and less than or equal to filter out fixtures that do not match those odds. For example, you may want the draw odds to be >= 6, or the correct score 0-0 odds to be <= 12.

As with the favourite/underdog option, fixtures will be ignored if they don't match your odds filters. Please note that some fixtures may not have odds if Betfair didn't cover the match, or we don't have the data yet.

Click '+New filter' to add another filter. You can choose up to 10 odds filters. For example, you may want the Over 2.5 odds to be >= 3 and also <= 5. Click the trashcan icon to remove a filter.

Run the backtest

Once you're happy with the options, click the Run Backtesting button. The software will run through every past fixture league by league, and the results will appear in a table. A progress bar will show the percentage of fixtures done. You can click the Stop button at any time to end the backtesting.

The table will look like this. The backtest was stopped after 4 leagues for this example.

Filtering the results

Each league row has a checkbox on the left. When you tick or untick this the totals will update. This can help improve your strike rate by filtering out low scoring leagues. Changing these will automatically change the tick boxes in the 'Choose leagues' section further up the page. You can try this in the table above. Once you untick a league a button will appear: 'Update Filters'. Clicking this will save the filters for your strategy and reload the page. The checkbox at the top left can be used to select/deselect all.

Use the Export buttons at the top to save your table to csv or excel.

Viewing the results

Click the icon on the right of each row for a breakdown of each fixture. This will open a new page called 'Backtesting Fixtures'.

Backtesting Fixtures

The top of this page has a summary of your backtesting options. E.g.:
League: Algeria Ligue 1
Looking for: Team goals
Period to test: 2nd Half
Before start of period: Any score

The table below will look something like this:

Main table

Fixtures are ordered by date. Click a heading to re-order.

Each fixture has a stats icon you can click to see the result stats page

'Score at period start' - this shows the score before the period you are testing. For example, if you are backtesting the second half it will show the half-time score.

'Any score?' - This heading will change depending on your selection for 'At period start'. E.g. 'Home winning', 'Either winning' etc. A tick indicates this fixture had the result you're looking for, a cross means it failed. For 'Any score' they will all be ticked. If there is a cross here, the backtesting will not continue looking for 'Odds', 'Strategy Filters' or 'Passed'.

'Score for period' - This shows the score for the period you are testing. E.g. if you're testing the second half and the home team score once and the away team twice in the second half, the score will show 1-2.

'Odds' - If you have set odds in your backtest setup this will show a tick or a cross to show whether the fixture met your criteria. This includes if you used 'favourite' or 'underdog' in the 'Win by' option. If there is a cross here, the backtesting will not continue looking for 'Strategy Filters' or 'Passed'.

'Strategy filters' - Did the fixture pass all your strategy filters. If there is a cross here, the backtesting will not continue looking for 'Passed'.

'Passed' - Shows whether the fixture had the desired end result from your options.

'Failed reason' - If a fixture failed this shows the reason why.

NOTE: A fixture is classed as filtered if it passes every step: 'Score at period start', 'Odds' and 'Strategy filters'. The success rate percentage on the main backtest page is based on these filtered fixtures and whether they passed the desired outcome.

Top toolbar

The show fixtures dropdown is set to 10 by default. You can change this value if for example you have 30 fixtures over 3 pages and want to show them all on the page at once.

Use the search box to search anything within the table, e.g. team name, date, score. You can try it on the table above.

The CSV and Excel buttons will automatically download a csv or Excel file of everything in the table. If you have filtered the table using the search it will only download the fixtures shown.

The Start score, Odds, Filtered and Passed buttons will allow you to quickly filter the table where the relevant column has ticks.

Match-IQ

Match-IQ is not a score predictor, nor is it a magic number designed to guarantee a specific result. As a trader, you must view it as a match blueprint for football. Its primary purpose is to move you away from guesswork by answering one fundamental question: "What is the game going to feel like?"

A Pro trader will read Match-IQ like a blueprint to the match. Building a comprehensive pre-match script using the 10 performance pillars, then watching the game to see if it is following the script.

A match that does follow the script will give confidence to enter the market with a strategy aligned to the expected outcome. A match that is playing against the script, allows you to walk away from the trade or may provide other opportunities to go against the market which can be slow to respond to reality breaking pre-match odds expectations.

At the top of Match-IQ is a 100-dot semicircle, which bears resemblance to a political seat map. The Home team is on the left and green in colour. The Away team is on the right and is purple. This is a visual "power map" of the fixture. The more dots a team controls, the more strategic power they bring into the match.

Below the semicircle is a total score, which is a count of how many dots each team has; it will always total 100. In the example above Wrexham is the home team with a score of 41 and Ipswich are the away team with a score of 59.

This headline score split (e.g. 85/15 or 50/50) tells you the overall balance of power. A massive split means one team is stronger in almost every area, while a tight split may suggest a balanced contest decided by fine margins.

The 100 dot "political seat map", uses a "voting" mechanic: each of the ten performance pillars "votes" for a team based on pre-match data, causing the dots to shift toward the stronger side.

The ten performance pillars are located below the semicircle visual and total score. While the dots show the balance, the pillars explain why that balance exists.

Points Per Game establishes the basic strength level of each team. It compares how effectively each side turns matches into actual results over time, showing who consistently performs at a higher level.

Current Trajectory captures recent momentum and form. It identifies whether a team is arriving trending upwards or if they are currently stalling or in decline compared to their opponent.

Goal Production measures which team brings the stronger attacking threat. Rather than just raw totals, it evaluates how reliably a side creates and finishes chances, identifying who has a clear scoring advantage.

Defensive Reliability compares how secure a team is at the back and who is most likely to stay solid when tested. It highlights which side is noticeably harder to break down and which is more vulnerable to conceding.

Match Dominance identifies which team is likely to control the territory and pressure. It distinguishes between teams that win with authority and those that merely survive on fine edges.

First Half Goal Strength is a key indicator of timing and early pressure. It highlights a team's ability to start fast, apply immediate impact, and create early goals as part of the match's opening script.

Second Half Goal Strength reveals late-game tendencies and fitness advantages. It points to teams that grow into matches, sustain pressure after the break, or produce decisive moments as their opponents begin to fade.

Game Control measures initiative, which team is more likely to impose their style on the match rather than reacting to the opponent. It identifies who is likely to take the lead, set the tempo, and drive the game in their favour.

Clean Sheets Kept compares defensive authority specifically in terms of shutout potential. High ratings here suggest an organised team that are capable of protecting leads and keeping the opponent scoreless.

Failure to Score identifies attacking risk by highlighting which side is prone to "blanking" (failing to score). It evaluates whether a team's scoring weakness is likely to be exposed when lined up against their opponent's specific defensive profile.

The numbers you see in the ten pillars (ranging from 1 to 9) are not absolute league-wide ratings; they are direct comparisons between the two teams in that specific fixture. A score of 9 for the away team does not necessarily mean they are the best in the entire league. It means that, in this specific matchup, they have a massive statistical advantage over the home team in that category.

A higher number is better as it indicates a clear advantage or a stronger edge in that specific driver of match performance.

The pillars always balance against each other. If one team is a 9, the other will be a 1; if they are a 5 and a 5, they are dead even in that category. When multiple pillars show high numbers for one side, the 100 dot semicircle becomes visually unbalanced.

Reading the 'Match Story'

Before the match begins, use the pillars to create a match script or blueprint for the game.

The total score split is only the starting point; the individual pillars explain the match story. By looking at the pillars, you move from asking "who wins?" to ask better questions like: "Who will control the territory? Who will start fast or grow into the game for a late surge?"

For example, if a team has high numbers (7-9) in Match Dominance and Game Control, the script says they will "camp" in the opponent's half and dictate the tempo.

Look at the First Half and Second Half Goal Strength. If a team is a 9 in the first half but a 4 in the second, the script predicts a "fast start" where they must capitalise early before the game potentially swings later.

High Defensive Reliability and Clean Sheets Kept suggest a "low chaos" match where that team is hard to break down and capable of protecting a lead.

Example

Let's look at the Wrexham versus Ipswich example and how the script could be interpreted before kick-off.

The headline score is 41 - 59, which represents a strong lean in favour of the away side, Ipswich Town. This indicates that while the match is not expected to be one of complete dominance, one team brings noticeably more strategic power to the fixture across the core performance drivers.

Ipswich Town come into this fixture with a stronger ability to turn performances into points and more recently trending in better form than Wrexham with Points Per Game and Current Trajectory both in the away team's favour of 4 - 6.

The pillars for First Half Goal Strength (5-5) and Game Control (5-5) are perfectly even. This predicts a competitive and balanced start to the match where neither side arrives with a clear territorial advantage or the ability to immediately set the tempo. The first half may be a relatively even back and forth between the teams and rely on individual moments to secure a breakthrough.

Ipswich Town holds a consistent 6 vs 4 advantage in Goal Production, Defensive Reliability, and Clean Sheets Kept. This suggests they are statistically more likely to create higher-quality chances and are noticeably harder to break down than Wrexham. Should Ipswich take the lead in a moment of brilliance they may go on to hold it.

The most significant detail in this script is the late-game contrast. Ipswich Town has a massive advantage in Second Half Goal Strength (7 vs 3) and Match Dominance (7 vs 3). This points to a team that grows into matches, possesses better fitness or in-game management, and is expected to impose its style as the opponent fades.

As a trader looking at this specific blueprint, you could trade the match as follows:

1. Watch the 15-20 Minute Window: Check if the game feels balanced as the 5-5 Game Control rating suggests. If Wrexham are setting up camp in the Ipswich half and winning multiple corners early, the script is breaking, and the favourite (Ipswich) may be underperforming.

2. Identify the Opportunity: If the match remains level (0-0 or 1-1) heading into the second half, the script identifies this as a high-probability window for a swing. Ipswich's superior Match Dominance and Second Half Strength suggest they are the side most likely to find a decisive moment after the 60th minute.

3. Manage the Lead: If Ipswich scores first, their superior Defensive Reliability (6) and Clean Sheets rating suggest they are likely to manage the game out for a low-chaos finish rather than a frantic end-to-end game.

Members menu

The members menu is accessible through the top right portrait icon.

Profile

General

Here you can update your name and password.

We cannot currently change your email address when you've subscribed to Sports-IQ as it is linked to the payment gateway. If you need to change your email, please cancel your subscription then, when your subscription ends, re-register with the new email address. Contact us if you wish to transfer any strategies over to your new account.

Subscription

Clicking 'Manage' will take you to the Stripe portal where you can cancel your membership or upgrade from a monthly subscription to a yearly.

Your current subscription details are also shown including your subscription type, start date and end date.

You can cancel your subscription at any time and will have access until the end of the period shown. You can also convert from a monthly subscription to a yearly which gives you two months free. If you upgrade in the middle of your current period, you will get a discount based on the number of days left of your monthly subscription.

PnL

This page shows your profit and loss should you wish to track your trades.

Fixtures can be added from your strategies page. In the fixtures table for a strategy click the $ icon in the first column.

Alternatively, you can manually add an entry. Click the 'Manual Entry' button and enter the start time (kickoff date and time), the profit or loss amount if you already know it, the fixture, the strategy, and any notes you wish to add with this entry. All fields are optional and can be edited at any time.

On the left of each entry in the profit and loss table is a trash can icon to remove the entry.

On the right of each entry is an edit button to update the details.

Click on the date range at the top to change which dates you wish to see. The default is set to 'this month'.

Daily List

This page shows your selected events for a day. This is useful to keep a record of your trades if you don't want to use the PnL.

Football fixtures can be added from your strategies page. In the fixtures table for a strategy click the icon in the second column.

Horse and Greyhound races can be added from a racecard. Click the icon next to the CSV/Excel buttons at the top.

On the left of each entry in the table is a trash can icon to remove the entry.

On the right of each entry is an edit notes button to update the notes.

Settings

Here you can customise your experience on the site.

General tab

Time zone

All times shown throughout the site are in UK time. Change your time zone to view them in the correct time for your country.

Currency

This affects the PnL page. Profit and loss is shown in GBP (£). Change this for your own country's currency.

Football tab

Favourite Leagues

Update your favourite leagues here from the defaults. Favourite leagues are used on the Homepage, Strategies/Backtesting pages and the Custom Tables page.

Exchange

Choose whether to show Smarkets or Betfair links on the site. Betfair links will take you to the league page. Smarkets will take you directly to the fixture.

Betfair version

If you've chosen Betfair as your exchange, the Betfair icon throughout the site links to Betfair UK. As Betfair have different versions for different countries, you can update it here. We currently have Australia, Sweden and Italy options. If your country is not included, please contact us.

Page settings

Match replay default stakes
When using Match Replay the default stake is 100.00. Update it here if you wish.

Strategies on homepage
Choose which strategies will appear on the homepage.

Greyhounds and Horse Racing tabs

Choose whether to automatically show results on a racecard. If you turn this off a button will appear on each racecard. Clicking this will show the result.