Who will win has been the fundamental question asked by soccer bettors for decades. Will Arsenal win? Can Real Madrid overcome Barcelona? Will Kenya's Harambee Stars cause an upset against a higher-ranked opponent?

As sports betting has evolved, however, many fans have started answering questions that delve much deeper than the final result. Handicap betting and cards betting are among the most popular soccer betting niches today. Instead of simply betting on goals, bettors are wagering on margins and player discipline.

Why Handicap Betting Is Popular

Soccer betting at the best betting sites in Zimbabwe listed on Bettingtop10, always seemed to be missing something when it came to mismatches. When Manchester City plays Stoke City, most gamblers know who will win. So why would anyone pay high odds to wager on a favorite? The solution? Apply a handicap.

When betting with a handicap, you no longer simply predict whether the favorite will win outright by the listed odds. Instead, you predict whether they will win by enough goals to overcome the applied handicap. This swing helps to even the odds so to speak, and inspire new bettors to explore this type of bet.

Don't Just Follow the Top Teams

Many soccer fans use handicap bets to explore leagues they know little about. Just because a team isn't winning frequently doesn't mean they aren't dominating opponents. Similarly, a club that loses games may still be competitive in each match it plays. Handicap bettors should look beyond the standings to identify value.

They will study attacking and defending numbers, expected goals, form, and head-to-head matchups before placing bets. A team's position in the table isn't wrong. But there's usually a lot more to the story than just win-loss records.

What's Behind the Growth in Card Betting

While handicap betting rewards soccer fans who study efficiency, card betting requires them to examine player behavior. Yellow cards and red cards have always been part of the sport. The difference is that soccer fans are now analyzing every single one.

Card wagers allow bettors to wager on which team will receive more cards, or even whether a specific player will get the yellow card. Predicting the exact number of cards handed out during a match might seem like a fool's errand.

Aggressive pressing teams tend to commit more fouls, so this is an ideal bet for many football fans. Physical defenders receive more yellow cards. What previously looked like chaos begins to make sense when you know where to look.

The Role of Referees

Speaking of knowing where to look, soccer bettors are now examining referees more closely than ever. Not all referees are created equal, and certain officials are much tougher on player misconduct than others. A derby match may produce twice as many cards under one referee as under another known for blowing very few whistles.

Referee trends are just another metric modern bettors examine before risking their money. Derbies tend to lead to the most yellow and red cards for a reason. The competitive nature of these matches usually sparks stronger emotions.

Players push harder without fear of an early red card. Emotional outlets are fewer and farther between. Egos are inflated. So frustrations become more impactful. Even referees feel the intensity. Which means more bookings. Sure, you can watch a soccer match and only care about who scores the next goal. But card betting opens the door for bettors to enjoy matches from an entirely new perspective.

Look Beyond the Scoreline

Handicaps and card betting are more popular than ever because there's never been more soccer data available to bettors. A few years ago, finding stats like fouls committed, league-wide yellow card averages, and referee stats was difficult. Now, bettors can research these metrics in seconds.

Not only can handicappers study average goal margins and team tendencies with ease, but they can also analyze previous meetings and player data. Instead of asking who has the best team, bettors are now asking:

How often does Team A win by two goals or more? How many cards does Referee Smith hand out, on average? How have teams matched up against opponents that use a high press? The beauty of these bets is that the surface-level answer is rarely the right answer.