Kickoff to victory: The bettor's handbook for the 2024-25 European football leagues

The spotlight on football’s competitive scene shines brightest on Europe’s top domestic leagues. They feature exciting matchups and intense competitive talent watched by millions of fans all over the world.

The top 5 leagues in Europe regularly draw global attention, with media outlets worldwide broadcasting every match. These leagues are also where the superstars of football play. Get to know more about this elite world of football—here’s your European football leagues guide 2024-25:

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Top five European football leagues: 2024/25 campaign kickoff

The five major soccer leagues in Europe earned their fame through fierce competition. As some of the oldest football leagues globally, they are home to clubs with massive budgets, allowing them to attract the best athletes from around the world. The combination of legacy, financial power, and top-tier players brings intensity and excitement to fans and bettors alike.

To narrow down your search for the most intense football action, focus on these elite soccer European leagues:

English Premier League 2024/2025

The English Premier League or EPL is the highest level of football leagues in a conference that features top teams from England and Wales. It has 20 competing teams in the 2024/25 season, with the bottom facing relegation to the English Football League Championship. The season follows a double round-robin format, where every team plays each other twice, in a total of 380 games.

The EPL 2024/25 season kicked off on 17th August 2024 and wraps up on 25th May 2025. Here are the league’s most successful European soccer teams:

Manchester United (13 titles)
Manchester City (8 titles)
Chelsea (5 titles)
Arsenal (3 titles)

Collectively known as the ‘big four’, they consistently dominate the top of league standings. Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are also known for being regular contenders in the EPL.

The EPL is renowned for featuring some of the most valuable players including Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (€180 million) and Phil Foden (€150 million), and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka (€140 million). These players are prominently in the starting lineup of their teams as they are integral to their success.

Manchester City enters the 2024/25 season as this season’s favourites. They defended their EPL title last season, making them four-time back-to-back champions. Their main rival is Arsenal who tied with Manchester City for 28 wins. The two-point standings difference was the only gap they needed to close to break the favourite’s win streak.

Other teams with a chance for the EPL title are Liverpool, Aston Villa, Tottenham, and Chelsea for reaching the top 6 of season 2023/24. However, each of them is the underdog for every head-to-head with either Manchester City or Arsenal.

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Italian Serie A 2025

Italy’s premier football division, Serie A, features 20 teams competing for the title in the 2024/25 season. As with every season, the bottom three clubs face relegation to Serie B, the country’s second-tier league. The Serie A 24-25 schedule runs from 17th August 2024 to 25th May 2025.

The Serie A follows a double round-robin format, with each team playing 38 European football matches, totalling 380 games. When placing wagers at Sportsbet.io, Euro fixtures and markets for Serie A matches are available under the ‘Italy’ category.

Historically, Serie A is dominated by a few clubs:

Juventus (36 titles)
Inter Milan (20 titles)
AC Milan (19 titles)
Genoa (9 titles)

The first three are still the favourites for the upcoming 2024/25 season, especially Inter Milan who won the 2023/24 edition. However, Genoa performed abysmally, leaving the top spots open for Atalanta and Bologna to take.

Even so, Atalanta and Bologna are still underdogs in their head-to-head against teams such as Inter Milan, AC Milan, and Juventus. Napoli and Lazio could also make a comeback to regain their spot in the top 2 from the 2022/23 season but they are underdogs after their less impressive performance in the 2023/24 campaign.

Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martínez (€110 million) is currently the most valuable player in Serie A. He is followed by Napoli’s Victor Osimhen (€100 million) and AC Milan’s Rafael Leão (€90 million). He is then followed by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia na Nicolò Barella of Napoli and Inter Milan respectively who are tied at €80 million.

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Spanish La Liga 2025

Spain’s top football division, officially known as the Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera Divisió, is more commonly referred to as La Liga. This iconic league features 20 teams competing in a double round-robin format, resulting in 380 games throughout the season.

The La Liga schedule 2024/25 officially begins on 15th August 2024 and ends on 25th May 2025. Fixtures are announced every June in the off-season, a couple of months before the official start of the European football games.

Here are La Liga’s strongest and constant title runners:

Real Madrid (36 titles)
Barcelona (27 titles)
Atlético Madrid (11 titles)

Kylian Mbappe (€180 million) debuts in the La Liga for the 2024/25 season under Real Madrid. He shares a roughly similar market value with Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior. This formidable trio makes Real Madrid’s squad the most expensive lineup in all European football teams, making them definitive favourites of the 2024/25 season.

Their strategy of assembling the top European football players aims to defend their 2023/24 title by overwhelming the competition. Pundits predict they can dominate the European leagues standings and top scorers statistics with their lineup.

However, despite the current state of each club’s lineups, Real Madrid’s victory is not guaranteed. Barcelona has an impressive record of winning against all odds and their performance in the 2023/24 season was impressive. On top of that, Girona and Atlético Madrid are underdogs with high potential to win massive upsets.

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German Bundesliga 2024/25

As you near the end of the European football leagues guide, it’s time to explore the Bundesliga. Unlike the other main European leagues, this event only has 18 clubs competing in a round-robin format resulting in 306 matches. The Bundesliga schedule 2024 2025 runs from 23rd August 2024 to 17th May 2025. At the end of the season, the bottom two placers will be relegated to the 2. Bundesliga.

Bayern Munich is the uncontested most successful club in the Bundesliga, with an impressive 32 titles to their name. They also stand out even among other main European football leagues for their astounding 11-back-to-back win streak from 2013 to 2023. It was only broken when Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart overtook them in the 2023/24 season as first place and runner up respectively.

All three teams are favourites in the 2024/25 season while Dortmund and RB Leipzig are also strong contenders, regularly finishing in the top six. If you’re looking to bet on potential upsets in European soccer, Hoffenheim or Heidenheim are worth considering as underdog picks.

In terms of individual talent, Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala are both in the €130 million market range while Harry Kane is in the €100 million. They are the most valuable players in the Bundesliga and are the only ones in the hundred million line. Rounding out the top five are Xavi Simons (€80 million) and Leroy Sané (€70 million).

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French Ligue 1 2024 2025

While it may be the last of the main European leagues, the French Ligue 1 is not to be underestimated. They’ve maintained a high European leagues standings in national and international club competitions. The league used to have 20 teams but dropped to only 18 starting in the 2023/24 season, a change that continues into the 2024/25 campaign.

The Ligue 1 schedule 2024-2025 runs parallel to other leagues in this guide to European football 2024-25 season, with European soccer schedule from 16th August 2024 to 22nd May 2025. The bottom placers of the Ligue 1 are relegated to Ligue 2, France’s official second division.

The competition in Ligue 1 is often intense like other Euro soccer leagues, with these clubs as top favourites:

Paris Saint-Germain (12 titles)
Saint-Étienne (10 titles)
Marseille (9 titles)
Monaco and Nantes (8 titles each)

The 2024/25 season sees a slight dip in star power because none of its drafts have a market value above €100 million. The current top players include Warren Zaïre-Emery, Ousmane Dembélé, and Achraf Hakimi who are all in the €60 million.

When looking at the 2024-25 European Football league preview, PSG is the clear favourite after being a three-time back-to-back champion. However, Monaco, Brest, and LOSC Lille present strong challenges, aiming to disrupt PSG’s dominance. Meanwhile, Marseille’s struggle to break into the top six continues, and the recently promoted Saint-Étienne has faced relegation in Ligue 2 since the 2022/23 season.

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An overview of the European intercontinental leagues

The top five European soccer leagues explained are the pinnacle of domestic competitions within UEFA. However, these leagues are just the beginning for elite clubs. The top placers in each league compete in a much higher level of competitions like the following:

UEFA European Championship
UEFA Nations League
UEFA Champions League
UEFA Europa League
UEFA Conference League
UEFA Super Cup

That’s the gist of European football leagues explained. They all operate differently from the domestic leagues and are more subject to changes from UEFA. Follow your favourite club’s journey to these intercontinental events to see how far they can achieve greatness on the grandest stages of the sport.

Complete guide to European football leagues 2024-25 betting

Now that you’re familiar with the European football schedule, it’s time to plan your bets. The first step is understanding the types of predictions you can make, as Sportsbet.io offers plenty of interesting betting options.

Betting markets vary depending on what you want to bet on. If you’re interested in a specific match, you can find these options under in-play for ongoing games or futures for those yet to begin. If you’re looking to place a wager on the competition’s outcome, check the ‘Outrights’ section, where the selections are quite different.

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Here’s a quick football guide to betting markets:

In-play betting and futures betting

Match winner bet: Choose between one of two sides in a game and you win the bet if they emerge victorious. You can also bet on a draw, which pays out if neither team dominates. This bet only includes the events within the 90 minutes, not overtime.
Over/under total points bet: Guess if the combined scores of the two teams will reach over or stay under an arbitrary number. It only includes goals scored within the 90 minutes, not overtime penalty shootouts.
Handicap bets: This is a match-winner bet but one side is given a hypothetical advantage, usually only between +0.5 and +1.5. Bets on the team with the advantage win if the match ends with their scores plus the handicap overcomes the opponent’s score. Bets on the other team win if they score enough points to overcome the handicap.
Both teams to score, yes/no: Bets on ‘yes’ win as soon as both teams score a goal. If you bet on ‘no’, then wins are paid after the match ends and at least one of the two teams didn’t score a goal.
Correct score: Guess the exact point distribution between the two sides by the end of the match. There are many possible combinations due to a lack of goal limits. Fortunately, European football leagues teams have amazing defenders to limit average scores to three or fewer goals per game.

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Outrights betting

Outright winner: Predict which team will win the league title for the current season. This bet can be challenging, even if you can focus on just the top six teams due to the competition’s unpredictability.
Top four placers: Bet on which team you believe will make it to the top four rankings of the season. It can be any spot as long as they make it to the top four standings by point and goal lead.
Top six placers: It’s similar to the top four bet but the margin is widened to the top six. This bet is based on the team’s standings in the season’s leaderboard.
Not to finish in the top four: The bet is on a team you believe won’t make it to the top four of the season. This time, the safe bets are the underdogs while favourites are risky wagers.
Team to fall in relegation: Guess which of the season’s premier division teams will end up at the bottom of the leaderboard and be relegated to a lower league.
To finish in the top half: This bet is similar to the top four or six placers but encompasses the upper half of the conference’s full roster. Bet on the team you are confident will make this cutoff.

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Top football betting tips for European leagues

If you’re new to cryptocurrency betting on European football leagues, it's important to learn the basics of betting to make informed decisions and increase your chances of winning. Here are some beginner-friendly tips to walk you through the process:

Bet on the more offensive team for in-play betting

Comparing European football league statistics is one of the most basic strategies in betting but the number of wins isn’t the most important factor. The information you should look for is which team has a better record for ball possession and accuracy because these indicate aggression. Aggressive teams are more likely to score, making them valuable for bets on match winners and total over/under bets.

Apply the Kelly Criterion for underdog bets

The Kelly Criterion is a mathematical formula designed to optimise your betting strategy, helping you decide the ideal stake size to maximise growth while minimising risk. This approach is useful for underdog selections when betting on European leagues with Bitcoin (BTC), as they typically offer higher odds, resulting in significant payouts.

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Use Sportsbet.io features to improve your betting sessions

Sportsbet.io enhances your betting experience with several valuable features. One such feature is the Price Boost which you can toggle at the ‘My Bet’ section before finalising your ticket to maximise your cash prize from a winning bet in European football. Additionally, you can also use the bet market filter to narrow down markets by time to cut through the clutter and find your preferred option right away.

Follow insights from pundits

Renowned sports experts share their predictions and analyses across various media platforms. Taking their European football leagues analysis into account can be useful when planning your wagers, particularly for European leauges you may not be closely following. Their expertise can provide valuable context and help you make more informed betting choices.

Stay updated about teams' lineups before every match

Given the substantial investment in players by clubs in Europe’s top five leagues, each athlete plays a crucial role in their club’s strategies. Therefore, any absence due to injury or suspension can impact their performance. Keep up with the latest news and updates to stay informed about team lineups and adjust your bets accordingly.

Join Sportsbet.io for the most fun European football betting experience

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Frequently asked questions

Need quick answers to common questions? This FAQ section is here to help.

When do the European leagues start?

The guide to football leagues in Europe 2024/25 shows that all events begin in the middle of August and end near the end of May of the following year. Exact dates vary between regions but they run parallel to each other.

What are the five major leagues in European football?

The European football guide features five major football leagues governed by UEFA:

English Premier League (EPL)
Italian Serie A
Spanish La Liga
German Bundesliga
French Ligue 1

Each hosts more than 300 games per season, giving you plenty of markets for Bitcoin European football league betting.

How do I make bets with USDT on European football leagues?

European football USDT betting is available on Sportsbet.io. Sign up, top up your account with Tether (USDT), and find the UEFA soccer leagues in the bookmaker. USDT betting on European football pays you back in the same currency that you used to pay the ante. It works the same way for Bitcoin sports betting European leagues, as well as with other crypto.