How the points work in a score prediction league

Every example below uses the same match: the home side wins 2-1. The numbers are worked out by the same rules the site uses to score real matches.

Simple: 3, 1 or nothing

The exact score gets 3 points and the right result gets 1. Anything else gets nothing. This is the scoring most people already know from office sweepstakes, and it is the easiest to explain to a group.

The drawback: if it finishes 2-1, guesses of 1-0, 3-1 and 5-4 all get the same single point, so the table bunches up and ties are common.

Bullseye scoring

This is the default on PrediSportsHQ. It is built around three ideas: an exact score (a bullseye) is worth a lot, a bullseye in a high-scoring game is worth more, and being close counts.

Here is where each number comes from.

• A bullseye is worth 30 for a home win, 35 for an away win and 40 for a draw, because draws and away wins are harder to call. On top of that you get the total number of goals multiplied by itself. A 2-1 has three goals, so that adds 9. A 0-0 bullseye is worth 40; a 3-3 bullseye is worth 76.
• The right result is worth 15 for a home win, 17 for an away win and 19 for a draw, minus one point for every goal you were out by.
• The wrong result costs 5, and one more for every goal you were out by.
• Forgetting to predict costs 5 in a league that has it switched on.

"Out by" means the goals you were wrong by, counted for both teams. Guessing 1-0 when it finished 2-1 is one goal out for the home side and one for the away side, so two in total.

Bullseye scoring spreads the table out, so there are fewer ties and the leader can be caught. It also means a wild guess has a cost.

Exact-focused

For groups who only care about the exact score. A bullseye is worth around ten times the right result, and nothing is ever taken away.

The Golden Pick

Once a round, every player can mark one match as their Golden Pick, and whatever they score on it is doubled. That includes points taken away. You can move it until that match kicks off, and then it is locked.

Double points in the Champions League knockouts

A Champions League organiser can double every match in the semi-finals (both legs) and the final. In a doubled round there is no Golden Pick, so nothing is ever worth four times its points.

Missed predictions

In bullseye scoring a missed match can cost points. It only counts for matches that kicked off after the player was let into the league, so somebody who joins in November is not punished for August. The organiser can change this number during the season, and the change only applies to matches from then on.

When the points are fixed

An organiser can change the points until the first match is scored. After that they are fixed for the season, because a change would rewrite every player's total. Each league's own rules page shows its exact numbers.

For tips on making the most of these rules, read how to predict football scores.