Last Updated on 16/08/2025 by Andy Clark

Today’s Shots on Target Bookies

 

Shots on Target Betting Tips

The new football season is here and one of the most popular markets in the past 12 months has been shots on target. The amount of people betting on this type of bet has grown rapidly and for this season, we are launching our shot-on-target tips for each match, and a cross-match accumulator each day too. We’re going to be using Paddy Power for all of these tips as it ensures you get the same odds as us, and that the market is available for every top fixture. Need a Paddy Power account? Get a risk free £20 when you join them, meaning you get your first shot on target bet for free.

What is shots on target betting?

With bookies like Paddy Power, you can bet on a player to have a certain amount of shots on target. For example, in an England match you might bet on Harry Kane to have 2 or more shots on target. A shot is classed as on target if it forces the goalkeeper into a save. Things like direct free kicks and penalties count, but with free kicks, the goalkeeper has to save it. It cannot be blocked. On Paddy Power, you can bet on players to have 1+ (one or more) shots on target, all the way up to 4+ (four or more shots on target). You can do a similar thing on William Hill as well, betting on a player to have over 1, over 2 or over 3 shots on target in the match. These can also be combined for a shot on target accumulator bet in either the same match, or different matches.  

What does SOT mean?

SOT is just a shortened version of shots on target. Different bookies might call the market slightly different things but they all mean the same – you are betting on a player to have a certain number of shots on target in any given match.  

Rules for Shots on Target Betting

• Shots that hit the post and crossbar DO NOT count as a shot on target as the ball wasn’t going into the net (unless it hits the woodwork then goes into the goal, which would count).
• Shots that are blocked by a defender are also not counted unless the player is the last man e.g. a goalline clearance.
• OPTA define shots on target as “a clear attempt to score that would have gone into the net but for being saved by the goalkeeper or is stopped by a player who is the last-man with the goalkeeper having no chance of preventing the goal (last line block)”
• If a shot is blocked by somebody’s teammate, this will not be counted as a shot on target either.
• Penalties do count, as long as the shot isn’t going wide.

 

Stats for Player Shots on Target Tips

We will use stats for our shots on target tips and there are a lot of good websites out there that offer shots on target stats. For international matches such as Euro 2020 and World Cup 2022 qualifying, there is less data available so some bookies will not offer odds for shots on target bets, or sometimes they will offer odds but with less statistical evidence, therefore you might find a bet that is a bigger price than you think it should be. Below you will see the final shots on target stats for the top 15 players who had the most shots on target in the 2021/22 Premier League season. Mo Salah hit the target the most times with 60, ahead of Harry Kane with 55 and Son Heing-Min with 49. Son and Salah shared the Premier League Golden Boot award last season.

Rank	Player	Club	Nationality	Stat
1.	Mohamed Salah	Liverpool	Egypt	60
2.	Harry Kane	Tottenham Hotspur	England	55
3.	Son Heung-Min	Tottenham Hotspur	South Korea	49
4.	Cristiano Ronaldo	Manchester United	Portugal	43
5.	Sadio Mané	Liverpool	Senegal	39
6.	Jarrod Bowen	West Ham United	England	34
6.	James Maddison	Leicester City	England	34
8.	Diogo Jota	Liverpool	Portugal	33
9.	Ollie Watkins	Aston Villa	England	32
9.	Wilfried Zaha	Crystal Palace	Cote D’Ivoire	32
11.	Kevin De Bruyne	Manchester City	Belgium	31
11.	Bukayo Saka	Arsenal	England	31
13.	Ivan Toney	Brentford	England	30
14.	Michail Antonio	West Ham United	Jamaica	29
14.	Bruno Fernandes	Manchester United	Portugal	29
14.	Mason Mount	Chelsea	England	29

 

Shot on Target Betting FAQs

[sc_fs_multi_faq headline-0=”h3″ question-0=”What is a shot on target?” answer-0=” A shot on target is a shot that would go in the goal if it wasn’t for the goalkeeper saving it, or the last man blocking it. The last man only counts if the goalkeeper is out of the goal.” image-0=”” headline-1=”h3″ question-1=”Do penalties count as a shot on target?” answer-1=”Yes. As long as the ball goes into the net or the goalkeeper saves the penalty and it would have gone in otherwise.” image-1=”” headline-2=”h3″ question-2=”Does the post and cross-bar count as a shot on target?” answer-2=”No. The ball hitting the frame of the goal does not count as a shot on target. The same for the ball going wide of the goal.” image-2=”” headline-3=”h3″ question-3=”Do blocked shots count as a shot on target?” answer-3=”Blocked shots only count as a shot on target if the defender is the last man. ” image-3=”” headline-4=”h3″ question-4=”What is the difference between shots on shots on target?” answer-4=”A shot is classed as any attempt at goal, even if it goes wide, hits the woodwork or is blocked by a defender. A shot on target is one that goes in the goal, is saved by the goalkeeper or blocked by the last man.” image-4=”” headline-5=”h3″ question-5=”Do headers count as a shot on target?” answer-5=”Yes. As long as the ball is going in the net, a goal or scored or the last man blocks the header from going in the goal.” image-5=”” count=”6″ html=”true” css_class=””]