When it comes to sport betting doing a good research is very important, those that always study a game very well and conduct a good research about the game and the players always end up winning more than those that don't conduct research, a friend of mine said he usually do not conduct research before playing a game because it never works for him, conducting a research don't mean you will always win the game you predicted but you have a higher chance of winning when you research.
Doing research will help you analyze historical data reveals pattern that can guide your predictions, there are history that will help you make good prediction, Research helps you rely on facts rather than emotions.
Betting without research means you are gambling blindly.
It's the same with anything in life really, you are much more likely to back a winner when you have more knowledge on the subject. It is true for buying company shares, picking a winning horse, even selecting a property - those who dive in without the right information are likely to get burned. It might actually be harder to pick a winner where the odds are more like a coin flip, which is true in many football games. However if you are looking at horse races for example, there are plenty of horses that have 1st and 2nd place wins in recent times which are quite far down the ranking order, giving great odds and they have a good chance of placing first for a much larger payoff than the favorites.