League One
League One & League Two final day preview
Arguably one of the most exciting days of the season in both League One and Two is fast approaching, with the final day of both leagues landing this weekend on the 27th April.
Football fans countrywide will have their eyes glued to their televisions over the weekend to see which League One and Two teams will manage to secure promotion, and who will make the playoff spots. As always, it’ll be sure to be a spectacle and bring forth some upsets to set EFL fans alight.
We preview the key matches in the final day of both League One and League Two below.
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League One
Top of the Table action
There is plenty to write home about at the top of the table, with only two points dividing fifth position Barnsley who sit on 75 points and Blackpool in eighth on 73. Portsmouth, the table leaders rank head and shoulders above the rest on 94 points securing automatic promotion, with the second spot still up for grabs between Derby County and Bolton. Should Bolton pick up a win with a five-goal deficit, they’d need Derby to come away with a loss, but should Derby lose by a hefty margin, Bolton could find themselves in the top two on goal difference.
The action however lies slightly further down with the battle for playoff positions which are awarded to third down to sixth following the final game of the season. Peterborough are comfortably in the playoff spot despite losing to Cheltenham recently, and the next two playoff spots are heavily contested between Barnsley, Lincoln City, Oxford United and Blackpool.
Barnsley have not picked up a win in five games but should have a relatively easy ride against Northampton who are 14th in the league and are 1/5 to finish in the top six. Lincoln City have the toughest ask against top of the league Portsmouth and will need to put in the shift of a lifetime to secure a spot in the playoffs (4/7), as they comfortably lead by five in goal difference to seventh place Oxford. Oxford (6/5) by no means have an ‘easy’ game against Exeter who sit mid table and have only managed one point from their last two games. Of these four, Blackpool have the best form with four wins back-to-back as well as the easiest game of the lot against 17th position Reading who have had an incredibly stagnant season compared to their days of old, but are 7/2 to finish in the top six.
It is a really tough one to call, but it’s a certainty that all of these games will offer plenty of action as it goes down to the wire to see which of these teams have done enough to throw their hat in the ring for promotion.
Relegation battle
At the bottom of the table, four will be relegated. Carlisle, who’ve only managed thirty points so far this season will be relegated for certain along with Port Vale and Fleetwood. The fourth spot for relegation however will be decided between Cheltenham (3/10), Burton (7/2) and Cambridge United (8/1).
In order for Cheltenham to avoid relegation they will need to win by at least two goals hoping the other two don’t manage to win. It’s pretty straightforward for Burton and Cambridge, though, as they just need to pick up a win to keep their place in League One next season.
League Two
Top of the Table action
The situation in League Two is similarly chaotic. Although the top three automatic promotion spots have been filled by Stockport, Mansfield Town and Wrexham, the playoff positions between fourth and seventh are remarkably well contested.
MK Dons have secured a playoff place on 77 points, sitting fourth in the league, but there is just three points dividing fifth and eighth. Doncaster (1/33) and Crewe (1/20) can manage a playoff position should they pick up at least one point in their respective final games, which would put them out of reaching distance from Crawley Town. Barrow (8/11) however sit on the cusp on 68 points and need a win to earn a stab at promotion to keep Crawley at bay.
Crawley have the most work to do and should they manage a win against 21st position Grimsby Town by a big enough margin, they could contest a playoff position at even money. They only sit one goal behind of Doncaster and are even with Crewe on goal difference, so should either of those fail to pick up any points, things could get interesting!
You can’t count out Bradford City however, who are on 66 points, and should they win their game against Newport with losses from both Barrow and Crawley, a price of 5/1 seems fair for a top seven finish.
Of all the teams mentioned above, it’s Barrow who have the toughest fixture against Mansfield on paper, but given they have secured promotion, it’s a possibility that they might use the game as an opportunity to give some game time to less frequent members of the normal starting 11 which could open a window of opportunity for Barrow.
Relegation Battle
The lowest two teams in the league will be relegated into the National League, with Forest Green the bottom marker sure to be relegated having picked up 39 points this season which leaves them out of contention to stay up. Sutton United on the other hand have an opportunity to stay in the league, with Colchester three points away and four goals better off on goal difference. Sutton are 1/200 to be relegated, with Colchester a much bigger price at 25/1.
Although it seems a tough ask for Sutton, they are facing MK Dons who have nothing to lose given their position in the table which could give Sutton the advantage they need to put plenty of goals past them as the outcome doesn’t matter to their opposition. Colchester on the other hand play Crewe Alexandra who are fighting for a playoff position and will therefore be an extremely big mountain to climb, and, if they lose by a hefty margin, the light at the end of the tunnel shines a lot brighter for Sutton.
