The EFL Playoff Finals for The Championship, League One and League Two play out across the late May Bank holiday weekend – beginning with the second tier on Saturday before going down the pyramid over the following two afternoons.
Our best bets include a gimme of a Championship-win-bet sweetener, the best way to side with Leyton Orient and a value play on underdogs that have proven themselves capable of penetrating League Two’s meanest defence twice already this term.
Back Blades to edge typically tight top-flight ticket tussle
No matter which team you fancy to prevail in the Championship Playoff Final it’s worth considering the under 2.5 goals sweetener to boost your odds.
It’s little surprise given how often we’re told it’s the most valuable match in football, that cagey affairs are the norm – 11 of the last 12 saw two goals or less in normal time.
Sheffield United are a decent price to win in 90 minutes at 13/10. They cruised past Bristol City 6-0 on aggregate in the semis, whereas Sunderland endured successive backs-to-the-wall legs against Coventry City to reach this stage.
The Bramall Lane outfit have kept clean sheets in four of their past six outings and their defensive solidity is another compelling reason to add under 2.5 goals to a Blades win in return for chunky odds of 16/5.
Sheff Utd to win & Under 2.5 goals
@ 16/5
First-half fiends Orient well priced to go in ahead at HT
Leyton Orient are lively 12/5 underdogs to beat Charlton in the League One Playoff Final but backing them to win the first half looks like better value at the bigger 14/5.
Orient would have finished second behind Birmingham City in a League One only comprised of first-halves this season after winning 20 of their 48 opening periods.
Charlton by contrast prevailed in a modest 13 of their first halves and could be vulnerable early on. Richie Wellens’ fast-starting Londoners have scored before the end of the third minute in two of their last three outings.
Leyton Orient to win 1st half vs Charlton
@ 14/5
Resilient Saddlers a good price to sneak past miserly Dons
Many, including ourselves, thought Walsall would struggle to rouse themselves for the playoffs after throwing away automatic promotion on a 13-game winless run, grabbing it back with a last day win, then seeing it stolen again by a 96th-minute Bradford winner.
However, they did just that, seeing off Chesterfield 4-1 on aggregate and Matt Sadler’s one-time title contenders look slightly disrespected in the final at win odds of 19/10.
Walsall took four points from Wimbledon in the regular season, scoring home and away against a side that conceded 10 goals less than any other team in the fourth tier.
The Dons will be tough to score against, but given the Saddlers have proved they can do it with or without the prolific but long-since-recalled Stoke loanee Nathan Lowe, evens on them snatching victory with the draw no bet concession looks value.
Walsall to beat AFC Wimbledon (draw no bet)
@ 1/1
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