No sooner have the Ashes concluded than the English Football League season is upon us. To football bettors’ delight the Championship, League One and League two kick off this weekend.
Early season betting is always a tricky endeavour, with little more than friendly form, transfer ins and outs, divisional ups and downs and financial crises to go on. However, there are nuggets of value on offer. Three of which you can find out more about below.
EFL Opening Weekend Betting Tips
Plymouth to beat Huddersfield @ 23/20
Northampton to beat Stevenage @ 8/5
Sutton United draw no bet vs Notts County @ 9/4
Bet on the latest football odds at Betzone
Home Park aura of impregnability can surivive into second tier
Last season’s League One was a vintage edition as no less than three teams amassed more than 95 points. Plymouth topped the pile ahead of two sides with a good deal deeper pockets in Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday.
Relentlessly strong form at Home Park was the cornerstone of the Pilgrims’ journey to the title as they recorded 20 wins from 23 matches in front of the faithful.
That makes them look decent value at odds-against to see Huddersfield who finished 18th in the Championship last season and 21st in the away form table. Both placings would have been far worse but for an improbable (and likely unrepeatable) run of six wins in their last nine games.
Tip: Plymouth to beat Huddersfield @ 23/20
Cobblers’ continuity corroborates the case for home value at Sixfields
This intriguing opening day encounter pits two promoted teams against one another, as third-placed automatic movers Northampton host Stevenage, who finished second.
Betzone have both sides trading at 8/5 for three points at the time of writing and those odds feel like decent value for backing the Cobblers, who beat Stevenage 3-2 at Broadhall Way last season and drew their most recent encounter 1-1 at Sixfields in April.
Northampton have been something of a League One yo-yo club in recent times but, in contrast to the squad churn that’s dogged previous attempts to stay in the division, they’ve kept hold of all the key players that earned them promotion this time around.
More than a match for Borough last season, they should be favourites here.
Tip: Northampton to beat Stevenage @ 8/5
Gander Green no golden highway for upwardly mobile Magpies
Notts County, new arrivals from the National League, have already shown they have no intentions of resting on their laurels at this level with the signing of David McGoldrick (scorer of 22 league goals for Derby in the third-tier last season).
They’re priced up as 4/6 favourites for an away win here, but that seems dismissive given Sutton’s strong form has been what’s cemented their own Football League status for the past two years.
In 2021/22, their first at this level, they finished with the fourth-best home record in the division. Then, last term they lost just three of their first 18 league games at Gander Green Lane (winning 11 and drawing four) before their form dipped once survival was assured in mid-March.
County haven’t exactly been shooting the lights out in pre-season either, with a 5-1 home loss to Stoke in their penultimate friendly not the ideal confidence builder.
