L1 & L2 Predictions > May 30th & 31st

[StevieDay1983]

[StevieDay1983]

The League 1 and League 2 Play-Off Finals are coming up this bank holiday weekend. It's League 1 up first on Sunday afternoon when Blackpool face Lincoln City before we have the League 2 fixture on Monday with Morecambe versus Newport County. What bets have you all got in mind for these two games?

[StevieDay1983]

Blackpool vs Lincoln City

The League One Play-Off Final has arrived with Blackpool facing Lincoln City in a 3pm BST kick-off on Sunday afternoon at Wembley Stadium. On Saturday afternoon, we saw two Championship sides vying for a place in the Premier League desperately trying to get out of the second tier but one day later we now have two teams that are dreaming of playing at that level next season.

Blackpool have been to the high of the Premier League and back down to the low of League Two in recent years but under former Liverpool under-23s manager Neil Critchley the club is back in the ascendency. The Seasiders are just potentially 90 minutes away from a return to the Championship after finishing 3rd in the league table and hammering Oxford 6-3 on aggregate in the semi-finals of the play-offs. The fact that top scorer Jerry Yates only scored 1 of those 6 goals shows of much attacking quality this Blackpool team now possesses. Arsenal loanee Dan Ballard is an injury worry for Blackpool after he came off in the second leg against Oxford. Blackpool's relationship with the play-offs is a positive one having played in 7 Football League play-off finals and having earned promotion in 5 of those games. History also provides an encouraging omen with the 3rd place finisher in League One winning promotion via the play-offs the most times on 13 occasions and having done so in the last two seasons.

Lincoln City have been a bit of a surprise package this season. After the departure of the Cowley brothers I think a lot of people thought it would be the end of the Imps. However, the appointment of Michael Appleton was a masterstroke and the club finished in 5th place before beating Sunderland by a 3-2 score on aggregate in the play-off semi-finals. Fans of the club will be well aware that Lincoln City don't have the best experience in the play-offs. The team has lost both of their two previous Football League play-off finals. Both defeats came in the fourth tier against Bournemouth in 2003 and Southend in 2005. This is a chance for these players to buck that trend and create history though with the club having not been in the second tier of English football in 60 years since the 1960/61 campaign.

I'm very excited ahead of this play-off final. The two encounters between these two sides in the league this season saw a total of 9 goals scored. Lincoln City won the game at Bloomfield Road by a 3-2 score and the return fixture at Sincil Bank ended in a 2-2 draw. I can see a similar attacking display from both teams based on their semi-final approaches so this has the potential to be a real firecracker. Who is going to win? There's a question! I actually think it's firmly 50-50 so I'll go for a draw and for this game to be decided by either extra-time or penalties.

Draw @ 3.45 with Novibet

BTTS @ 1.92 with SBK

[harry_rag]

Quick look (mainly at Blackpool) has yielded the following.

20 points on Yates to score at 2.974 and 5 on him to score 2 or more at 12/1, both Uni

5 points on Garbutt to score at 14/1 with PP

[StevieDay1983]

Morecambe vs Newport County

The final competitive game of the English football calendar is set to be played on bank holiday Monday at 3pm BST from Wembley Stadium when the League Two Play-Off Final is contested between Morecambe and Newport County. This game is about two teams hoping to earn promotion to the third tier of English football but there are also a number of sub plots unravelling.

Morecambe are aiming to reach League One for the first time in the club's history and after the club's pulsating 3-2 aggregate win over Tranmere in the play-off semi-finals confidence is sky high within the Shrimps camp. The team narrowly missed out on automatic promotion by a single point after finishing 4th in the league so will feel they are the ones most deserving of winning this game. It's now been 14 straight seasons playing at League Two level for the club since their promotion from the National League back in 2006/07. In manager Derek Adams, they have a man who has won promotion from League Two before when he led Plymouth to that accolade back in 2016/17. However, Adams did also taste defeat in the 2015/16 League Two Play-Off Final when that same Plymouth side lost 2-0 to AFC Wimbledon. Morecambe have enjoyed success on their only two visits to Wembley though winning the 1974 FA Trophy Final against Dartford and then winning the 2007 National League Play-Off Final against Exeter.

Newport County have had a rollercoaster season and if their campaign could be summed up in one game then their thrilling second leg of their 5-4 aggregate win over Forest Green Rovers was exactly that. Manager Michael Flynn has cultivated a never-say-die attitude in this Exiles squad after the team finished 5th in the table. County haven't played in the third tier of English football since the 1986/87 season. Just two years later, the club was reformed and forced to start again down in the Hellenic League. The one statistic that is buzzing around the city of Newport right now is that the club earned promotion in 1939 and 1980... 41 years apart. How long since that 1980 promotion? Yes, 41 years. Fate isn't it? We also have the Kevin Ellison drama going on where the former Morecambe striker infamously celebrated provocatively in front of Morecambe's manager Adams after scoring in their encounter earlier in the season due to Adams' alleged poor treatment of Ellison before he departed the club. The one worrying fact for Newport fans is that their team have lost on 3 of their 4 visits to Wembley.

The past three meetings between these two clubs have ended Newport County winning all three matches. Morecambe had generally had a decent record against County prior to those games losing just 2 of the previous 13 match-ups. I'm going to be honest here. I've always had a soft spot for Newport as a Cardiff lad. I've never bought into that rivalry. My partner lives in Newport on Rodney Road so I really hope they do it. My predictions for the winners so far in these play-offs haven't been great so I'm going to back Morecambe to win in the hope I don't jinx Newport. However, deep down, I do feel Newport have the fight and determination to win this. I'll go for a draw to cover all bases! 

Draw @ 3.25 with Novibet

BTTS @ 2.02 with SBK

[harry_rag]

May going out with a whimper after a good spell in the middle but may as well just stick with it for the last day.

Buy Stockton's goal rush plus for 3 points at 7 with SPIN and 15 points on McAlinden to score at 7/2 PP.

Stockton bet is essentially 3.57 anytime with a free bonus for 2 or 3 goals (or more).

[harry_rag]

6 hours ago, StevieDay1983 said:

However, deep down, I do feel Newport have the fight and determination to win this. I'll go for a draw to cover all bases! 

Draw @ 3.25 with Novibet

Shame it had to be goalless!