Football Tips: Our 40/1 EFL playoff winner treble in the Championship, League One & Two

Our tipster Colin Harvey weighs up who will emerge victorious from the EFL playoffs.

* All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

We finally know who will compete in the EFL playoffs after some dramatic final-day action in League One and League Two. The Championship was sewn up prior to the final round of fixtures but we’ve got some intriguing clashes with one standout side, if we’re looking purely at form.

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In the third tier Blackpool and Oxford are in great form with the latter pipping Portsmouth for a top six finish right at the death. In League Two I fancy one of the sides who took it right to the wire to emerge victorious. So, let’s try and work out who’s going up in each league.

Championship: Brentford

Three of the four teams qualifying for the playoffs in The Championship have stumbled over the line and are not in good shape. The other is Brentford who have won four on the bounce. The Bees will face Bournemouth in the playoffs while Swansea take on Barnsley.

The Cherries were on a mighty run but have lost their last three and on paper this looks like Brentford’s to lose. Not only are they in great form but they have the best striker outside of the Premier League in Ivan Toney ready to fire them to glory.

The Bees do come with a health warning, through. They’re one of these clubs who seem to have an insatiable appetite for self destruction. I’m hoping they, and manager Thomas Frank, have learned from their harrowing double blow at the end of last season to put it right this time around.

If they can get past Bournemouth (who they beat home and away in the league season) I fancy them to go all the way and beat Swansea or Barnsley in the final on May 29th. The two sides in the other half of the draw have won just three games in their last combined 10 outings and I just can’t look past Brentford to win the Championship playoffs.

League One: Blackpool

Blackpool, Sunderland, Lincoln and Oxford will battle it out for the right to play Championship football next season. Blackpool take on Oxford while Sunderland play Lincoln in the other semi. The first mentioned features two teams in great form. The other, well, less so.

Oxford snuck into the playoffs on the final day thanks to Portsmouth’s inability to beat Accrington and will be in high spirits, but I don’t think their season will make it as far as the Wembley final. The U’s have won six of their last seven but were handed a very kind fixture list.

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Blackpool, on the other hand, have won four on the bounce, beating The Black Cats and Doncaster in that run. Blackpool won one of these two’s clashes in the league season with the other ending in stalemate.

Sunderland are in dreadful form but Lincoln are not in much better shape themselves with both probably licking their wounds over their failed automatic promotion bids. If The Seasiders get past Oxford, which I think they will, I think Blackpool will win the League One playoffs.

League Two: Newport County

It’s a bit more of a bun fight in the fourth tier with Morecambe, Newport, Forest Green and Tranmere – who sacked their manager after making it into the playoffs – going at it. The latter two are not in great overall form and I’m tentatively discounting them straight off the bat, here.

FGR and Tranmere have won a total of six games between them over their combined last 26 League Two games. So, that leaves us with Morecambe and Newport who I expect to meet in the final on May 31st.

The Shrimpers are in good form, winning five of their last six, but it’s that solitary loss which is putting me off tipping them. That defeat came against the only side they’ve faced of any note – Bolton – with the wins coming against teams placed 15th or lower.

I am a Morecambe doubter and I’m surprised they’ve made it this far but I’m plumping with the more rounded side in the rough-and-ready shape of Newport. The Exiles have won three of their last five, including one over champions Cheltenham, and beat Morecambe home and away in the regular season. I’m backing Newport to win the League Two playoffs.

Tips for the EFL Playoffs

Championship: Brentford
League One: Blackpool
League Two: Newport County

* All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

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