EFL Betting Tips
Friday 8pm: Coventry v Oxford – Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 Goals
Saturday 12:30pm: West Brom v Leeds – Half Time: Draw
Sunday 12pm: Sunderland v Sheffield United – Over 2.5 Goals
Sunday 3pm: Bolton v Wrexham – Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 Goals
Friday 8pm: Coventry v Oxford – Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 Goals
Coventry have been hyped up ahead of the new season with regards to their possible promotion credentials but they are looking to bounce back here after an opening day loss at Stoke. The pressure is on them to defeat a newly promoted side at home in their first home league clash of the campaign, but achieving that is easier said than done.
They’re facing an Oxford outfit that surprised many with their relatively comfortable 2-0 home triumph over Norwich, however they now need to prove they can produce such exploits on their travels. This too will be no straightforward task, but spirits are still high after earning promotion to this level for the first time in 25 years.
The hosts may be odds-on favourites here but there are vulnerabilities about them that their opponents could well expose. Since the beginning of last December, the Sky Blues have kept only one home clean sheet in league action, with ten of those 14 seeing both teams score. In that same period of time, Des Buckingham’s Oxford recorded just four away clean sheets in all competitions, with 66.67% of those containing a goal for each team. Expecting this again on Friday along with at least one extra goal has every chance of landing.
Saturday 12:30pm: West Brom v Leeds – Half Time: Draw
Having entered the season under something of a negative cloud regards to transfer restrictions placed upon them, West Brom managed to change the mood in the space of 90 minutes with an excellent 3-1 victory at QPR on the opening weekend. Manager Carlos Corberán has already proved he can work footballing miracles under a limited budget and that may well continue into this season, too.
His former employers Leeds visit The Hawthorns on Sunday looking to get their first league win having endured a rollercoaster of emotions in the 3-3 home draw with Portsmouth. They certainly have the quality to win a match like this, as proved by the fact they did the double over both Leicester and Ipswich last season. However, they also lost all three season meetings with Southampton, while West Brom earned four points versus them as well.
Man-for-man, Leeds are much stronger, but there is a mutual respect between both coaches, meaning that this should be quite a tactical affair. Last season, in West Brom’s ten regular season meetings against top-six opposition, none of them had two or more first-half goals. It is in their interests to make this a tight match, whilst Leeds are still growing into the season and aren’t yet at their very best.
Sunday 12pm: Sunderland v Sheffield United – Over 2.5 Goals
Régis Le Bris was the somewhat unexpected appointment to the Sunderland managerial job this summer but the 2-0 win at Cardiff last weekend ensures he got his reign off to the perfect start. The real test comes in front of 40,000 of their passionate fans as he takes in his first home clash of the season on Sunday. This will be against Sheffield Wednesday, who went a few goals better than their weekend opponents when hammering Plymouth 4-0 at Hillsborough to begin their campaign.
With Le Bris and Wednesday boss Danny Röhl in the respective dugouts, they bring with them entertaining brands of football that should lead to an exciting spectacle in the form of chances at either end. Since taking the Owls job last October, Sheff Wed games have averaged 2.67 goals per game, however that number increases to 3.10 focusing on the last ten.
Le Bris’ Lorient side in Ligue 1 last season were ranked joint-top in terms of matches containing over 2.5 goals. Even one league game into his time at Sunderland, that match had a combined xG of 2.70 and both teams had double digit shots on goal, suggesting the you-attack-we-attack way of playing is already coming to fruition.
Sunday 3pm: Bolton v Wrexham – Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 Goals
Undoubtedly this is the standout game in League One this weekend. Bolton, who have made the play-offs in back-to-back seasons, entertain a Wrexham team that has achieved back-to-back promotions, and the feeling is that an eye-catching 90 minutes awaits. The two clubs are amongst the more popular outright promotion bets to reach the Championship for 2025/26.
Wrexham have made their home ground such a fortress over recent times, so it is generally when they play away where they’re mainly at their most vulnerable. A trip to Bolton, who had the joint-strongest League One home record last season, presents the kind of challenge they won’t have been used to in recent times. Then again, Wanderers have kept only three out of a possible 15 home league clean sheets in all competitions since the start of 2024, whilst nine also had both teams scoring.
The visitors simply have too much attacking talent to try and shut that away and merely play for a point. Whilst that would be a decent outcome on the road, this is a team that has averaged 2.23 league goals per game over the last two completed seasons, albeit at lower levels. They will however want to try and make a statement in this televised encounter that they will push for a third straight promotion. Sitting back won’t suit them on the basis of their poor away clean sheet record over 2024. In fact, they’ve not produced a shutout in 12 of their previous 14 on their travels in all competitions.
Football League Betting Tips
Friday 8pm: Coventry v Oxford – Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 Goals
Saturday 12:30pm: West Brom v Leeds – Half Time: Draw
Sunday 12pm: Sunderland v Sheffield United – Over 2.5 Goals
Sunday 3pm: Bolton v Wrexham – Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 Goals
- An Acca with these bets pays at approximately 16/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.
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