Betting tips for the 2019-20 League Two season in which Bradford City are favourites to win the title after being relegated last term.
League Two Promotion Tips
England’s footballing fourth tier is wide open this season according to the bookmakers, who are struggling to find a favourite for the title with four clubs all vying for that status.
The quartet have arrived at the head of the market from various directions, with Bradford City and Plymouth Argyle having been relegated last term, Mansfield Town promotion contenders in the past two campaigns who just missed out and National League play-off winners Salford City the new kids on the block.
As a precedent, only one of the four clubs promoted from League Two last season had played in that division in the previous campaign.
Of the four favourites, Mansfield and Plymouth have new managers in John Dempster and Ryan Lowe respectively, so they have plenty to prove, while Salford will hope to continue their Class of 92-inspired momentum which has seen them rise rapidly through the pyramid in the last few years and follow Tranmere in securing back-to-back promotions.
But we are going for Bradford (7/4 with Coral), who finished bottom of League One last term but confidence appears high in West Yorkshire that they can bounce straight back at the first attempt.
Manager Gary Bowyer could not save the Bantams last season, but he had a good record with his previous clubs Blackburn and Blackpool and got the latter promoted from this division in 2017 via the play-offs.
The Bradford squad certainly looks strong enough, especially with James Vaughan, Clayton Donaldson and Eoin Doyle in attack, while Adam Henley and Zeli Ismail add a further touch of quality in defence and midfield respectively.
For those who prefer a bet at bigger odds, Newport County look overpriced at 7/1 with bet365. They lost the play-off final to Tranmere only in extra time last season and importantly have kept hold of manager Mike Flynn, while making plenty of summer signings.
League Two Relegation Tips
Two clubs will be relegated to the National League and after securing survival on the final day of last season at Notts County’s expense, the bookmakers feel Sol Campbell will not be so lucky this time around at Macclesfield Town.
However, it should not be overlooked what an excellent job the former England defender did with the Silkmen and as second favourites Morecambe seem to find a way of staying up every year, instead we are backing Crawley Town at 9/2 with bet365.
The Red Devils appear to have lost the momentum they had under Harry Kewell before his ill-fated move to Notts County and while there was nothing particularly worrying about their results last season as a whole, they finished 19th and have lost all four of their pre-season friendly matches. Plus, their summer signings do not look to be particularly inspiring.
League Two Top Goalscorer Tips
Many eyebrows were raised last summer when Adam Rooney, who was Aberdeen’s star striker, joined National League club Salford City for an undisclosed fee.
There was perhaps just as much surprise when the Irishman scored ‘only’ 23 goals for the Ammies, enduring an uncharacteristic blank spell of nearly four months in the middle of winter when he was admittedly out of action for almost half of that time due to injury.
But Rooney remains a class act who is more than capable of scoring goals at League Two level on a consistent basis provided he can stay fit, and he will be instrumental towards Salford staging another promotion push.
At a generally available 10/1, including with bet365, Rooney looks a good bet to finish top of the League Two scoring chart.
