Two teams in red hot form will battle it out on the Wembley lawn for a place in next season’s Championship on Sunday. Both Barnsley and Millwall have lost just one of their last ten matches, so here are two sides buzzing with confidence. That should make for an exciting spectacle.
It is the Yorkshiremen in particular that catch the eye. In their last three outings they have beaten Walsall 3-0 and 3-1 (and the Midlanders had won their last game of the league season 5-0 remember), and prior to that they had toppled league champions Wigan by a 4-1 scoreline. They are scoring goals for fun at the moment.
But let’s give Millwall their due too. Here’s a side that has netted in each of their last eight outings, winning six of those, and whose London base may be of help to them against a side from three hours up the M1. Their supporters will certainly help to create a charged atmosphere, anyway.
Match Betting
Incredibly, in four of the last five seasons the team finishing fourth has eventually been promoted via the play-offs. There is no rhyme nor reason to that stat, but it is the kind of omen so beloved by a certain section of the betting community. If history is to repeat itself then it is Millwall that will ascend to the Championship.
But there are others who believe that the head-to-head stats are all-important when deciding the outcome of the play-off final. If that’s true then Barnsley hold the advantage seeing as though they beat Millwall home and away in the league. But the last of those two games came on January 2nd, so how much can we read into it?
There really is very little to go when making a decision about who will win this game, so punters are advised to keep stakes small. But for guidance, Over 2.5 Goals has been witnessed in 4/5 League One play-off finals, so we can expect a high scoring encounter.
By that token Millwall, whose front pairing of Lewis Gregory and Steve Morison has notched 39 goals between them this term, could hold all the aces. So why not back the Londoners to prevail in their own manor at a best price of 19/10 with Betfred.
Other Bets
You’ve already seen the Over 2.5 Goal stats, and have an insight into how lethal these two teams are in front of goal, so we’re happy to go in with either an O2.5 (5/4, Ladbrokes) or Both Teams to Score (10/11, Betfair) wager.
Given that we think both teams will score, we’d better find a goalscorer from Barnsley to pin our hopes on. No better candidate than Sam Winnall stands out: he bagged 24 goals in the league this term, and is in a rich vein of form that has returned four strikes in his last three games. Whether you go First Goalscorer (9/2, bet365) or Anytime (13/6, SkyBet) depends on how lucky you’re feeling.
