EFL League One 2021/22: Predicting Movements in The Big 4’s Betting Odds
The EFL League One division this season is packed full of big names; you could even be forgiven for thinking it was a Championship standard league. Huge sleeping giants with Premier League experience are littered through the league including the likes of Sunderland, Ipswich Town, Portsmouth, Sheffield Wednesday, Wigan Athletic and Charlton. Furthermore, two additional teams who will be hoping to return to the Championship at the first time of asking would be Rotherham whom have become some what of a “Yo Yo” side constantly being promoted and then relegated back to L1 in recent years, and finally Wycombe Wanders who were also relegated in the 20/21 Championship season.
So, who is likely to be up their come May? Are there are clear favourites, and which big names are likely to struggle due to financial limitations and/or paper thin squads lacking any real depth outside their starting 11’s. We take a look below!
- Ipswich Town – What can we say about the seemingly inevitable resurgence of the Tractor Boys? They have suffered for 13 years under the ownership of Marcus Evans but a US. Consortium valued at $11BN have come in and rejuvenated the hopes of fans. New manager Paul Cook (formerly of Wigan & Portsmouth) has a proven track record at this level. He has made wholesale changes this summer allowing the vast majority of the former first team squad to leave; plus making 10 new signings some of which have been marquee signings such as WBA’s Rakeem Harper, Wimbledon’s Joe Piggot, and MK Dons Scott Fraser to name but 3. All leading bookmakers now have Ipswich Town as favourites to win the League One title, and with Cook suggesting plenty more signings are forthcoming, who are we to argue? 888Sport makes the Tractor Boys joint favourites to lift the title priced at 13/2.
- Sunderland FC – How could we possibly leave out the Black Cats when assessing potential title challengers this season? Boasting the largest football stadium in the league and finally appearing to be under stable & progressive ownership, Sunderland like in many seasons just gone, are a team expected to perform. Despite this, Black Cats fans are all too familiar with the difficulties and physicality of the league, and a big name in League One has proven time and time again that more is needed than just a name & decent financing to make the leap back into the Championship. Sunderland currently find themselves joint favourites along with Ipswich to win League one, priced at 13/2 at 888Sport.
- Sheffield Wednesday – It’s no secret that many eye brows were raised last season as the Owls capitulated and found themselves relegated from the Championship. Wednesday will be keen to return to the Championship at the first time of asking but behind the scenes things appear far from rosy, with issues surrounding transfer policy & player wages. The bookies have naturally priced the Owls short as they seem to do each summer for the supposed “big names” in the division, but we personally expect Sheffield Wednesday to struggle in this coming season and would suggest keeping your money in your pocket rather than being tempted to lump on Wednesday. A mid-table finish & stability for the club should probably be considered a success in their first outing in the EFL League One, but fans aren’t likely to accept this as progress. Wednesday can be found in the League One outright market on 888Sport at 35/4, but again, we feel they will actually struggle this season.
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