League One playoff predictions and free football tips: Oxford overpriced to go all the way

Best bet

Oxford to win promotion
1pt 4-1 general

League One playoff predictions

Oxford suffered League One playoff heartache in the 2020 and 2021 but they are approaching the 2023-24 post-season with plenty of confidence and are worth backing to clinch promotion.

The betting favours Bolton and Peterborough, who finished third and fourth in the final standings and are 13-8 and 2-1 to go up.

Barnsley are the 11-2 outsiders to regain the Championship status they lost in 2022, while Oxford are 4-1 to ensure they are playing second-tier football next season for the first time since 1999.

All four clubs will be feeling the pressure but Bolton are burdened by the greatest expectation having narrowly missed out on automatic promotion.

The Trotters wanted to avoid an extended season and must face up to their demons from last season when they were bundled out of the playoffs by Barnsley.

However, Ian Evatt's side are entitled to feel confident ahead of their re-run with the Tykes, who finished three places and 11 points below them in the table.

Bolton's quest for a top-two finish came to an end on the final day but they would have been half expecting an extended season from the moment they lost 1-0 at Derby, who went on to clinch second place, in mid-March.

Wanderers responded to their defeat at Pride Park with a seven-game unbeaten sequence and approach Friday's semi-final first leg in Yorkshire with confidence high and their squad looking reasonably healthy.

The same cannot be said of Barnsley, who have gone six games without a win and are in the strange position of having a caretaker boss at the helm for the post-season following Neill Collins's dismissal early last week.

Bolton are likely to plot a path to Wembley but they may find life more difficult against Peterborough or Oxford under the arch.

Peterborough were Wembley winners in last month's EFL Trophy final when a late double from defender Harrison Burrows secured a 2-1 victory over Wycombe, but they had a few wobbles towards the end of the League One season and lost four of their final nine games.

The Posh were still pushing for automatic promotion until they travelled to Oxford last month and suffered a humiliating 5-0 reverse.

Darren Ferguson's side will be aiming for a much better performance and result against the U's in Saturday's playoff first leg at the Kassam Stadium, but there is every chance of another damaging defeat.

Oxford had a tough time in the early months of the year and were eighth going into the final eight games of the campaign.

However, they have responded impressively, taking 17 points from a possible 24, and showed their ability to handle the pressure with a deserved 2-1 victory away to in-form Exeter last weekend which sealed their place in the top six.

Des Buckingham's side were required to dig deep in their quest for a playoff berth but they appear to be in good shape for the challenges ahead and are overpriced to go all the way.

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