Fleetwood v Wycombe: Sky Bet League One playoff betting preview, free tip & TV

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Fleetwood Town v Wycombe Wanderers in the Sky Bet League One playoff semi-final first leg on Friday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Football, 7.30pm Friday

Best bet

Fleetwood
2pts 23-20 Coral

Team news

Fleetwood
Joey Barton has reported no fresh injury concerns.

Wycombe
Wanderers have a fully-fit squad to choose from for their trip to Highbury Stadium.

Match preview

Fleetwood finished the Sky Bet League One season with a flourish and can continue where they left off by beating Wycombe in the first leg of their belated playoff encounter.

The Cod Army went from strength to strength under Joey Barton and may have been disappointed to see the campaign cut short having suffered just one defeat from their final 18 matches.

Only champions Coventry lost fewer league games than Fleetwood (seven defeats in 36 outings) and they were able to pick up positive results even when operating below their best, adopting a similar mindset to what Barton had as a player.

The four-month layoff makes this game harder to assess but Fleetwood were unbeaten in five regular-season meetings with playoff opponents, collecting four points from two games with Wycombe, and were evidently improving as the season progressed.

Strikers Paddy Madden and Ched Evans, who scored 24 of Fleetwood’s 51 league goals between them, provide a serious attacking threat and defensively there are few more reliable teams.

Barton’s boys kept ten league clean sheets, seven of which were recorded at home, and they should be too strong for a Wycombe side who may be fortunate to find themselves in the playoffs.

The Chairboys, 7-2 for relegation in pre-season, amassed the same amount of points as Peterborough and Sunderland but had played fewer matches, rewarding them with a top-six spot.

However, Gareth Ainsworth’s men had won only five of their final 14 fixtures, losing six of their last seven away games and failing to score in five of those road losses.

Expected goals figures suggest Wycombe overachieved this season and they are likely to be outclassed on their playoff trip to the Highbury Stadium.

Key stat

Fleetwood lost only one of their 18 home league games this season.

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