Championship, Tuesday, 07.05.2024
These are the all-important days on the island, and not just in terms of the Premier League title! In League One, the decision regarding promotion is up for grabs, starting with the second leg of the semi-finals.
The team that has home advantage on Tuesday has a 3:1 record and is therefore also favored for the second game. That’s why I’ll tell you in my Bolton Barnsley betting tip why I’d back the Wanderers again!
The top two are sure to go up, four more teams will play out the third promotion play-off! In the English League One, Portsmouth and Derby County have won through and have already celebrated their promotion party.
Behind them, Bolton Wanderers, Peterborough, Oxford United and Barnsley were allowed to take part in the play-offs. The procedure is familiar: There are two semi-finals each, which include both first and second legs.
Bolton finished the regular season in third place, even though they have only won two games in a row once since the turn of the year. Nevertheless, nine defeats in 46 rounds indicate that points are almost always scored.
They went into the play-offs with three wins from their last eight games, so nobody really knew how they would fare in the first leg. The journey led to Barnsley, and it ended highly successfully
Bolton led 2-0 thanks to two goals from Dion Charles, but then conceded a goal. Randell Williams scored the third goal from a free-kick in stoppage time, and that could be worth its weight in gold.
Why didn’t even all the home fans expect it? Quite simply because their Wanderers have not always been so strong away from home! They’ve only won one of their last seven away games, making the Barnsley experience all the better
After 46 games, nobody was stronger than Bolton in the home table, while fifth place away from home shows just how much room for improvement there was. In this respect, it is clear that the League One team with the strongest home form can now do it all at home.
15 wins, five draws and three defeats, with the last loss at home coming in mid-December. That’s really something to be proud of, with an average of 3.4 goals per game at 52:27.
Does the direct comparison also provide us with facts that suggest a rather high-scoring match? In any case, they haven’t won against Barnsley in five home games, time to change that
It’s interesting to note that four of the five encounters have not produced a winner. So it’s time to take a look at our sports betting providers to see which match they are leaning towards.
Of course, you have to bear in mind that the Wanderers no longer have to win. Nevertheless, they are favored, with average odds of 1.65 to 4.50.
The visitors from Barnsley of course know very well that they not only have to win, but also need a victory with a two-goal lead in order not to be out of the race for promotion.
They finished sixth and just slipped into the play-offs, just two points ahead of seventh-placed Lincoln. 21 wins in 46 rounds, that doesn’t really make for an exhilarating read.
The team had only won one of their last eight games of the regular season, so including the first leg of the play-offs, this not exactly positive run extends to nine.
Added to this is the fact that they have conceded goals in 19 of their last 20 matches. As Bolton no longer necessarily have to win on Tuesday, the “Both teams to score” bet could therefore be a good bet.
In the Betway app, the odds for this would climb to 1.60, so goals are expected on both sides. There are no injured key players for the visitors, but that also applies to the home side
Do Bolton Wanderers have everything under control in the first leg? After the 3-1 win, it looks like the final of the play-offs, good that the team is getting very good results at home anyway.
Something I can’t say about Barnsley, especially away from home. A 1:3 would have to be made up, so only a really quick goal would help. I can’t really trust the visitors to do that.
I think the Wanderers are rattled enough to win the first leg as well. The strong home team will certainly want to offer their fans something and that’s why my tip is:
Bolton win against Barnsley!
