The English Football League (Championship, League One, and League Two) Odds: 2022/23 Ante Post Betting
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, they say. It all seems so straightforward when looking at the EFL odds accompanying someone’s winning outright bet following the season just gone.
Were you one of many that had a punt on a now-relegated MK Dons promotion party? Or a part of the head-strong contingent convinced of a swift Norwich return at the smallest price point available?
Having a clear, laid out birds-eye view road map of what has just materialised will likely only fill you with frustration, especially when some of The EFL‘s big hitters were available at as big as 150/1 in August. It’s somewhat devastating, we know.
The EFL Championship Odds
On the morning before Huddersfield & Burnley kicked off Championship proceedings last July: Norwich (finished 13th) were 5/1 favourites for the league. Top goalscorer? Teemu Pukki at 8/1 to take home the award for the second time in his career.
Both Coventry City and a Nathan Jones-led Luton Town commanded an 8/1 tag to clinch promotion. The two Wembley playoff finalists were part of an outsider ensemble, including Sunderland and QPR, in the same price bracket.
At the other end of the standings, Wigan’s 4/1 price for the drop looks a no-brainer now sat here in May. Rock bottom with 42 points. The Latics are heading straight back down after an appointment of Kolo Toure in the dugout materialised atrociously.
The Sky Blues’ 21-goal Viktor Gyökeres at 33/1 before the season kicked off looks like a superb each-way top goalscorer shout at that price. The Swede was always going to improve in an evolving side, considering he bagged 17 as Coventry finished 12th in the 20/21 campaign.
Swansea man Joel Piroe would have also returned each-way profits at 12/1, notching 19 strikes in a stuttering season by his standards. The Swansea man finished fourth-best behind Chuba Akpom, Gyokeres, and Carlton Morris.
150/1 Anyone?
Let’s not beat around the bush any longer. Chuba Akpom took matters into his own hands this season and set off like a traction engine. His 28-goal haul finished seven ahead of Gyökeres in second.
Looking ahead to next season, find out the betting landscape in the Championship ahead of the 2023/24 season here.
Any shrewd punters would have snatched between 100/1 to 150/1 to finish as the league’s most potent attacker. In fact, after Akpom had netted a brace against Sheffield United (August 14th) and picked up a knee injury in the same game, bet365 was still offering 150/1.
Continuing a similar theme of the market not fancying Akpom – punters could still bag 20/1 after he moved to 13 for the season following his Boxing Day hat-trick against lowly Wigan.
It all seems so simple now, doesn’t it?
League One Odds
The Owls were 9/2 favourites for the League One crown last summer. Meanwhile, eventual winners, Plymouth Argyle, came in at a sizeable 24/1. Not as bullish but fancied Steven Schumacher’s men to upset the apple cart? Well, the 5/1 that was available in Argyle’s favour now looks the pick of the bunch from the League One promotion odds. That’s a higher price than Wednesday to win the league.
The Green Army romped to an increasingly-impressive victory, fending off Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday largely thanks to relentless home form. Home Park oversaw 20 wins from 23 outings on familiar soil. Not bad at all.
The bookies’ ante post betting odds for the third tier of the English Football League ahead of the 2022/23 season:
9/2 – Sheffield Wednesday, 5/1 – Ipswich Town, 7/1 – Derby County, 10/1 – Peterborough United, 14/1 – Bolton Wanderers, and 16/1 – Barnsley.
The Shrimps were the favourites for the drop, with the League One relegation odds priced around 11/10 with most bookmakers. It may have needed a final day 3-2 defeat at the hands of Exeter City, but Morecambe now reside in League Two.
Ten teams ranged from 6/4 to 10/3 to get relegated to League Two before a ball was kicked. The bookmakers couldn’t decipher the scrap nearer the bottom of the table. So, make sure you give yourself a pat on the back if you picked any of Forest Green, Accrington, Morecambe or MK Dons.
League Two Odds
The dreaded drop out of the football league is often tough to call. However, Hartlepool looked primed to be amongst the conversation at a decent-looking 9/2 price.
Pools finished the 2021/22 season in 17th, having failed to win in their final nine matches. Plenty would have laughed all the way to the bank with that 9/2 as Rochdale (24th) joined Hartlepool (23rd) on an unwanted quest to the National League.
Speaking of National League, newly-promoted Stockport (7/1) came into the season as hungry favourites to wrestle the League Two crown away from the other 23 competing sides. Bradford (7/1), Salford (8/1), and Mansfield at 11/1 make up the top four. Northampton’s 12/1 now appears as a likeable each-way punt as the fifth most-fancied side.
The Cobblers secured promotion on the last day of this season to put the 2020/21 demons to bed. Bristol Rovers’ 7-0 victory over Scunthorpe saw Northampton miss out on automatics in 2020/21, but similar can’t be said this time around. Sam Hoskins made sure of that.
Leyton Orient were a 4/1 price in the League Two promotion odds offering in August ahead of a first full Richie Wellens-led season. Of course, that seems huge now. But, after a season of finishing 13th in League Two, perhaps not too many would’ve batted an eye. Nevertheless, after taking charge in March, Wellens ensured a solid end to the season. Orient won seven of the last 11 fixtures in 2021/22 and made themselves good value at 4/1 by factoring in Wellens’ first preseason into the betting.
Will Wrexham follow Stockport’s lead take a position as an early front-runner for promotion from League Two? We expect so. And don’t be surprised if it comes to fruition either – that kind of cash flow is a rarity in this league.
The English Football League (Championship, League One, and League Two) Odds: 2022/23 Ante Post Betting