A lot of people like to bet on English football (soccer) but most of them will choose to place their bets on Premier League teams and matches or Championship teams and matches. If you are not aware, these are the top two tiers of English professional football. Many matches are featured live and it is natural that gamblers will know more about these top 2 leagues.
But if you ignore the fourth tier of English football, League 2, then you are missing out on one of the most competitive leagues in the whole of Europe. There are many good betting opportunities available in this league, and to help you understand this more, our experienced team has written this guide which includes League 2 betting odds.
Important information about the English football League 2
As with most professional football leagues, there is a mixture of new and old football clubs in the fourth tier of English football. These teams face new challenges every season, and the uncertainty in this league means that there are usually a lot of good betting opportunities to consider.
The English Football League (EFL) is responsible for League 2 as they are for the Championship and League 1. League 2 is above the non-league (amateur) National League, and this makes the bottom tier of the professional game even more unpredictable. There are many teams being promoted to a higher league or being relegated to a lower one.
This means that teams in League 2 will have to play against new opponents each season and of course, the players that are involved with these new teams. At the start of the 2022/23 season, Hartlepool United and Sutton United were promoted to League 2 from the National League.
Four teams were relegated from the higher League 1 to League 2 at the start of the 2022/23 season and these were:
- Bristol Rovers
- Northampton Town
- Rochdale
- Swindon Town
The two teams promoted to League 2 will normally be considered as favorites for relegation back to the National League. While the four teams that were relegated from League 1 will be considered for contention for promotion back to this league again.
There is a total of 24 teams in League 2 and they have to play each other home and away every season. This means that each team will play 46 games. The top 3 teams at the end of the season are automatically promoted to the higher League 1 division. Teams that finished in positions 4, 5, 6 and 7 will then contend a play off for the final promotion spot.
A draw determines which set of two teams will play each other to see who will reach the League 2 playoff final at the national Wembley Stadium in London. Each team will play two rounds – one will be at home and the other away. The overall winners of this first round will meet each other in the final, with the winner obtaining the final promotion spot to League 1.
Relegation to the lower National League awaits the 2 teams that finish at the bottom of the League 2 table. They are replaced by the 2 teams that finish in the first two positions in the National League table.
Matches played in League 2 are a far cry from the glamour of the Premier League and even the EFL Championship. Many teams in League 2 are struggling financially, and this has an impact on how they perform on the pitch. The richer clubs tend to do a lot better than the poorer ones. Many games are all about teams grinding out results which does not always make them great to watch.
League 2 betting odds
There are several different markets that you can bet on in League 2. Every week there are matches throughout the season and you can place bets on these games. Most online bookmakers will offer outright odds for these matches (home win, away win, and draw) and you will often find other markets available such as under and over goals, double chance, and no clean sheet.
The odds for the stronger teams to win matches are usually going to be lower than those of the weaker teams. For example, a strong home team could be odds-on or evens (1/1) with the weaker away team at 11/4 and the draw at 5/2. You can place lay bets on teams if you use a betting exchange such as Betfair.
Then there are the outright markets. The current favorites to win League 2 are Leyton Orient, and the best odds available for them at the moment are 7/4. Stevenage are second favorites with a best price of 7/2 with Mansfield Town third favorites with their best odds being around 8/1. If you think that another team other than these 3 will win League 2 then you will get generous odds for them.
Top goal scorer (golden boot) betting is also available. At the current time, Sam Hoskins of Northampton Town is the bookies favorite with odds of around 10/3. Bradford City’s Andy Cook is second favorite with odds of 9/2, and Danny Johnson of Walsall is some way back in third with odds of around 7/1.
If you want to try your luck with predicting the teams to be relegated from League 2 to the National League, the favorites with the bookies to go down are newly promoted Hartlepool United and the best odds you can get on them at the moment is around 8/11. The other newly promoted team, Sutton United, are considered a strong team that will stay up.
Some online bookmakers will provide odds for teams to finish in the playoff positions. All League 2 teams will play in the League Cup and the FA Cup and there can be some value bets around for these matches. Betting on a League 2 team to win one of these trophies is not recommended as this is extremely unlikely.
