Where do Port Vale now rank in the League Two promotion odds?
The Valiants have had a great run of form recently. A run of four straight wins in all competitions has boosted confidence and manager John Askey’s side is now seriously threatening the League Two play-off places.
Good recent form
The Valiants’ good run includes a hard-fought Football League Trophy win over Newcastle United U23, an FA Cup upset against League One strugglers MK Dons plus League Two victories over high flying Crewe Alexandra and struggling Carlisle United. Vale have scored six times and conceded just twice during that period. It’s impressive form but can the Valiants keep it up in their next matches?
The next opponents
So, let’s look at Port Vale’s next fixture – a potentially tricky League Two trip to Scunthorpe United. The home side is still buoyant after an impressive FA Cup win over League One giants Sunderland so it could be a tough test for the Valiants. The match odds from bet365 are 6/5 for the Vale win, 23/10 for the draw and 9/4 for an away loss. If you’re looking to place a bet on the match using bonuses, then you have number of options, and the bet365 promo code is awesome – find out more through the link.
Longer term odds – promotion?
Vale may be facing a tough task on Saturday but it’s only one game of a long season. How about some more long-term odds on the Vale’s prospects of moving up into League One at the end this season?
The odds appear to be reflecting their League position just outside of the play-off places, as the Valiants are currently joint ninth favourites with SkyBet with odds of 4/1 for promotion. Overall, the odds range from 9/2 to 11/2 with the high street bookies.
Longer term odds – relegation
Reassuringly, Port Vale are a massive 66/1 to go down this season. It’s certainly a far cry from the chaos last season when their flirt with the relegation zone spelled the end of manager Neil Aspin in the New Year.
Longer term odds – topping the table?
Swindon Town remain firm favourites with odds of 4/6 which is no great surprise as they currently top the table. Despite only being a mere five points behind, the bookies clearly think Vale have a much slimmer chance of finishing as champions. Odds on Vale finishing top of the League Two pile range from 25/1 to 35/1 with the high street bookies.
Longer term odds – topping the scoring charts?
Port Vale’s goals have been shared around this season so the odds on a Valiant forward finishing top of the League Two scoring charts is slim. Bradford City’s prolific and experienced striker Eoin Doyle is favourite, closely followed by Crewe’s Chris Porter. Veteran targetman Tom Pope is the best placed Port Vale player albeit with odds as high as 100-1. It therefore looks unlikely that a Vale player will be bringing the division’s top scorer award back to Burslem.
So what’s the conclusion?
The Valiants have clearly turned around their fortunes under manager John Askey. It’s reassuring that the club is not tipped to be around the League Two danger area this season. However, despite that great recent form, it’s clear that it is still very early days and the bookies are not completely convinced of Vale’s promotion credentials. It may be that this season is one season too soon for Askey’s men. However, one can never tell in football and it’s certainly reassuring that fans can speculate on a potential promotion rather than a flirt with relegation.
Things are certainly looking up at Vale Park.