Promo race; where do Valiants stand?
Over the past few seasons we have had a few inspirational stories as far as promotion is concerned and a number of teams will take lessons from the stories as they look to rise from the lower leagues.
The target is always ascending to the Premier League and not going lower. That is what has fueled the success stories at teams like Luton Town, Plymouth Argyle, Burnley and more. Port Vale can take inspiration from this too as they go into their second season in League One though their odds for promotion to the Championship indicate they are firmly in as one of the underdogs. Still, there is always a chance and you can pick this with one of the top bookies whose features are well analysed on Cheekypunter, the site that also has an in-depth review of the best bookies for betting on football. Port Vale finished 18th in the 2022/23 season in League One, and understandably, do not feature anywhere close to the favorites for promotion. However, the same could be said earlier in the same season for Plymouth Argyle who had finished outside the top six before hitting 101 points the following season and sealing automatic promotion to the Championship.
Valid dream
At the start of last season in League One, Plymouth were rated at 25/1 so Port Vale’s ambition to finish in the top six can’t be looked as a farfetched dream. While the team’s start to the season hasn’t been the best, there is still time to rectify things and manager Andy Crosby will want to share with his charges the story of Plymouth, Luton and the rest to show them that they can achieve what they set their focus on. To achieve that, an improvement from their tally of 49 points from 46 matches last time out should be improved on. Starting this season, Port Valle were priced at 50/1 for outright promotion but from the look of things, a top two finish will be a far cry for the Valiants. They have already lost six matches, which definitely leaves big questions for a team targeting a top six finish. They are priced at 12/1 to get promoted through whichever means and 5/1 for a top six finish and head to the playoffs.
Take a lot
It will take a lot from Port Vale to measure to the heavyweights; the likes of Portsmouth, Derby County, Oxford United and more, who have shown early intent of at least finishing in the top six. Blackpool have also shown the signs to go for a top six finish and these are some of the sides Port Vale will want to size themselves against. League leaders Portsmouth are the odds on favorites to proceed to the Championship as winners at 9/4. Oxford United are tipped to secure promotion at odds of 10/3 while Bolton Wanderers’ chances are priced at 9/2. At the start of the season, and based largely on last season’s performance, Derby County’s chances of promotion were priced at 4/1 but that has since changed to 5/1 based on their start to the campaign.