League One Outright Predictions 2023/24

The Punters Lounge podcast continues its look ahead towards the new English football league season. In this edition, it’s the turn of football tipster Darran Pearce and EFL expert Gab Sutton to consider the promotion contenders, dark horses, and relegation candidates in League One. Check out the full video below along with a selection of their best football odds and comments on the League One action.

Promotion Contenders

“First of all, Richard Hughes, a sporting director, I’m a huge fan of. I think he’s got a huge future in the game. John Mousinho, I think was a real, a bit of a left-field appointment but could prove to be an inspired choice. And I like some of the recruitment as well because they’ve got a pretty experienced League One proven core, but they’ve sort of added to that with a combination of young talents and maybe players that were really highly rated as teenagers that since haven’t quite hit the heights they were hoping to.” – Gab

Portsmouth to Win League One e/w @ 10/1 with Unibet

“Bolton Wanderers, I think have a great chance. They’ve made continual progress over the last three years under Ian Evatt. I think they’ve got a great squad expecting another three or four to come in. Aaron Morley in midfield. I’m a massive fan of Dion Charles up top. I think he’s going to get the goals. Ricardo Santos, I think is going to be one of the best defenders in the league and they used the loan market really well last season as well. So, I am pretty big on Bolton winning promotion as well.” – Gab

Bolton to be Promoted @ 9/4 with Betfred promo code

Dark Horses

“The reason why I’m still a little bit hesitant, even though they’ve got probably the best squad in the league on paper is because I think Paul Warne’s style of leadership translates really well to a club like Rotherham United where the expectations are more modest, but I’m not sure how well it’s going to translate to a club like Derby where the demands are going to be so big. So that’s why I’m sort of going a little bit cautious on Derby County, but I still think with the quality of the squad they’ll certainly finish in the top six.” – Gab

Derby to Finish Top 6 @ 4/7 with William Hill promo code

“[Charlton] have got Dean Holden as manager still. He found top 10 form with them after taking charge midway through last season. And with Charlton, I want to talk you through their midfield because they’ve got one of the best destroyers in the league in George Dobson, they’ve got a really creative midfielder in Scott Fraser who’s played well at this level before with Burton and MK Dons. And they also got Kamara who’s done brilliantly before with Plymouth Argyle and he’s a real athlete and I think those three together could be the best midfielder in the league. And of course, they’ve added Alfie May who scored 43 goals in the last two League One seasons with Cheltenham Town. So he’s going to be hoping to provide that danger as well. So, definitely, like Charlton to get into the playoffs this season.” – Gab

Charlton to Finish Top 6 @ 2/1 with Bet365 bonus code

“Well, I was focusing on [Lincoln] in the National League but they’ve done well and you think they could certainly reach the play-offs at the very least this season.” – Darran

Lincoln to Finish Top 6 @ 7/2 with BetVictor promo code

Relegation Candidates

“I just think that [former owner who was jailed for fraud last month] Andy Pilley is such an adored figure at Fleetwood Town and I think that the idea that the person that the club has to thank really for the success they’ve had over the last 18, 19 years has got his money the wrong way. I think that’s a really hard thing for a club to kind of accept and process and I feel like that’s a bit of a bit of a journey for them. So, that’s where I’m a little bit worried about Fleetwood.” – Gab

Fleetwood to be Relegated @ 11/8 with William Hill

“I think the key thing for me with Cheltenham is, they had about 10 games last season where they just didn’t turn up at all. Most of the performances were, you know, reasonably competitive at least. But that’s a bit of a sort of a red flag for me where you have 10 no-shows in the season, including cup games. So that’s why I’m kind of slightly cautious about Cheltenham going into this season and there were times where it was a slightly fractious mood at Whaddon Road and it felt like almost a point of close to crisis.” – Gab

Cheltenham to be Relegated @ 6/4 with Bet365

“So first of all, how good a manager is Andy Crosby? And whether the loss of [former head coach] Darren Clarke, who is probably the most popular manager since John Rudge, how that’s going to sort of impact the mood around? And also the question of whether they’re going to have enough attacking quality in terms of creativity or goal scorers is a pace in attack. I don’t really see enough in all of those areas. So that’s why I think Port Vale could struggle this season.” – Gab

Port Vale to be Relegated @ 7/2 with William Hill

“I’m not sure about Northampton as well, whether they’ve got a squad for League One level.” – Gab

Northampton to be Relegated @ 15/8 with Bet365

All odds are accurate at the time of publication.