The EFL has begun slightly earlier than usual due to the winter World Cup. Punters will be looking to bet on teams once more through accumulators and straight-out bets. This article will cover some EFL tips to prepare you for your bets.
Teams Of Interest
Regarding betting on teams throughout the EFL, it will help if you have a good idea of the actual teams and who is looking good. For the Championship, Sheffield United could look good for a few wins this season following a bit of stability after manager Slavisa Jokanovic left halfway through the season.
New manager Paul Heckingbottom was given the job after managing on an interim basis after Chris Wilder left, and will be targeting top two this season. For that reason, they are perhaps one of the teams of interest, alongside Watford, that are teams of interest. That said, it all depends on whether these two teams can keep hold of their star players.
Down in League One, rivals Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping to reach the top two, just in the lower division. They have strengthened in some key positions, and we will discuss some of these starters in rest of the article.
For League Two, Northampton is looking strong, alongside risers Salford City. Northampton have signed goalkeeper Lee Burge and striker Danny Hylton, both of whom could have a major role to play this season. Salford recently signed Stevie Mallan, a central midfielder well known in Scotland and Turkey, so they will be one to watch out for.
Potential Top Goal Scorers
With the new season underway throughout the EFL, you will have started to see some top forwards start to bag some goals. But who is looking likely to score the most goals in each league in the English leagues, minus the Premier League?
Let’s start with the Championship. It’s hard to look past Teemu Pukki being top goal scorer in the 22/23 Championship Season. The Norwich icon has been the main striker in the Norwich side since the summer of 2018. In that time has been the top goal scorer in the Championship and the main scorer of goals for Norwich.
In 2018/19, he was the top goal scorer with 29 goals and helped propel Norwich to the Premier League. Even though Norwich was relegated, he scored 11 goals, cementing his status as a Norwich icon. The following season back in the Championship, he scored 26 goals, helping promote them to the Premier League once more. Teemu scored 11 goals once again in the Premier League but couldn’t save the canaries from relegation. Based on his 77 goals for Norwich across 159 games, it’s hard to look past Pukki for a successful campaign.
The fact that Norwich themselves are somewhat of a yo-yo club could mean they’re worth paying attention to in a number of categories for betting. There are a lot of odds flying around, and they can be difficult to understand if you’ve never gambled before. There are a range of sites you can visit, including poker sites, that allow you to play and gamble in any way that suits your needs. Some sites may not be accessible to you for whatever reason. You can see if the site is listed here and start playing in any way that suits you. When you start playing gambling games, you should increase your knowledge on odds and betting.
Following a successful campaign for Ben Brereton Diaz for Blackburn Rovers last season, scoring 22 goals, he is also worth a potential consideration for top goal scorer in the Championship. That’s if he doesn’t leave for the Premier League. Iliman Ndiaye enjoyed a breakout season for Sheffield United last season, scoring seven goals across 30 games. This season, the young Senegal star has bulked up and worked on his game and could be the shock tip for the season.
Let’s now look at League One. Sheffield Wednesday has found themselves stuck down in this lower division for a couple of seasons now and will be hoping that forward Lee Gregory will have all the goals to help lift them out of League One.
With that said, it’s hard to look past Jonson Clarke-Harris for Peterborough United. Last season, Clarke-Harris scored 12 goals in 41 games in the Championship, which is average, but the season before in League One, he scored 31 goals. If he can replicate his former form, then he could be a shoo-in for the top scorer in the league.
Finally, with League Two, there are a few candidates. You may be familiar with Paddy Madden, who has been the top goal scorer in League one before, scoring a range of goals for teams in this division, such as Yeovil Town, Scunthorpe United and Fleetwood Town. After a few successful years at Fleetwood, helping to become their record EFL goal scorer, he bravely decided to drop two divisions to the National League, joining with Stockport County. Helping them to the title with 23 goals and earning promotion to League Two.
Another potential option for League Two comes from Danny Johnson, who is playing for Walsall on loan from Mansfield Town. This is a strange one, as you wouldn’t expect a player in League Two to be up for top goal scorer after being sent out on loan from a fellow team. He has started off well this season and could be a dark horse for top goal scorer this season.
Golden Glove And Clean Sheet Tips
Now it’s time to look at the goalkeepers who will be hoping to keep out those potential top scorers that we spoke about earlier. There is a range of potential candidates, and not just from the potential top teams. The goalkeeper can be a difference maker in a game, and when it comes to betting on football games, knowing which team is good at preventing goals can be the difference between winning a bet and losing.
Beginning with the Championship once again, Preston North End look likely to keep many goals out. They signed Newcastle goalkeeper Freddie Woodman this summer, following a few successful years out on loan at Swansea City. When you also consider the defence that Preston has, they will likely have a lot of games that are close and have minimal goals conceded, which is why you should think carefully about who they are playing, and what sort of bet you want to do.
Regarding League One, it’s hard not to think that James Trafford will have a stomping year. The Man City star joined Bolton Wanderers on loan in January of 2022 and kept four clean sheets in his first four games. This was the first time a new Bolton goalkeeper had done so in their history, and his success was why Bolton wanted him back on loan for the next season. There are other candidates, such as Sheffield Wednesday’s David Stockdale. This goalkeeper has certainly been around the EFL, playing for teams such as Brighton, Wycombe, Fulham and Birmingham too. He is a goalkeeper who has spent most of his time on loan, which has helped him build his reputation.
For League Two, Salford City is a team on the march looking to seek promotion. Goalkeeper Tom King joined Salford in 2021 following a successful season which saw him reach the League Two play-off final with Newport County. In 39 league appearances with Salford, he managed to keep 17 clean sheets. This is worth remembering when it comes to betting, as teams that don’t often concede, you don’t often want to bet against.
