Play-off Race Widens as Duo Assert League One Dominance - Odds Watch

During matchday 20, the League One title race closed itself off further (which does not come as a surprise), while the play-off race opened up slightly. The same can also be said for the relegation scrap, although not as confidently.

Birmingham City Continue League One Dominance

It is difficult to find much new to say about Birmingham City, they are expected to return to the Championship and at present, no one is stopping them from doing that. They have won their last four, including a 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers this weekend and have two games in hand on third with a game in hand on first.

Wycombe, to their credit, are in a really unfortunate position. Without Blues, they probably would be heading towards the title, but I cannot see anyone stopping the Midlands club right now, so I'd avoid looking at their odds for the title, at least for now.

Play-off Race Widens With Seven Teams Fighting

Wycombe's odds for promotion fell below evens again after this weekend, but there is still better value in a bet for them to go up than for them to win the title E/W, at least for now.

With a draw to Lincoln at the weekend, Huddersfield Town's odds have marginally risen from 6/4 to 13/8, I still think this is a good price for the Terriers, but the January window is very much needed in West Yorkshire.

Wrexham drawing this weekend has also marginally changed their odds, however, with other teams drawing around them, and with a heavy advantage on the points board, they are still a very credible threat to the promotion race.

Elsewhere, we need to look to seventh place for the next win, with Stockport and Reading both losing this weekend. I'd be looking to avoid odds for both teams from here on out, unless something massively changes.

Losing Ruben Selles is a huge thing for Reading, and with everything going on off the pitch, I could not confidently back them to return to the Championship. As much as I love Stockport too, there are strong rumours that Louis Barry will leave the club in January, so I'm very cautious of that.

After winning at the weekend, Barnsley could sneak their way into the play-off picture, but I'd be wary of their credentials after recent years. Despite Bolton losing and Lincoln City drawing, I could see both still finding their way into the play-off picture.

No Excitement at the Bottom

Whilst the League One promotion race is quite open, the relegation one is quite closed at the moment, with four teams breaking away in the market.

Shrewsbury lost again this weekend and results elsewhere meant that they now sit bottom of the table with their last points coming four games ago, in other words, they are sinking fast and the odds are not pretty.

Despite drawing with Leyton Orient, Burton are still the second favourites to go down - probably because they were unable to beat another relegation favourite.

A draw for Cambridge has improved some bookmakers' hopes, but not by much and they are still the third favourite to head to League Two in May.

Elsewhere, Crawley, Bristol Rovers and Northampton all lost this weekend, and I'd be keeping an eye on the second team of that mix. Matt Taylor has been sacked after a poor start to the season, but I'm unsure if the Rovers side has much room, if any, for growth. At 13/8, I'm keeping an eye on their situation.