The League Two playoff winner odds and ticket sales have been revealed ahead of the 2022 semi finals which get underway this weekend.
Northampton Town, Mansfield Town, Port Vale and Swindon Town are confirmed as the four teams to battle it out for a place in the third tier.
Getting the semi finals underway is Mansfield against Northampton, taking place on Saturday the 14th of May with a 7:45pm kick off.
The Cobblers finished 4th while the Stags finished 7th in the league. The second leg will be played at the Sixfields Stadium on Wednesday the 18th of May at 7:45pm.
This Sunday, a 12pm kick off, Swindon Town play host to Port Vale at the County Ground, with the second leg taking place at Vale Park on Thursday the 19th of May at 7:45pm.
Ben Garner’s side finished 6th while their opponents, managed by Darrell Clarke, ended up in 5th place.
FAVOURITES TO WIN LEAGUE TWO PLAYOFFS
Port Vale – 5/2
Mansfield – 11/4
Northampton – 11/4
Swindon – 11/4
TICKET SALES
Northampton have been given an allocation of 1,651 for the 1st leg at Mansfield. 24 hours before the game, the Cobblers said there were ‘not many’ tickets left. They remain on sale and available for collection from the NTFC club store from 9am-noon Saturday, after that time all sales will end and collections will be on arrival at Mansfield. There will be no tickets available to buy on arrival.
It’s claimed that Mansfield had around 400 tickets left remaining for game at the One Call Stadium on Saturday. The Stags have an average attendance of 5,153 for the 2021/22 season.
Tickets for Mansfield’s semi-final second leg away at Northampton Town on Wednesday the 18th of May have 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗗 𝗢𝗨𝗧. Their full and final allocation of 1,468 tickets has been sold and no further tickets will be made available.
Northampton say they have around 600 tickets remaining for the second leg. They average 5,366 at Sixfields and their highest attendance of the season so far is set at 7,764 (vs Exeter).
Swindon Town have sold out for the home leg against Port Vale with around 13-14K expected to be in attendance.
Port Vale say a handful of tickets remain on sale until midday Saturday, with much of their 2,200 allocation sold.
Swindon have been allocated 2,200 tickets for the 2nd leg at Port Vale. They are also expected to sell out in next few days.
Pre-match stats
Both league fixtures between these two sides this season were won by the home side, with Mansfield winning 1-0 in April, while Northampton beat the Stags 2-0 in October.
Mansfield and Northampton have met once previously in the play-offs, which also occurred in the fourth tier in 2003-04. Mansfield won the first leg away 2-0, while Northampton won the return leg 3-1 to send the tie to penalties, with the Stags advancing 5-4, before losing the final to Huddersfield on penalties.
Mansfield have lost just one of their last seven meetings with Northampton (W3 D3), while they haven’t lost at home to the Cobblers since the second leg of their fourth-tier play-off game in May 2004 (1-3).
Northampton are winless in their last eight visits to Mansfield (D3 L5), all coming during Football League games, with the Cobblers failing to score in half those matches.
This will be Mansfield’s fourth time competing in the Football League play-offs, although they have never earned promotion via this method. Indeed, their only previous play-off win came against Northampton in May 2004, with four of the other six games ending in draws (L2).
Northampton will be appearing in the Football League play-offs for the seventh time, last doing so in 2019-20, which ended in them securing promotion to League One. They had only done so previously in 1996-97, again earning promotion from the fourth tier that season.
During the regular season, only Port Vale (9) scored more goals via substitutes in League Two than Mansfield (8), However, they’re the only side in the League Two play-offs to not have a player score at least 10 league goals this season, with Rhys Oates the top scorer with nine.
No side in League Two this season scored more goals from set pieces (ex. penalties) than Northampton (26), including five times in their last eight league games of the season. The only other side in the division to score more than 20 goals from such situations was Mansfield (22).
Both league fixtures between Swindon and Port Vale this season were won by the away side, with the Robins winning 3-1 at Vale Park in January, while the Valiants won 2-1 at the County Ground in September.
Swindon have lost two of their last four games against Port Vale (W2), as many defeats as in the previous 15 meetings (W11 D2).
Port Vale’s away win against Swindon earlier this season ended a run of nine consecutive visits without victory (D2 L7), while in their 14 previous trips there, they’ve either scored twice (5 times) or conceded failed to score (9 times).
Only Brentford, Preston and Huddersfield (all 10) have been in the play-offs in more different seasons than Swindon, with this being the ninth occasion. The Robins however have only been promoted by this method twice: in 1986-87 and in 1992-93, with this their first time competing in the play-offs in the fourth tier.
This will be Port Vale’s third time in the play-offs, and the first time since 1992-93. The only previous time they’ve been promoted through the play-offs came in 1988-89 under John Rudge, who was in charge during both previous seasons.
Swindon have won just one of their last seven games in the play-offs (D3 L3), with that victory coming on the road against Sheffield United in May 2015 (2-1), with the Blades manager then being current Mansfield manager Nigel Clough. Their last home play-off win was against Charlton in May 2010 (2-1).
Only Forest Green’s Jamille Matt (29) was involved in more goals in League Two this season than Swindon’s Harry McKirdy (28 – 20 goals, 8 assists), with 20 of those goal involvements coming since the turn of the year (15 goals, 5 assists).
During the regular season, only Hartlepool (26) gained more points from losing positions in League Two than Port Vale (20), although only Barrow (26) dropped more points from winning positions than the Valiants (25).
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