League One is the third tier of English football and it is a highly competitive division which features a number of former-Premier League sides. The likes of Sunderland, Portsmouth and Bradford compete on a weekly basis with the trio all bidding for promotion to the Championship.
The league consists of 24 teams, all of whom face one another twice between August and May. Each side will host 23 home games and 23 away games throughout the course of the campaign.
The top two sides in the division will be automatically promoted to the Championship with the four team who finish directly below going into the end-of-season play-offs.
At the other end of the table, the bottom four sides will be relegated to League Two.
The majority of the games take place on Saturday afternoons although there are a smattering of matches taking place in midweek throughout the season.
The name has been in existence since the 2004-05 season. It was previously known as Football League Division Two.
There are a number of teams who have playing at this level for many years whilst others such as Accrington and Fleetwood are relatively new to this tier.
The EFL League One gets plenty of media coverage and matches are televised by Sky Sports. The division does not take a break for International games.
2018-19 Prediction Report
At the beginning of the season, the betting markets were extremely competitive. A number of high quality teams would likely be fighting it out for promotion with Portsmouth and Sunderland largely viewed as favourites.
The Black Cats dropped out of the Championship and following a summer takeover and the appointment of Jack Ross, they were much-fancied to immediately bounce back to the second tier. They were given a 23.08% implied probability and were clear favourites at the top of the betting. They made some impressive signings and given their spending power, they were rightly fancied by the punters.
Barnsley were another side relegated from the Championship and although the Tykes didn’t overhaul their squad in the summer, they were still well-fancied for promotion. The unknown Daniel Stendel was drafted in during the summer months and his high-tempo style was predicted to work well at this level. They were given an 11.11% implied probability this season and were viewed as second favourites.
Portsmouth are another side who overcame adversity to reach the upper echelons of League One last season. They were given a 6.67% chance of promotion, the same as recently promoted Luton. Pompey have a steady presence in the dugout in the shape of Kenny Jackett and they made some exciting signings in the summer including Irish winger Ronan Curtis.
Charlton may still be having wranglings over the ownership but they impressed last season and although they were defeated in the play-offs, they were fancied to put that disappointment behind them. Lee Bowyer’s side possess some very talented youngsters and the signing of Lyle Taylor was a significant step forward. Their summer business saw their implied probability increase from 7.69% to 9.09% and although they faced Sunderland on the opening day, they were fancied to start well.
Sunderland won four of their opening five games in League One and scored twelve goals in that period. Their probability increased significantly and their odds shortened as a result. By August 25th, they were top and were given a 44.44% chance of promotion.
Barnsley also made a positive start to the campaign and won four of six matches and were given a 26.67% implied probability of promotion. Their home form was particularly impressive.
On October 13th, Barnsley beat Luton at Oakwell and made a significant statement. This result saw the betting change and the Tykes were given a 42.02% implied probability with Luton dropping to a 5.88% chance of getting promoted to the Championship.
Between October and November, Portsmouth won six of eight games and showed tremendous consistency. This saw their implied probability increase to 34.72% as a result. They remained top throughout the festive period and at the beginning of 2019, their chances had increased to 45.45%. Charlton’s troubling away form has seen their chances decrease to 1.96% and the Addicks look likely to drop into the play-offs.
2017-18 League One Season
The 2017-18 season saw all three of the relegated sides promoted straight back to the Championship. Blackburn and Wigan were automatically promoted back to the second tier whilst Rotherham had to do it the hard way, beating Shrewsbury in the Play-Off final.
At the bottom, Bury stunk out the place and were rightfully relegated to the fourth tier. They were joined by Northampton, MK Dons and Oldham who were victims of a late Rochdale goal.
