WE ARE nearing the halfway point of the football season, and the race for the top five is starting to take shape in the Vanarama National League.
With 21 matches played by most clubs, the distance between 2nd and 6th is just a tight three points. Now is also prime time for punter’s (like those that won big money last year betting on Leicester in December or earlier to win the Prem) to shop for bargain futures odds for who they think can potentially win promotion to League Two.
While there is plenty of football left and the teams in this race are likely to ebb and flow over the next six months, we’ve taken a closer look at the top six as it stands today.
Dover Athletic
There are few certainties in sport, but one this season thus far has been that if Dover Athletic is on the pitch, there’s going to be a lot of goals scored on both sides of the ball. Through 21 matches, the Whites have scored 42 goals (second in the league) and allowed 34, more than any other club in the top 16 of the table.
Much of that scoring output can be accredited to the foot of Ricky Miller, who leads the league in goals with 19. While there are defensive concerns, Dover might just be prolific enough offensively that they can manage to score their way into the play-offs. And if they can figure out how to guard the goal better, their current 20/1 odds of winning the title suddenly might not seem so long, especially considering that this was a play-off side last season.
Tranmere Rovers
So far, Tranmere Rovers have been looking every bit like an improved version of the side that finished just two points outside the play-offs last season. While they don’t score as much as some of their promotion rivals, they at least do it twice as often as they concede. Already, Andy Cook and James Norwood alone have combined for 20 goals.
Rovers have shown they can hang with anyone, anywhere, as evidenced by their current seven-match unbeaten streak that has included a 4-1 throttling of Dover on the road and a comeback draw against Forest Green Rovers in Gloucestershire. The online sports betting sites still like their odds, giving them the second best chance of finishing first at 4/1 odds. With sports betting and online casinos being legal in UK – there are many ways punters can get involved in the action today!
Barrow
Currently in the midst of a club record 19-game unbeaten run, Barrow‘s sudden improvement on last season’s mid-table finish might be the league’s story of the season. Losers of a league-fewest two matches, the Bluebirds’ scoring charge is led by Byron Harrison.
The former League Two player has netted 14 already, good enough league-wide. Harrison is backed by a strong squad at nearly every position, and if they can figure out how to turn their league-high amount of draws (eight) into wins, Barrow could be a serious title threat.
Dagenham & Redbridge
The last time Dagenham & Redbridge were in the National League, they won the whole thing. While that was 2006 and the squad then has nothing in common with today’s, Dagenham & Redbridge have so far looked every bit like the experienced side that has played in League One and Two for the last decade that they are.
What’s unchanged about the National League version of the Daggers is that they have John Still back as boss for the third time. The 66-year old Still was the man that took the club to the Football League for the first time in their history in the mid-2000s. Under his tutelage and behind Oliver Hawkins’ 12 goals, Dagenham currently sit in third with 10/1 odds of winning the league.
Lincoln City
Of the teams in the current top six, none has made a greater climb from last season’s finishing position (13th) than Lincoln City. The Imps have a balanced scoring attack with three players in the top 25 of the league scoring chart and collectively have scored more than anyone else in the league.
Sportsbooks like their odds of lifting the title (4/1) and a return date with Forest Green Rovers (Lincoln City won the first meeting 3-2), near the end of the season could play a big part in deciding the outcome of the league.
Forest Green Rovers
Last season’s play-off runner-up, Forest Green Rovers have undertaken this campaign with a vengeance (like many expected they would). FGR has seized the league lead early with a small four-point lead, all without having a single scorer eclipse the ten-goal mark yet.
Rovers went over two months without a loss. While their few stumbles have mostly come against fellow promotion contenders, the books still have them as the odds-on favorite to win automatic promotion to the Football League, at 4/5.
