Sunderland are clear favourites with 888sport ahead of the opening weekend of the League One season.
Valued at 11/4 to win the title and bounce straight back to the Championship at the first time of asking, the Black Cats will be quietly confident of a successful campaign with new manager Jack Ross at the helm.
The former St Mirren boss has arrived with a plan and that plan centres around promotion back to England’s second tier this campaign.
Sunderland have seen 13 players move on this summer but the Stadium of Light faithful have bought into Ross’ no-nonsense approach. No player is bigger than the club and most of Sunderland’s wantaway names have now gone.
Next up in the betting: Barnsley. The Tykes have yo-yoed between the Championship and League One in recent times and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see Daniel Stendel’s side finish in the automatic promotion places this season.
8/1 is a reasonable enough price given their pedigree and plenty of punters will fancy Barnsley to get the job done.
The key to Barnsley’s hopes of League One glory lies in recruitment. Kenny Dougall will bring confidence and reliability to the midfield but the Tykes need more.
In addition, keeping hold of Tom Bradshaw and Kieffer Moore is vital. Barnsley could head into the campaign knowing that the majority of their main men are definitely staying at Oakwell.
Shrewsbury Town will try to shake off last season’s playoff final defeat to Rotherham United and the Shrews are available at 16/1 to prevail this time around.
It has been all change at New Meadow since then; Paul Hurst left the club for Championship side Ipswich Town and former Macclesfield Town boss John Askey has arrived at the helm.
Askey’s exploits at Macclesfield will give Shrewsbury fans hope of another strong showing.
Prior to last season, the Shrews had finished 20th and 18th in respective campaigns though and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see Askey’s side struggle. 888sport’s traders are quite split on the Shrews too; offering 6/1 for promotion and 7/1 for relegation.
It would be fair to label Oxford United as ‘dark horses’ ahead of the 2018/19 season. Led by Karl Robinson, the U’s could spring a shock this campaign if everything goes to plan.
With Reading striker Sam Smith moving to the Kassam Stadium on a season-long loan, Oxford have acquired their main transfer target – much to Robinson’s delight.
There are doubts over Oxford’s ability to lay down a serious challenge; and understandably so. The U’s finished in the bottom half of the table last season, 15 points outside the playoff spots.
Oxford’s first port of call should be to aim for a top six berth – anything higher should be viewed as a bonus. 4/1 for the U’s to finish in the top six should be considered; ignoring the recent defeat to Milton Keynes Dons may be best...
Joey Barton’s Fleetwood Town are out at 11/10 to finish in the top half of the table. Their rise to prominence over the last decade or so has been impressive and most punters are expecting the Cod Army to shine in 2018/19.
Promotion may be out of reach at this moment in time but Fleetwood could be a team to watch in the coming years.
Sunderland have been busy in the transfer market this summer and most neutrals will fancy the Black Cats to push their League One rivals close in the coming months. However, 11/4 isn’t much of a price when you consider how competitive England’s third tier is.
Instead, it may prove prudent to look at 888sport’s general League One markets ahead of what could be an open 2018/19 campaign.
*Odds subject to change - correct at time of writing*
