In the week that the Premier League decided to give its outgoing CEO a £5m bonus, the lower leagues carry on. Sunderland, probably the only team in the lower leagues still paying any of its players anything close to £5m in a year, will hope to continue their seemingly relentless march back into the Championship – where arguably a team with a 49,000 stadium belongs, as a minimum. They’re overwhelming favourites to beat plucky Wycombe (74%), and do so 1-0 (11%). But Wycombe have made a habit of upsetting the odds this season already…
| Forecast | Win (%) | ||||
| League One | Score | PR(%) | P(H) | P(A) | |
| Accrington | Barnsley | 1-1 | 11% | 33% | 38% |
| Bristol R | Scunthorpe | 1-0 | 24% | 43% | 29% |
| Burton | Coventry | 3-2 | 5% | 45% | 27% |
| Doncaster | AFC W’don | 1-0 | 18% | 52% | 22% |
| Fleetwood | Walsall | 1-0 | 21% | 44% | 28% |
| Luton | Plymouth | 2-1 | 8% | 58% | 18% |
| Oxford | Gillingham | 2-1 | 7% | 42% | 29% |
| Peterboro | Bradford | 1-0 | 11% | 64% | 15% |
| Portsmouth | Charlton | 1-0 | 11% | 47% | 26% |
| Shrewsbury | Rochdale | 1-0 | 14% | 40% | 31% |
| Southend | Blackpool | 0-0 | 26% | 36% | 35% |
| Sunderland | Wycombe | 1-0 | 11% | 74% | 10% |
Two of the Football League’s most hapless teams (aside from Macclesfield, who look doomed to relegation already), Notts County and Cheltenham meet at Meadow Lane. Founder members of the Football League in 1888, Notts County have rarely plumbed these depths. Before this season, they had started a mere 25 home matches in a lower position than they currently occupy, 90th out of 92 teams. At it looks like things may yet get worse, as Cheltenham are expected to win (49%), and do so 1-0 (4%).
| Forecast | Win (%) | ||||
| League Two | Score | PR(%) | P(H) | P(A) | |
| Bury | Stevenage | 1-0 | 6% | 64% | 15% |
| Crewe | Tranmere | 1-2 | 9% | 22% | 51% |
| Exeter | N’hampton | 5-1 | 7% | 46% | 26% |
| Forest Green | Morecambe | 2-0 | 11% | 57% | 19% |
| Grimsby | Crawley | 2-1 | 4% | 40% | 31% |
| Mansfield | Port Vale | 1-0 | 12% | 64% | 15% |
| MK Dons | Macclesfield | 1-0 | 14% | 62% | 16% |
| Newport Co | Colchester | 2-1 | 8% | 50% | 24% |
| Notts Co | Cheltenham | 0-1 | 4% | 24% | 49% |
| Oldham | Cambridge U | 2-0 | 11% | 62% | 16% |
| Swindon | Carlisle | 1-0 | 11% | 42% | 29% |
| Yeovil | Lincoln | 0-1 | 9% | 22% | 51% |