Football Tips: Back Liam Manning to guide MK to a top-six finish

As part of our ante-post series here at BettingOdds.com we've asked our contributors to provide us with their best bets for the season ahead. Today @TipsterWizard has provided us with two plays that he likes the look of from the Football League, that combine for a double priced at 26/5 (5.20).

MK Dons to finish in top 6 (England League One)


MK Dons are one of the teams I expect to do extremely well this season. They finished 3rd last season missing out on automatic promotion by just one point and eventually going down against Wycombe in the promotion playoffs. Over the summer, they have lost two key players in the form of Scott Twine to Burnley and Harry Darling to Swansea. These are big losses but they received just over £5M, most of which has been re-invested into their squad intelligently.

Experienced poacher Will Grigg has been brought in to provide competition up top and he should be a serious threat in this division. They have also added Louie Barry on loan from Aston Villa and he will provide them with a lot of attacking threat from the left wing after an impressive season at Swindon last term. Experience has been brought in the form of Bradley Johnson in the midfield from Blackburn, and Chelsea stars Jamie Cumming and Henry Lawrence have joined up on loan to bolster the full-back and goalkeeping options. Dawson Devoy and Darragh Burns have been added from Irish clubs Bohemians & St. Patricks to strengthen the midfield while Conor Grant has come in from Rochdale to further provide selection headaches.

With a perfect blend of youth and experience, this MK Dons side looks set to challenge for promotion this season. Head-coach Liam Manning did a fantastic job to help them rise 10 places to 3rd last season and despite losing two key players, I think they have strengthened well enough for a top-6 spot and may well get an automatic promotion spot. Based on this analysis, I am going for MK Dons to finish inside the top 6 as the first part of our Ante-Post Double.

Mansfield to finish in top 7 (England League Two)


Mansfield finished in the final playoff spot last season with a lot of credit going to their excellent home record as they collected a huge 63% of their points at home. After beating Northampton in the promotion playoff semifinal, they went down 3-0 to Port Vale in a disappointing performance in the final at Wembley. However, under coach Nigel Clough they have a strong squad which is capable of pushing for automatic promotion this season. The midfield is stacked with quality options including Stephen Quinn, George Lasplie, George Maris, Ollie Clark, James Perch and new signing Hiram Boateng who was influential in Cambridge’s promotion from this division 2 seasons ago. They have a deadly attack with a lot of threat going forward with Rhys Oates, Lucas Akins and Jordan Bowery forming part of a formidable attacking force.

The Stags are expected to lineup with a 3-5-2 formation this season which will help their full-backs Mclaughlin & Gordon to go further forward and join the attack to further increase their attacking threat. They have also replaced goalkeeper Nathan Bishop by signing Christy Pym on loan from Peterborough, a league-one promotion winner from 2 seasons ago. They have had an impressive pre-season with 4 wins and a draw including a notable 3-0 win over Championship side Sheffield United and they only conceded 1 goal over the course of 5 games during the pre-season fixtures. The squad looks ready for a big automatic promotion push and at the very least I expect them to finish in the playoff spots. Based on this analysis, I am going for Mansfield to finish inside the top 7 as the second part of our Ante-Post Double.