talkSPORT League Two outright tips, expert advice and predictions for 2026/27 season

Salford City, last season’s beaten play-off finalists at Wembley, are priced to get it right this time and emerge as 2026/27 League Two champions.

Australian Peter Cklamovski has replaced Karl Robinson in the Salford dugout, but the ambitions of the club haven’t changed with Gary Neville and his Project 92 partners funding a lavish spending spree which they all hope will finally pay off.

Railed against the Ammies are a string of possible contenders, including Bristol Rovers, Barnet, Chesterfield and Port Vale.

And then there are York City and Rochdale, back in the big league after their thrilling promotion-winning seasons in the National League, determined to ruffle feathers and make a dart at the top seven.

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League Two outright Tips

• Port Vale to Win Outright each-way @ 10/1 
• Walsall Top 7 Finish @ 9/4 
• Crawley +24 Season Handicap @ 20/1

Valiants can ensure bottom-tier return is for one year only

Port Vale mastered the art of the mixed message last season, reaching the quarter-finals of the FA Cup but also being relegated from League One.

Vale actually won 20 games last season, more than Bolton, who were promoted to the Championship. Their problem was that half of those 20 wins came in cup competitions. They took their eye off the league in pursuit of knockout fame and wins over the likes of Bristol City and Sunderland ultimately counted for zilch.

This season there is no ambivalence in the messaging – Jon Brady has to get them promoted and he has to believe he can pull it off.

Brady himself has won promotion from this level with Northampton, has overseen a successful pre-season and has made one or two interesting new signings to embellish an already decent group.

St Kitts international striker Tyreece Phillips, once of Ipswich, is the latest addition and more should arrive before the window shuts.

Barnsley keeper Max Smith, Dutch defender Lewis Montsma and Kyle Dempsey, captured from Bolton, are among the other tasty-looking recruits who can ensure Vale are competitive and likely to challenge Salford and the rest.

Saddle up for more fun and games at Bescot

There are many who believe that Mat Sadler was the only reason Walsall weren’t promoted over either of the past two seasons, so his exit from the Bescot has to be a positive.

Sadler had Walsall top of the table and miles clear in 2024/25 and got them top again – albeit more briefly – last term. They would go on to finish fourth and 13th respectively and Sadler paid the price.

Lee Grant is the new man at the helm and is certainly preaching far more attacking football from a similar pool of players.

A win at Bristol City in the first round of the EFL Cup suggests Walsall are still good but just needed a new face at the front. And that should make the Saddlers a serious challenger and overpriced for the top seven.

Forza Crawley to surprise their critics

Few transfer windows have been as entertaining as Crawley’s with ex-Arsenal keeper Vito Mannone and young Juventus striker Gianmarco Di Biase the headline acquisitions.

Colin Kazim-Richards, the man who saved the club from relegation, clearly has a decent contacts book and you know what, this could all work out for the good.

Two good EFL Cup efforts – a win at York and 1-0 loss at Crawley – hint at improvement, enough of an improvement perhaps to make this lot warrant more interest on the season handicap getting +24 points, rather than the relegation market where they are inevitably a short price.

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Odds correct at time of publish and subject to change.

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