Football Bet of the Day: Dale look to end National League season in style

With the regular season in the Football League coming to a close this weekend, we are preparing for the play-offs later in the week. We’ve also got Champions League semi-finals to indulge in on Tuesday and Wednesday night, but for Monday’s Football Bet of the Day we are dialling up the glamour even further. 

From Paris to Braintree, don’t say Insights doesn’t cover the whole spectrum of football. Let’s dive down to the National League for the final gameweek of fixtures on this fine bank holiday. 

The National League’s final day will feature drama in the play-off race and the relegation battle. Braintree Town host Rochdale on the final day knowing that their goal difference may just save them from those four relegation spots down to the National League North/South. 

They currently sit three points above Wealdstone, but boast a goal difference advantage of 12 in this relegation fight. That should, barring disaster, be enough to keep them in the division, which is fortunate as they host a Rochdale side that will be contesting the end of season play-offs. 

Jim McNulty has done a decent job with Dale to get them in contention and they, along with York City, look to be the two form teams heading into the play-offs. York have just missed out on the sole automatic spot and are winning games for fun having racked up 93 points, but Rochdale will fancy their chances of bouncing back up to League 2 after a few years of struggle. 

Football Odds

Dale have won four of their last five games, and have looked very good as we approach the end of the season. Some may be concerned about their desire to win this game given they are guaranteed to finish fourth, but I think they will want to keep that run going and storm into the play-offs in style. 

I think this is a nice fixture for them as well. Braintree on paper can still go down, but in reality they are safe. They should be able to switch off for the season and I think they will be happy to get their feet up, and look forward to the next campaign. There’s 21 points between these two teams in the table which shows the huge gulf in quality that I believe will be apparent on Monday. 

Braintree vs Rochdale Odds

Devante Rodney, Kairo Mitchell and even old dog Ian Henderson all offer a major goal threat and they could cause problems against one of the weaker sides in the fifth tier. I’m not too concerned about them being away from home as they boast the fifth-best away record in the National League, and Braintree have failed to score in their last four games. 

Rochdale can get the job done and head into the play-offs full of confidence, as they dream of a spot back in the Football League. 

Offers

Acca Flex: Place a pre-match 5+ leg Football accumulator and get a CASH bonus up to 100% if all of your selections win or your money back as CASH if one leg lets you down

You can read all our latest Football Bet of the Day offerings at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.