Football Bet of the Day: 50/1 Play-off scorecast catches the eye

We’ve got a play-off semi-final in the balance to look forward to on Thursday night as Charlton Athletic welcome Wycome Wanderers to the Valley (20:00, Sky Sports Main Event). The first leg was a dour 0-0 draw with few chances at both ends, but that’s a result that suits the Addicks, who are now favourites to progress. 

Let’s move onto our Football Bet of the Day for Thursday, May 15. 

The first leg was a dreadful affair to watch for the neutral. The home side managed just two shots on target and while Charlton fared slightly better with three, it certainly wasn’t a fixture that will be remembered for a long time.

Mike Dodds has turned Wycombe into a functional rather than a flamboyant team, and I make them big underdogs to win this tie now, even though they are just 6/5 to progress with Betfred. I think the 5/4 on a Charlton home win is the way to play this, but I’m going to bat with a little more ambition given we are approaching the end of the season. 

Football Odds

As I say, I think this should be a relatively straightforward home win in 90 minutes, while I also believe Nathan Jones’ side can win this game to nil. They kept a clean sheet in the first leg and looked relatively untroubled, while Wycombe have failed to score in three of their last four games, with only Garath McCleary finding the net against Stockport during that time. 

Goals have been an issue for Dodds, who has won seven of his 19 games in charge so far since taking over from Matt Bloomfield. The departed Wycombe boss now finds himself back in League 1 with Luton Town, and the Chairboys will be desperate to leapfrog him with another play-off success. But truthfully, I just can’t see it materialising. 

Wycombe have got slightly worse since Dodds came in and although they still finished with an impressive 84 points, they lost their last three games of the regular season - one of those being a 4-0 defeat to Charlton. The first leg saw both teams happy to take a draw, but I believe Charlton will step things up a level on Thursday night. 

Charlton have won 15 of their 23 home matches so far this season, losing just twice, and that home form should carry them to Wembley. I’m going to predict a 2-0 home success, while it also makes sense to back their main man to find the net first.

Charlton vs Wycombe Odds

Matty Godden managed to strike one effort on target at Adams Park, but the in-form striker should have more joy on home soil. He scored eight goals in 10 league games to end the regular season, while he also scored four in as many matches prior to Sunday’s stalemate. 

He’s by far the biggest goal threat on the pitch, and I think he can sniff out a goal early on to tip the tie in Charlton’s favour. A big price on a 2-0 home win and Godden to score first is Thursday’s Football Bet of the Day.