Doncaster vs Port Vale Prediction: Another Bailey hangover pending for the Valiants

Doncaster Rovers (17th) extended their unbeaten run to four games on Saturday with a 1-0 victory at Barnsley, but with most of the other teams around them also claiming three points on the weekend, the pressure is on Grant McCann's relegation-threatened side to win again on Tuesday (19:45 GMT) against bottom-of-the-table Port Vale, who gave themselves a glimmer of hope in the battle for League 1 survival with a 1-0 success over Bolton Wanderers.
Read below for my Doncaster vs Port Vale predictions, supported by the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this midweek meeting at the Eco-Power Stadium.
Doncaster vs Port Vale Betting Tips
*Odds correct as of the time of publication
Team News
Doncaster pair Luke Molyneux (hamstring) and Billy Sharp (calf) both missed Saturday's trip to Oakwell and will be assessed ahead of Tuesday, but Tom Nixon and Sean Grehan (both hamstring) are still sidelined for McCann's men.
FA Cup quarter-finalists Port Vale are still shorn of the services of Ben Heneghan, Cameron Humphreys, Ryan Croasdale, George Byers and Jayden Stockley (all unspecified).
Doncaster vs Port Vale Predicted Lineups
- Doncaster: Lo-Tutala; Sterry, Byrne, Pearson, Senior; Gotts; Middleton, Bailey, Lee, Gibson; Hanlan
- Port Vale: Gauci; Lawrence-Gabriel, Hall, Campbell, Gordon; Ojo, Walters; Hall, Shipley, Headley; Waine
Doncaster are 7/10 to triumph on Tuesday, implying a 58.8% probability of success, with Jon Brady's Port Vale 18/5, or a 21.7% chance, and the draw offered at 11/4.
Betfred have boosted Doncaster To Win & 4+ Goals to 3/1 (was 10/3).
Doncaster vs Port Vale Stats
- Bailey (DON) struck the only goal in August's reverse fixture at Vale Park (0-1)
- Bailey has scored 12 times in L1 this season
- PVL (61%) are second in L1's Under 2.5 Goals table
Anytime Goalscorer - Owen Bailey (DON) @ 8/5
Doncaster midfielder Owen Bailey was the hero in August's reverse fixture at Vale Park as his 54th-minute strike proved decisive in Rovers' 1-0 victory.
The 27-year-old scored five times in 46 League 2 appearances last season as Rovers scooped the title, but he's scaled new heights in 2025/26, netting 12 goals in 38 third-tier games ahead of Tuesday's game with Port Vale.
Bailey's 12th and most recent effort came in his side's 2-1 win against Blackpool on March 14, the last time Rovers played on home soil.
He'll be eager to get back in the goalscoring groove this week after two games without a goal, and at 8/5, I think there's decent value in backing him to breach the away side's back line.
Odds correct at time of publishing.
Total Goals - Under 2.5 @ 10/11
Doncaster and Port Vale rank 12th and second, respectively, in League 1's Under 2.5 Goals table. Just under half (47%) of Rovers' 38 league games this season have seen two, one or no goals scored, while 61% of the Valiants' 36 have gone under 2.5.
Three of Doncaster's last four League 1 matches, including the last two, have seen the under 2.5 goals line land, while six of Port Vale's last seven league games have gone that way.
Two of the last three head-to-heads, including Rovers' 1-0 win at Vale Park in August, have seen a single goal scored, and in a battle of two relegation-threatened sides, caution may be applied from both on Tuesday.
Odds correct at time of publishing.
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