Mansfield Town v Port Vale Betting Tips [28 May 2022]

Mansfield and Port Vale go head to head this Saturday at Wembley in the League Two promotion playoff to contest for a spot in League One. In the regular season, Mansfield finished seventh, a point below Port Vale who were fifth. Mansfield had a strong finish to the campaign and being here is a testament of their rise. In October, they were in the relegation region after a 14-match winless run in all competitions. They just fell short of automatic promotion, but here they have that chance. In the playoff semis, they beat Northampton and after 20 years, a place in the third tier is just 90 minutes away. In League Two action, they are unbeaten in the last six matches and have scored two or more in five. Mansfield have failed to score in just two of the last eight matches.

Port Vale do not have a very strong run ahead of this match; they finished the season with one win in the last four matches, a run that even cost them an automatic promotion place. Their start to the playoffs wasn’t strong either. Port Vale needed post-match penalties to see off Swindon Town. They lost 2-1 in the opening leg before winning 1-0 in the return leg to take the tie to penalties. The win over Swindon is only their second clean sheet in six matches and they haven’t managed more than a goal in the last seven matches. Four times in the last six matches, Port Vale have conceded two or more goals. In the regular season, they collected four points in the two matches against Mansfield Town from a 1-1 draw and a 3-1 win.

Mansfield clearly have the better run here. They finished the regular season strongly and in their recent matches, they’ve done well compared to Port Vale. Mansfield didn’t have to go through penalties for their place in the final, and Port Vale will be jaded by having had to endure that. Port Vale haven’t been very strong defensively and we are backing Mansfield to win this.