Football Betting Tips – League 2 Playoff Final Prediction and Preview

This week the League 2 season comes to a close with the playoff final between AFC Wimbledon and Walsall, at Wembley this Monday. 

At TipMan, we break down the matchup, head to heads, previous playoff finals and why we’re backing a Bet Builder that see’s AFC Wimbledon come out on top.

Read on to find out why 👇

Tipman Prediction:

Judging off the previous head to heads of these 2 sides and the general style of play, we are expecting a tight and cagey game for large parts. Both slides have match winners, but Wimbledon’s defensive resiliency should play a massive part in this occasion. Tipmans Bet Builder is as follows:

– AFC Wimbledon to LIFT THE CUP

– Under 2.5 match goals

–  4 or more cards

– 8 or more corners

The Matchup:

The 2025 League 2 Playoff Final is going to be played between 4th place finishers Walsall and 5th place finishers AFC Wimbledon. It has been quite the season for both clubs, with very different finishes to the season. 

Walsall for large parts of the season were the team on top, creating a 10+ point gap between them and the rest of the chasing pack heading into January. However, this is where it all started to change for them. Top goalscorer Nathan Lowe returned to Stoke, cutting his season long loan move short, having already scored 15 goals in the league campaign. From there, Walsalls form flatlined taking just 3 wins from January up to the end of the season, struggling for goals and becoming leaky in defence. This saw them fall from 1st to 4th and miss out on automatic promotion on the last day of the season. Their playoff performances however have shown glimpses of the old Walsall, beating a good Chesterfield side twice, 2-0 away from home and 2-1 at home.

Wimbledon on the other hand boast a slightly more sporadic season with only 1 large unbeaten run in the campaign. Goals were difficult to come by for Wimbledon with Matty Stevens leading the line with 17 goals, the next best being Alistair Smith at just 6 goals. The main reason for Wimbledon’s success this year is due to their defensive work. Crystal Palace’s on loan Goalkeeper Owen Goodman kept 21 clean sheets, sharing the golden glove award with Colchester’s Matt Macey. Add to this a 72% save percentage and defensive stalwart in Joe Lewis, Wimbledon have the foundations of a team really hard to break down. 

Both teams are likely to want to not have large spells of possession which should make for an entertaining game.

Head to Heads this season: 

AFC Wimbledon and Walsall have played 2 times this past season with the most recent outing ending in a 1-1 draw at the Bescott Stadium. A late 87th minute Walsall equaliser from Taylor Allen proved the key moment. 

The reverse fixture back in November ended in a 1-0 Walsall win away from home, with the ex main man Nathan Lowe scoring the winner. 

2 tight affairs for large periods, with only 3 goals in 180 minutes of football. 

Previous League 2 Playoffs:

2024 – Crawley Town 2-0 Crewe Alexandra

2023 – Carlisle United 1-1 Stockport County (Carlisle win on pens)

2022 – Port Vale 3-0 Mansfield Town

2021 – Morecambe 1-0 Newport County

2020 – Northampton Town 4-0 Exeter City

2019 – Newport County 0-1 Tranmere Rovers (after ET)