After Michael Beardmore's 13/2 winner in the first leg, Joe Rindl has a best bet for Morecambe's second leg with Tranmere.
Football betting tips: Morecambe v Tranmere (agg: 2-1)
1pt Tranmere to qualify at 3/1 (Sky Bet)
To say Tranmere were a side transformed in their Sky Bet League Two play-off semi-final first leg would be a huge understatement.
Rovers finished the season with just two wins from their final 11 games, scoring seven goals in that stretch. Despite sneaking into the play-offs, few were surprised when manager Keith Hill was shown the door just three days after the end of the regular season.
In temporary charge of their first leg against Morecambe was caretaker boss Ian Dawes who had overseen five wins from five in November prior to Hill’s appointment.
And straight from the off Tranmere were dominant, carving through their opponents at will. The only problem; they lost Thursday night’s match 2-1.
Derek Adams’ Morecambe played the perfect away performance, soaking up pressure from a boisterous home crowd and twice netting against the run of play after their hosts failed to clear two set-pieces.
The Lancastrians are looking to reach the third tier for the first time in their history, having missed out on automatic promotion by a single point this term.
They finished five points and three places above Tranmere and yet the bookies had them as underdogs on Thursday night.
And it seemed to have been the right call, with Tranmere racing out of the blocks in a tie where they had 18 shots to Morecambe’s seven and a whopping 75% possession.
But only one stat matters and that's the scoreline. A combination of luck and poor defending saw the Shrimps twice take the lead through first-half tap-ins.
Morecambe are in the League Two play-offs for just the second time since gaining promotion from non-league in 2007. Whereas Tranmere are, in my eyes, a League One squad having dropped down a tier last season.
There was a clear gap in quality on Thursday night, the super white army tore through their opponents at will and if it weren’t for some last-ditched blocks they may have left the Wirral with a slender advantage of their own.
Morecambe had just three shots on target and scored from two of them. You may call it clinical, I call it fortunate.
So I’m shocked to see odds of Tranmere qualifying as long as 3/1 with Sky Bet. With main talisman James Vaughan fit again I can't see Dawes' side not scoring.
One goal and the whole momentum of this tie changes. BACK TRANMERE to reach Wembley I say.
Tranmere v Morecambe score prediction and best bets
- 1pt Tranmere to qualify at 3/1 (Sky Bet)
Score prediction: Morecambe 0-2 Tranmere (Sky Bet odds: 12/1)
Odds correct 2100 BST (21/05/21)
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