Port Vale vs Newport County Predictions

• Prior to suffering consecutive defeats in their last two outings, Port Vale had won eight of their previous nine league games.
• Newport have lost three successive games, and won just one of their last seven.
• Port Vale have won four of their last six at home, and will likely need a win to keep their hopes of automatic promotion alive.

Port Vale must bounce back

Having lost consecutive games at home to Bristol Rovers and away at Walsall, Port Vale have seen their hopes of automatic promotion taken out of their hands with just two games remaining. Sitting one point behind third-placed Northampton, the Valiants will likely need to beat Newport County to take their promotion race to the final day.

Should acting manager Andy Crosby’s men miss out on promotion, they will be left cursing those consecutive defeats after winning eight of their previous nine games, drawing the other. That run should give the Staffordshire outfit hope there may yet be another twist in this absorbing promotion race, as should their return of 13 points from their last six matches at Vale Park.

Newport, meanwhile, could represent the perfect opponents at this stage of the season. James Rowberry’s team have lost five of their last seven games, winning one and losing each of their most recent three, and have nothing to play for after falling out of play-off contention. Meanwhile, Newport have only won on one of their last nine trips to Port Vale.

Hosts can set up thrilling final-day promotion battle

Considering the quality they’ve shown over the second half of the season, as well as the dire form of their visitors, Port Vale look worth backing to set up a brilliant final-day battle with a victory, keeping them in automatic promotion contention alongside Northampton, Mansfield Town, and potentially others.

Meanwhile, Newport have failed to score in three of their last six games, so a 2-0 home win could represent decent correct score value.