PREVIEW | Notts County vs AFC Wimbledon - team news, lineups, predictions | OneFootball

Notts County and AFC Wimbledon face each other this Saturday at Meadow Lane for the first leg of the two sides' high-stakes EFL League Two semi-final.

Notts finished in sixth, one place behind their visitors, in the League Two table - just a point separating them after 46 games of the regular L2 season. The Magpies were beaten 1-2 by champions Doncaster Rovers on the final matchweek, while AFC Wimbledon recorded a  0-1 win over Grimsby Town to secure their play-off spot.

Home advantage has been decisive in this season's previous fixtures between the two sides: Notts County beating the Londoners 1-0 at Meadow Lane, and Wimbledon avenging that defeat with a 2-0 win back in March.   History appears to favour the Dons, who have won every game they have played against the Magpies - aside from the aforementioned 1-0 reverse last October.

The Fan Zone

K-Ci Rennicks : Another play-off campaign at Meadow Lane, our sixth in our past eight seasons, but this one feels quite significant to the others as it is our opportunity to return to Sky Bet League One for the first time since 2015.

It has been a season where we have been impacted by some very key injuries to key players throughout the campaign, such as Alassana Jatta's concussion early on, David McGoldrick's various knocks and Jodi Jones missing the majority. That's not to mention our number of "contact injuries" which seem to occur whenever we have a big game, which is why - though Nick Tsaroulla, Lucas Ness and Scott Robertson are the only notable absentees - you honestly never know what is going to come up on match-day.

However, weirdly I am confident. That feels strange due to the fact that we have only won one of our six meetings with the play-off teams this season, yet the one and only came over our opponents AFC Wimbledon in which we won 1-0, which may explain my score prediction...

Do we have the quality? Undoubtedly.

Do we have the big game know-how? That does leave me with doubts.

Yet, the play-offs is a big shootout to me. It does not matter about any results elsewhere, nor any league tables. What truly matters is outscoring your opponent across two legs and outscoring your eventual opponent in the final. Sounds simple, sometimes football can be, but it certainly will not be simple, as that is not the Notts County way to do things.

It is BIG and I believe that we can be the eventual winners of the Sky Bet League Two play-offs, but it has to begin with belief which sometimes I feel we have lacked at times this season.

A packed-out Meadow Lane knows how to make a lot of noise and properly get behind the team, however, and I know this Saturday will be no different.

So...

COYP!!

Prediction: 1-0

Stuart Deacons (9yrspodcast): No game in the playoffs is going to be straightforward and it seems that way in a crazy league that many teams tried their best to not get promoted in the final few months.

One of those teams was us and it was a relief to get a win on the last day of the season at Grimsby to finish fifth and secure the second leg at home.

Having beaten County 2-0 at home in March, I would fancy us again to win the home leg and with 21 clean sheets this season and the lowest number of goals conceded in the league, if we keep a clean sheet at County, we will have a great chance to get to the final.

County are a team that like to dominate possession and we are happy to soak up the pressure and hit teams on the break.

I don’t see us chasing the game in the first game and predict a goalless draw with everything to play in the second leg.

Prediction: 0-0

Predicted lineups

Notts County: Alex Bass, Kellan Gordon, Lewis Macari, Matthew Platt, Jacob Bedeau, Jodi Jones, George Abbott, Sam Austin, Matt Palmer, Alassana Jatta, David McGoldrick

AFC Wimbledon: Owen Goodman, Riley Harbottle, Joe Lewis, Ryan Johnson, Josh Neufville, Alistair Smith, Jake Reeves, James Tilley, Omar Bugiel, Matty Stevens, Marcus Browne

Unavailable

Notts County

AFC Wimbledon

Last starting XIs

Notts County ( vs Doncaster Rovers 2025-05-03): Alex Bass, Rod McDonald, Matthew Platt, Jacob Bedeau, Kellan Gordon, Matt Palmer, George Abbott, Jodi Jones, Conor Grant, Alassana Jatta, Charlie Whitaker

AFC Wimbledon ( vs Grimsby Town 2025-05-03): Owen Goodman, Ryan Johnson, Riley Harbottle, Joe Lewis, Sam Hutchinson, James Tilley, Marcus Browne, Jake Reeves, Alistair Smith, Josh Neufville, Matty Stevens

Did you know...by playmaker stats

MANAGERS

TEAMS

HEAD TO HEAD