The Voice - Match preview #23: Mansfield Town vs Bradford City Thursday 1st January 2026 15:00

EFL League One Fixture #23
Thursday 1st January 2026 15:00
Mansfield Town (11th) vs Bradford City (3rd)
One Call Stadium (AKA Field Mill)

Record:
Games Won: 29
Games Drawn: 19
Games Lost: 25

Last 5:
08 Nov 2022: Mansfield Town 1 – 2 Bradford City
04 Feb 2023: Bradford City 1 – 1 Mansfield Town
02 Sep 2023: Mansfield Town 0 – 0 Bradford City
16 Mar 2024: Bradford City 1 – 5 Mansfield Town
17 Sep 2024: Mansfield Town 0 – 3 Bradford City [EFL Trophy]

Mansfield Town:
Mansfield Town come into this game on the back of consecutive away wins at Barnsley and Bolton Wanderers, winning those ties 3-2 and 1-0 respectively. Those results do, however, come on the back of an 8 game winless run in both league and cup (although they did score a penalty shootout victory over Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup after a 2-2 draw), a run which saw them lose their last 3 games at the One Call Stadium. Stockport County were the last side to run out winners on Mansfield Town’s home soil, picking up a 2-1 win, while before that Bolton Wanderers won 1-0 and Huddersfield Town put 3 past them in a 3-1 victory. Notably, of the 6 goals conceded by Mansfield Town at home during that skid, 5 were scored in the first half – only Jack Diamond’s winner for Stockport County in their most recent outing came in the second stanza.

That bad run of first half form continued at Barnsley, as the Tykes raced into a 2 goal lead inside the first 13 minutes, but the Stags battled back to eventually claim all 3 points. Nigel Clough has since lauded his sides ‘backs to the wall’ 1-0 win at Bolton, a victory that ended the Whites’ 17-game unbeaten run at the Toughsheet Stadium, no mean feat for the midtable Stags. Bolton Wanderers did, however, feel aggrieved that they were unable to score themselves after several gilt-edged chances, including a one-on-one for Sam Dalby early after some comical play from a Mansfield Town goal kick. Bolton boss Steven Schumacher also bemoaned a penalty appeal for a foul on Josh Sheehan that was turned down.

Clough’s Stags will not be complaining, however, but will be keen to get back to form on their own turf. Mansfield Town hadn’t lost at home in the league since their first home game of the season against Doncaster Rovers (1-2, Doncaster), but the recent mini-slump against some of the division’s top sides is one they will want to put behind them as soon as possible – especially since, remarkably, the division’s 9th placed side find themselves just 3 points off the relegation zone… (!!!)

It speaks volumes about the division that anyone from 9th place Wycombe Wanderers (level on points with Mansfield Town) down to 21st place Plymouth Argyle could find themselves in the drop zone in the blink of an eye. The playoffs, meanwhile, are a more distant target, with 6th place Bolton Wanderers a full 8 points above Wycombe (and Mansfield) – while Bradford City in 3rd are 14 points to the good. Tight, yes, but gaps are starting to form between the top 8 and the rest, and sides like Mansfield Town will need to hit an extended patch of good form very soon indeed if they’re to try to keep pace.

Will Evans (5) is the club’s top league goalscorer, with Rhys Oates (4) and Tyler Roberts (3) next in line, while Regan Hendry, Jamie McDonnell and Stephen McLaughlin all have 2 each. 9 other players have scored a goal apiece, indicating that Clough’s Stags are a side that spread the goals throughout the team. Rhys Oates, meanwhile has completed a 3-game suspension after being sent off in the 1-0 home defeat against Bolton Wanderers, and his return to the starting XI saw him grab the only goal in the reverse fixture on Monday evening.

In both away day victories at Bolton Wanderers and Barnsley, Mansfield Town largely found themselves surrendering the majority of possession, and particularly in Bolton’s case, under the cosh in terms of efforts on goal. That is certainly not unusual for Clough’s side, who have seen an average of 45.45% possession this season, though that’s not significantly less ball than Bradford City have enjoyed (47.36%). For comparison, Mansfield Town sit 18th in the ‘Possession’ league table, with Bradford City slightly ahead in 15th. In terms of xG, though, the teams are much further apart. Mansfield Town (1.15) sit 20th in that particular table, with Bradford City (1.50) at the opposite end of the table in 4th. Despite that, there is only 4 goals in it in reality, with the Bantams having netted 32 to Mansfield Town’s 28. Defensively, however, City and Mansfield are some way apart. Bradford City’s excellent defensive record is joint second best in the division (21), whereas Mansfield Town have shipped far more (28) – join 8th in the division with 4 other sides.

Bolton Wanderers 0 – 1 Mansfield Town


Barnsley 2 – 3 Mansfield Town


Bradford City:
Boxing Day saw City embroiled in another rough-and-tumble display, this time with managerless Port Vale, the bottom side in the division. As predicted, the game was tighter than many might have expected, though City’s class did eventually shine through. A superb second half strike from Jenson Metcalfe after some neat work from a short corner was all that ultimately settled the two sides, but City were well worth the win. Port Vale, a side who have struggled to score all season, offered little up front with the combination of Devante Cole and Jayden Stockley managing just 1 shot a piece, compared to 8 attempts from Stephen Humphrys alone.

With that game in the rear view mirror, and yet another 3 points in the bag, it’s worth celebrating Bradford City’s fantastic achievement at Valley Parade this past calendar year. The best English home side across the last 12 months from any of the top 5 division’s, Graham Alexander’s City have made their home a legitimate fortress, winning 19 of 24 league games player at the University of Bradford Stadium, drawing a further 3 and losing just 2. Phenomenal work.

That said, Bradford City are now chasing Cardiff City who sit top of the table and are currently 4 points clear of the Bantams having played the same number of games. Cardiff City also currently sit 1st in the ‘Home’ league table for the current season, despite having lost one more on home soil, another area where Graham Alexander would love to surpass the South Wales outfit. Doing so will likely require a more reliable source of goals, however, as Cardiff City have proven a significantly more potent attacking threat. Cue a number of eyes moving towards the January transfer window…

The business that is done over the next month or so will likely have a significant impact on the final league table. One thing that can’t be denied is that Bradford City are in an excellent position, and are legitimate promotion contenders. The top 8 look to have pulled away, with a further gap emerging behind the top 3 – where City sit pretty.

One thing that was remarked upon in the last write up was City’s poor distribution from the back. Where once, under Mark Hughes, the defenders had overinflated passing statistics, under Graham Alexander – particularly in the first half – City have shown a tendency to go long, without much success in most cases. Joe Wright failed to complete a single one of his 4 attempted long balls, while Curtis Tilt completed 2 of 11 (18%), and Ciaran Kelly managed just 3 of 13 (23%). The overall pass completion rate of the back 3 is also rather unimpressive. Wright completed 24/37 passes overall (65%), Tilt completed 18/33 (55%) and Kelly completed 27/43 (63%). Mediocre statistics that perhaps explain the reliance on Max Power dropping deep to collect the ball. The City Captain completed 35/46 (76%) of his passes, and once again was the director of many of City’s attacks, with the increasingly tidy-looking Jenson Metcalfe completed 30/40 (75%) of his passes, as well as contributing a fine finish.

That Power tends to take over once the game has matured a little perhaps outlines why City have been somewhat slow starters recently, with the Bantams only really coming alive as an attacking threat after the first 15-19 minutes. This is much different to City’s opening 13 league games of the season, when City scored 7 league goals in the opening 20 minutes – in other words, they had a 54 % chance of netting early. They have only managed that once in their last 9, when Humphrys opened the score in the 2-1 defeat at Leyton Orient.

Bradford City 1 – 0 Port Vale


Bradford City 2 – 1 Wigan Athletic

 

Prediction:
Mansfield Town’s bad habit of starting slowly in recent games and conceding goals in the first half isn’t something Bradford City look well-equipped to capitalise on, with 6 of the Bantams’ 9 goals since the start of November coming in the second half. Even Humphrys’ opener against Wigan, 1 of just 3 goals scored in the first half, was scored right before half time on the 45th minute. That said, Graham Alexander’s men have become dependable and workmanlike, consistently grinding out results by narrow margins, and, notably, seeing out games very well. In fact, one would have to go back to the 3-1 wins over both Huddersfield Town and Cardiff City back in mid-September for goals scored against City after the 65th minute (and even then both those games were well won by the time the consolations presented themselves to the opposition).

That leads me to think this might be a low-scoring game, even with Mansfield’s improved results of late. The 3-2 win at Barnsley saw the Stags run out winners despite an xG of just 0.95, a significant overachievement. The 1-0 win at Bolton Wanderers also flew in the face of the stats, but this was more down to Bolton squandering their chances rather than Mansfield being ruthlessly efficient in front of goal. Still, posting back-to-back away wins while under the cosh is nothing to be sniffed at, and an ideal set up in terms of confidence and morale ahead of a home tie with 3rd place Bradford City.

As Bantams fans will know, Bradford City are hardly blowing teams away at present, and ‘just enough’ has been an accurate descriptor of the last 5 or 6 games. City did come unstuck against Leyton Orient, however, when one of the division’s top scoring sides duly out-scored Graham Alexander’s men. Firepower, however, isn’t a huge trait of Mansfield Town this season, and while several players in the squad have chipped in with a goal here or there, the lack of a dependable goalscorer is a serious cause for concern against the second best back line in League One.

While I would expect Mansfield Town to be able to grab a goal, I will back the Bantams to score at Field Mill, where the home side haven’t picked up a point in their last 3 games. The pick would be a 2-1 away day win for the Bantams, as they look to relentlessly stalk both Cardiff City and current 2nd place Lincoln City, but a 1-1 draw feels more likely – and should underline the need for more firepower coming through the door in January. On top of that, the games have come thick and fast lately, with several bumps and bruises coming out of the Wigan and Port Vale home games, and with an increasingly confident Mansfield Town looking to break their current home hoodoo, I’ll say the honours end up being shared.

Final Score:
Mansfield Town 1 – 1 Bradford City