The Voice - Match preview #15: Fleetwood Town vs Bradford City Saturday 9th November 2024 3:00pm

EFL League Two Fixture #15
Saturday 9th November 2024 15:00
Fleetwood Town vs Bradford City
Highbury Stadium

Record:
Games Won: 6
Games Drawn: 4
Games Lost: 4

Last 5:
07 May 2017: Fleetwood Town 0 – 0 Bradford City [League One Play-Offs]
26 Sep 2017: Bradford City 0 – 3 Fleetwood Town
01 Jan 2018: Fleetwood Town 1 – 2 Bradford City
01 Sep 2018: Fleetwood Town 2 – 1 Bradford City
09 Feb 2019: Bradford City 0 – 1 Fleetwood Town

Fleetwood Town:
Chesterfield might be the division’s draw specialists with 7 stalemates from 14 league games, but Fleetwood Town are right on their coattails with 6 of their own. Highbury Stadium specifically has been the site of 4 of Fleetwood Town’s draws, with just 1 win and 1 defeat to break up the monotony. That sole home league victory came on the opening day of the season courtesy of a 1-0 win over Grimsby Town, while their only home defeat came courtesy of a late Ryan Cooney penalty for high-flying Crewe Alexandra, that spot kick proving to be the only goal of the game.

That’s not necessarily to say Fleetwood Town have had a boring season. A stunning 6-2 away win at automatic promotion chasers Walsall was a serious highlight, and a 2-1 victory over West Brom in the EFL Cup first round way back in August was another tremendous feat for Charlie Adam’s men. Fleetwood Town would also go on to knock out Rotherham United in the EFL Cup second round by 2 goals to 1, before manfully eking out a 1-1 draw at Championship Stoke City – only to endure heartbreak in the penalty shootout.

Charlie Adam’s troops had less fortune in the FA Cup this past weekend, a fairly routine 2-0 defeat against Reading dumping them out, but there’s no question Fleetwood have generally punched above their weight in knock out tournaments this season. Perhaps it will seem disappointing, then, that Fleetwood Town are down in 15th place in the League Two table, but caveat: Fleetwood are one of those sides with a game in hand on most of the teams above them, and could realistically be knocking on the door of the playoffs had they played (and of course won) that fixture.

There’s less to separate Fleetwood Town and Bradford City than it might initially seem, then, and while Bradford City have not subjected their fans to as many draws as Charlie Adams’ Fleetwood, they have lost one more game than this weekend’s opponents. In terms of goals scored, it’s almost neck-and-neck. Fleetwood Town have scored 19 and conceded 15. City have scored 20 and conceded the same number. Bear in mind that additional game, and it could be even stevens in the goal stakes should Fleetwood Town manage a 1-0 win this weekend.

In terms of xG, there’s nothing in it either. Fleetwood sit 8th in the xG table with an expected goals return of 1.37; City are in 6th with 1.38. In terms of xGA, Fleetwood Town look the likelier side to keep a clean sheet, but the statistics could not speak of a much closer game.

All of that said, the fact is that Fleetwood Town come into this fixture on poor form. With no wins across any of their last 5 league outings, that aforementioned and rather anomalous-looking 6-2 away win at Walsall was their last. Since then, they have hosted Bromley, Crewe Alexandra and Salford City at home and taken just 2 points. They have also suffered a 3-1 defeat at Port Vale, and drawn 0-0 at Newport County. Goals have become slightly harder to come by for Fleetwood of late, although top scorer Ronan Coughlan (5) did net in the 2-2 home draw against strugglers Salford City.

Matty Virtue (3), Mark Helm (3), Ryan Graydon (2), Kayden Hughes (2) and Danny Mayor (2) are the next in the Fleetwood Town pecking order, with forwards Tommy Lonergan, Mido Odubeko and ex-Bantam loanee Kian Harratt all unable to grab a league goal so far this campaign. Harratt has, however, netted a brace in an EFL Trophy game against Barrow (on his only start so far, notably), but that has not been enough to get him a goal – or that elusive league start – so far this season. The Huddersfield Town loanee has often found his minutes limited to the last 10, something that is unlikely to particularly worrisome for Bradford City fans.

Fleetwood Town 2 – 2 Salford City


Newport County 0 – 0 Fleetwood Town


Bradford City:
Bradford City forced their fans to wait until the second half before finally turning up the heat on non-league opposition Aldershot Town in the FA Cup first round this past weekend, but once Vadaine Oliver and Calum Kavanagh had bagged a goal each either side of an unfortunate Christian Maghoma own goal, City were in the clear. Jack Barham had opened up the scoring on the 32nd minute, and while Aldershot did have some good opportunities to add to their tally, City deserved their victory overall.

That could be an important win following a disappointing 2-1 defeat against fellow promotion chasers Doncaster Rovers, where Doncaster showed they had just a little bit more guile and firepower, justifying their top 4 position – and justifying City’s fall to 7th. There’s little question that Bradford City are an above average League Two side this campaign, but they are not looking a serious automatic promotion candidate, at least based on defeats against both Walsall and Doncaster Rovers so far.

Andy Cook was the man to get the consolation goal against Doncaster, taking his tally to 8 for the season (10 including cups), but the fact he got on the scoresheet once more can be of real comfort to City fans. If he is the difference between City being an average League Two side and slightly above that level, then long may his excellent form continue. One player who hasn’t enjoyed such great form lately has been goalkeeper Sam Walker, the ever-present (and only true option) between the sticks having arguably been at fault for several goals recently. That Luke Molyneux’s 57th minute effort seemed to be hit right at him, yet still ended up in the back of the net, was one of the less clear cut gaffes or errors – but doesn’t look good on repeat viewing.

Hopefully Walker can cut out some of those errors, as City have only rarely been in receipt of a clean sheet this season (3 times in the league in total), but he will also need improved performances from the defence in front of him who have looked to struggle at times with pacy forwards running through the lines – which is something you can expect from Fleetwood this weekend.

This was the real weakness that Doncaster Rovers were able to reliably exploit at Valley Parade last Saturday, and while Fleetwood Town aren’t on anywhere near as good form, as Donny have been, Irish strike partners Ronan Coughlan and Ryan Graydon look like just the kind of players City might struggle with.

Bradford City 1 – 2 Doncaster Rovers


Cheltenham Town 1 – 1 Bradford City


Prediction:
A run of 3 straight league wins in October had City fans looking optimistically at the League Two table, but a slightly disappointing draw against Cheltenham Town probably needed a better follow up performance than was forthcoming in what many felt was a promotion 6-pointer against Doncaster Rovers. In the end, Doncaster were worthy winners in their successful raid of Valley Parade, inflicting City’s first home league defeat of the season – but more importantly, casting real doubts over City’s claims of being legitimate automatic promotion contenders.

Twice now City have been found lacking by top 4 calibre opposition. Walsall, also, inflicted a 2-1 defeat on a Bantams side that can be guilty of having a little bit of a soft underbelly when they’re not in direct control of a game. While that’s worrying, and while Fleetwood Town play a similar style albeit with a pacier front line, the Cod Army have hit a bit of a poor patch of form under manager Charlie Adam. While their league position seems slightly false based on a whole manner of metrics all of which are very similar to those of Graham Alexander’s City side, they will still need to improve to try and maintain pace with the top 7 – and indeed, Bradford City.

Draws at home have consistently done the damage for Fleetwood Town. It started with a 0-0 stalemate against low-scoring Gillingham where neither side looked anything close to clinical, and was followed by a 2-2 draw against Morecambe – where Fleetwood let a 2-0 first half lead slip to Derek Adams’ hardworking but struggling side. Another 0-0 against Bromley saw both sides miss the target with double figures worth of strikes, before another 2-2 against Salford City came off the back of their only home defeat of the season, a 1-0 loss against Crewe Alexandra.

This time, Fleetwood had to come from behind to lead 2-1, only for a last minute equaliser from Francis Okoronkwo to once again underline Fleetwood’s apparent lack of ability to kill off a game. With all of that said, Bradford City certainly aren’t a team of weak characters. Andy Cook’s consolation strike against Doncaster Rovers showed they rarely quit, but perhaps just lack a bit of quality in the back line – and that’s despite the good form of Jack Shepherd in particular.

The pick here seems to be fairly straightforward. Yet another stalemate at Highbury Stadium is the most likely outcome, though certainly not inevitable, and I would fancy it might be Fleetwood Town who draw first blood. City can, and perhaps might, rally – but I don’t fancy the Bantams to have the quality to kill off a side that are remarkably well-matched across a number of statistics. 2-2 is a tempter, but 1-1 feels more likely. Football is rarely ever so predictable, however…

Final Score:

Fleetwood Town 1 – 1 Bradford City