The Voice - Match preview #21: Bradford City vs Port Vale Thursday 26th December 3:00pm

EFL League Two Fixture #21
Thursday 26th December 2024 15:00
Bradford City (12th) vs Port Vale (2nd)
University of Bradford Stadium (AKA Valley Parade)

Record:
Games Won: 45
Games Drawn: 32
Games Lost: 35

Last 5:
22 Oct 2019: Bradford City 1 – 2 Port Vale
29 Dec 2020: Bradford City 0 – 0 Port Vale
24 Apr 2021: Port Vale 2 – 1 Bradford City
13 Nov 2021: Port Vale 1 – 1 Bradford City
19 Mar 2022: Bradford City 1 – 2 Port Vale

Port Vale:
Port Vale find themselves in a dip in form despite sitting pretty in second in the League Two table. The Valiants, managed by ex-Bradford City legend Darren Moore, have not won any of their last 5 league games, drawing 4 times and losing the other at home to fellow promotion chasers Walsall.

Previous draws against Crewe Alexandra and Cheltenham Town could have been glossed over had better results been forthcoming, but a pair of back-to-back 0-0 stalemates against Bromley and struggling Carlisle United have made their present run a little harder to ignore. Moore, affectionately known as Bruno on the Valley Parade terraces, has pointed to his players having something of a mental block, praising their physicality and putting their blip (as he hopes it is!) down to the execution of opposition tactics. Bradford City fans through the years in League Two will be no stranger to Moore’s description of sides coming to Vale Park and sitting back, but he also added the onus is on his players to counter that and start taking the chances he feels they continue to create.

Coming to Valley Parade might not be such a bad thing for the goal-shy Valiants, then, as Bradford City fans at home have high expectations. There will almost certainly be no appetite for anything other than an attacking performance against an out-of-sorts Port Vale, but whether going hammer and tongs with the side in second is actually a smart strategy is another question – but Graham Alexander cannot afford to avoid putting on a show in front of what might be a bumper Boxing Day crowd.

That said, Vale’s onus will be on themselves. Port Vale do certain things extremely well. They have a solid defence that has conceded less than a goal-per-game on average and have achieved a remarkable 9 clean sheets from a full 21 league games – 6 of those away from home!

Now they seek their 10th clean sheet as they once again hit the road against goal shy Bradford City. Despite these incredibly impressive statistics, things haven’t gone quite so smoothly at the other end of the pitch. 26 league goals is a relatively paltry return for a side situated so high up the table, coupled with the fact they have failed to score on no less than 6 occasions. Of the teams currently in the top 7, only Crewe Alexandra have scored fewer.

Still, Darren Moore has reiterated his belief in his players and the job they have done so far and praised them for continuing to get themselves in the right positions. With few stand out goalscorers, Ethan Chislett (4) and Jayden Stockley (4) are the club’s leading league scorers, with a bevy of players behind them on 2: 7 different players in total, including forwards Lorent Tolaj, Ronan Curties and Antwoine Hackford, midfielders Ryan Croasdale, Ben Garrity and Rico Richards, with defender Brandon Cover also with a pair of goals to his name.

Port Vale will head to Valley Parade looking to put an end to their disappointing winless run, and ultimately show more ruthlessness up front – but despite Darren Moore’s positive spin, the facts are Port Vale have been only mustered 10 shots on target across all 5 winless league games of late – and having been statistically out-gunned by the likes of promotion-chasing Crewe Alexandra and Walsall, the cries of ‘They’re parking the bus!’ don’t appear to ring entirely true. Sorry Darren!

Port Vale 0 – 0 Carlisle United
https://www.skysports.com/football/video/30998/13278206/port-vale-0-0-carlisle-united-league-two-highlights (Could not locate on YouTube)

Bromley 0 – 0 Port Vale


Bradford City:
While Port Vale experience slim pickings in terms of goals and points lately, Bradford City are scarcely in a better position themselves. 3 draws in their last 5 games is counterbalanced by a 1-0 win against an awful Swindon Town side, before Saturday’s 3-0 mauling at Meadow Lane continued the Bantams’ poor recent run of results against Notts County.

Here's the thing, though: while the positive spin coming out of Valley Parade revolves around 5 minutes of madness, the facts suggest a much more serious issue. 6 goals in their last 8 league games is simply not good enough, and the fact City drew a blank at Meadow Lane makes a mockery of ‘oh, but we shouldn’t have conceded 3 like that’-style sentiments. Bradford City had plenty of the ball and just as many efforts on goal as Notts County (9 each including both on and off target) but still could not put the ball in the net. Calum Kavanagh was back to his indifferent self after better outings against Stockport County in the EFL Trophy and against Swindon Town where he bagged his first league goal of the season. City’s wing backs also had a torrid game, with Jay Benn and Lewis Richards struggling to positively impact the game, while the defending of the likes of Paul Huntington and Jack Shepherd left a huge amount to be desired and could lead to changes come Boxing Day.

Graham Alexander’s other narrative, that City have been hugely hampered by injuries, doesn’t seem to square with the lack of impact of players like Antoni Sarcevic and Aden Baldwin either before or after their lengthy injuries, and it seems the lack of fire and desire in the ranks is wearing thin with Bradford City fans facing up to the realistic prospect of yet another misfiring season.

With those in charge reeling off lines of contentment, the official word doesn’t seem to be resonating with those in the stands, an all too familiar story at Bradford City these past years under owner Stefan Rupp. Still, any given match day can see a turnaround, and while Bantams might have feared the worst heading into a tie against high-flying Port Vale, the Valiants are enduring a meagre spell of form themselves. The league table being as it is, this would be the ideal time for City to step up and stamp their mark with a morale-boosting win over a side seen as one of the best in the division.

With both sides battling their own footballing demons, mostly steeped in impotence up front, though, it seems far from guaranteed that we’ll get a Boxing Day classic – but who knows?!

Notts County 3 – 0 Bradford City


Bradford City 1 – 0 Swindon Town


Prediction:
The 3-0 hammering at Notts County hurt.

That Graham Alexander declared himself happy with his current squad in the lead up to the game didn’t help. His comments about ‘tweaks’ being made to the personnel that then let him and the Bradford City fans down so badly at Meadow Lane now seem painfully poorly timed – but it should be noted that in seizing their opportunity, Notts County climbed into the top 7, a position City could have occupied had they turned up in the Midlands. It’s not about ‘what ifs’, it’s an illustration that despite a very mediocre season to date, Bradford City have managed to remain on the fringes of the promotion spots.

That’s not a bad sign at all for a side that just haven’t got going so far in the 24/25 campaign. If at their most average this side is capable of flirting with the top 7, what would happen with intelligent and targeted investment in January, coupled with an uptick in form? It’s all right there to play for, but sooner or later Bradford City must prove they are capable of beating some of the sides in the top 7 – and as it stands, City’s record against the top sides is as follows: 1. Walsall (defeat), 3. Doncaster Rovers (defeat), 4. Crewe Alexandra (draw), 6. AFC Wimbledon (draw), 7. Notts County (defeat).

That leaves 2 more sides from the current promotion spots to face, with Port Vale and Chesterfield visiting Valley Parade in back-to-back games.

Should City suffer defeat in both, there might be a case for Ryan Sparks to wield the axe – yet again. Despite Sparks’ managerial changes being completely ineffective so far in his tenure as CEO, if City are unable to conjure a performance against either outfit under Graham Alexander, surely their inability to compete with the division’s top sides will speak for itself?

In other words, these two games might just be the toughest and most important of the season. City prove they can either stand up and be counted, or likely get counted out of realistic contention, if they even remain in it at present.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. So what will come of this crucial tie between two off-form outfits? Port Vale’s phenomenal defensive record away from home bodes badly for a Bradford City side averaging less than a goal-a-game across their least 8 league outings. 1-1 is a possibility, 0-0 is also possible given Port Vale’s inability to score lately, but a 1-0 defeat seems the most likely outcome.

Let’s hope the side prove the doubters wrong and produce a spellbinding display that set them on course for a fruitful festive period and a possible promotion push at the end of it!

Final Score:
Bradford City 0 – 1 Port Vale