The Voice - Match preview #34: Salford City vs Bradford City Saturday 1st March 2025 12:30pm

EFL League Two Fixture #34
Saturday 1st March 2025 12:30
Salford City (9th) vs Bradford City (2nd)
Peninsula Stadium (AKA Moor Lane)

Record:
Games Won: 4
Games Drawn: 3
Games Lost: 5

Last 5:
22 Nov 2022: Salford City 1 – 0 Bradford City [EFL Trophy]
01 Jan 2023: Bradford City 3 – 2 Salford City
23 Jan 2024: Bradford City 1 – 1 Salford City
13 Apr 2024: Salford City 1 – 2 Bradford City
17 Aug 2024: Bradford City 0 – 0 Salford City

Salford City:
Salford City enjoyed imperious form from mid-October right the way through until early January, winning 13 of 19 games across all competitions, but an 8-0 hammering at Premier League giants Manchester City seems to have slowed down their promotion charge. Since then, Salford City have won just 1 of their last 8 league games, drawing 3 and losing a further 4. Recent defeats against promotion rivals AFC Wimbledon and Port Vale have been particularly bitter pills to swallow, with Salford City now sat in 9th place.

Bizarrely, this is the second side Bradford City have faced this season where a ‘dream’ money-spinning tie became something of a nightmare: earlier in the season, Barrow found themselves drubbed 5-0 at Chelsea and thus ended their bright start to the campaign! Salford City are in danger of similarly falling away, but all that can be put right with a win on home soil against red hot Bradford City.

The good news for Salford City is their extended and excellent run of home form has not completely abandoned them. Having won 5 straight games at the Peninsula Stadium without conceding a single goal from late November through to late December, Salford City have been able to grab 5 points from their last 4 home league games even amid their more recent slump in form. Their recent 2-0 win over Tranmere Rovers (Salford City’s 100th EFL win) followed back-to-back draws against Bromley and Newport County, with their sole home defeat since November 9 coming right before that against Fleetwood Town.

Sat 7th in the ‘Home’ league table, Salford City are certainly not a side to take lightly at the Peninsula Stadium. While they haven’t quite hit the levels of Saturday afternoon’s opponents Bradford City in terms of scintillating home form, 29 points from 16 home league games is nonetheless a very creditable effort.

Key to Salford City’s success this season have been Cole Stockton (9) and Hakeeb Adelakun (8). Adelakun in particular has made a huge contribution after missing nearly 3 months of football between mid-September and mid-December, and has recently hit his stride with 6 goals in his past 8 league games. Stockton, meanwhile, has enjoyed far more game time and was pivotal to Salford City’s purple patch between November and January. Since then, he has netted just twice in 9 league games, taking a back seat to prolific wideman Adelakun. Striker Kylian Kouassi (3) and ex-Bantam Matty Lund (3) join Ben Woodburn as the only other players to have scored more than twice in the league this campaign.

Manager Karl Robinson has bemoaned injuries recently, stating he had 12-13 players were out of action for the 2-1 defeat against Port Vale last Saturday, as well as battling illnesses within the camp – though Port Vale also had their share of injuries for that game, in fairness. Perhaps these absences have contributed to Salford City’s overall loss of form, though again, the damage has been limited with some respectable form at the Peninsula Stadium. Robinson was also keen to point out the very positive, very resilient mentality of his players.

Port Vale 2 – 1 Salford City


AFC Wimbledon 1 – 0 Salford City


Bradford City:
Bradford City’s fantastic form continued with a 1-0 away win at Bromley in a game that saw them grab a rare away league win, their first since January 18th. It took a late goal from home grown talent Bobby Pointon to finally seal all 3 points, with the game looking in danger of petering out to a second successive 0-0 away draw. The introduction of substitute Jamie Walker saw the popular Scot grab an assist, showing the real strength in depth available to Graham Alexander at present.

Antoni Sarcevic had another good game, and though some players struggled more than others to get to grips with the heightened expectations of City fans, the end result saw the Bantams keeping yet another clean sheet – this their fifth in a row in league action! More than that, City have now conceded just 1 goal in 9 league games, that sole effort coming from AFC Wimbledon in a painful 1-0 defeat at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.

Now placed as high as 12th in the ‘Away’ league table, Graham Alexander’s men look like they might finally be ready to improve that all-important form on the road as they hunt down a top 3 spot and automatic promotion to League One. While a ‘top 7’ place in the ‘Away’ league table remains 5 points off at present, a second straight win against injury hit Salford City would be a huge boon for the club. As outlined above, Salford City are a good home side and have enjoyed excellent success at the Peninsula Stadium mid-season – if the Bantams can shut them out and grab all 3 points, even the most hardcore of pessimists might be tempted to believe the club is on the cusp of something special.

That said, it will not be an easy task for a Bradford City side still averaging less than a goal-a-game on the road to go to a Top 7 ‘Home’ side and win. All eggs are in firmly in one basket, a basket marked: watertight defence. City will – once again – need to use that as a springboard to nick a winner at the other end The script is set, then, the question now is: can City get the job done?

With Pointon having bagged in back-to-back away games including the EFL Trophy defeat at Birmingham City, there’s no question he is one of the midfielders in the mood for goals at the moment. Sarcevic, likewise, has been on superb form, while few will forget Pattison’s worldie against Accrington Stanley recently. If the club can just get one of their strikers – either Michael Mellon or someone else – up and running, then they really will look a force to be reckoned with…

Bromley 0 – 1 Bradford City


Bradford City 2 – 0 MK Dons


Prediction:
As much as Karl Robinson might bemoan the current injury crisis at Salford City, the fact is the first XI picked for the Port Vale defeat have played a lot of football this campaign. It isn’t the case that Salford City have been reduced to youngsters and fringe players, at least in terms of those starting games. Hakeeb Adelakun was the player with the least number of appearances for Salford City this season, and even he has appeared 18 times for the Lancashire side this term after missing much of the first third of the season through injury. Adelakun currently ranks as the club’s second highest goalscorer with 8 having enjoyed excellent goalscoring form of late.

It might be slim pickings in terms of options off the bench and opportunities to change tactics for Robinson, but a core of first team players remains available. Contrast this to Bradford City’s fortunes at times this season, when Graham Alexander had just two centre backs to choose from at one stage for example, and it’s hard to feel too sorry for Salford City. They certainly aren’t the only club with injury woes, and more to the point, they should not be underestimated by any means.

Salford City like to score at home. They have bagged 6 goals in their last 3 outings at the Peninsula Stadium, and the somewhat anomalous 2-0 home defeat to Fleetwood Town was the first time since September that the Ammies had failed to score on home turf. Even Bradford City’s phenomenal defensive record of late will be put to the test.

With that said, it’s hard to dismiss the chances of another Bradford City win. While performances haven’t always been breathless by any means, Bradford City have been grinding out wins in relentless fashion. Another 1-0 victory for Graham Alexander’s men is perfectly plausible, as is the prospect of a 0-0 if City dominate but fail to convert. But the odds look to be in Salford City’s favour that they will be the team to finally put a goal past Sam Walker this weekend – the question is, what can City do in reply?

The pick will be a 1-1 draw with the Bantams just lacking that little bit of additional goal power to sink a genuinely good home team. Honours even will be no disgrace, however, and the Bantams will then be back at Valley Parade for three of their next four games. That will be the time this side can truly lay down a marker for the rest of the division and maybe even hunt down Walsall for that vaunted top spot!

Final Score:

Salford City 1 – 1 Bradford City