The Voice - Match preview Barrow vs Bradford City Tuesday 23 April 2024 7.45pm (with exciting New Poll)

EFL LEAGUE TWO FIXTURE #34
Saturday 24th February 2024 15:00
Barrow (6th) vs Bradford City (13th)
SO Legal Stadium (AKA Holker Street)

22/23 & 23/24 Results:

06 Aug 2022: Barrow 3 – 2 Bradford City
18 Feb 2023: Bradford City 0 – 1 Barrow
11 Nov 2023: Bradford City 1 – 2 Barrow

Head-to-Head Form: LLLWD (most recent result first)

Won: 23
Drawn: 14
Lost: 17

Current League Form:

Bradford City: WWWDL
Barrow: LLLWD

BARROW

3 straight defeats and just 2 wins from their last 11 league games have seen Barrow drop out of immediate automatic contention, sitting a full 6 points behind Wrexham in 3rd. The Cumbrians still have a 5 point cushion within the play off structure, however, where they currently sit in 6th place – but they will be aware of the chasing pack of 10 League 2 sides bunched up between 7th and 16th who are currently only 3 points apart!

If Barrow’s poor run of form continues, Pete Wild’s side are likely to be swallowed up by that peloton whose progress is looking increasingly ominous. Sat in the middle of that group are this weekend’s opponents Bradford City. A fourth straight defeat for the Bluebirds in what looks like a true 6-pointer could have considerable consequences.

For now, Barrow have a 7-point lead on the Bantams, and while a draw would be far from ideal with so many sides hot on their tails, it would at least maintain that buffer against Saturday’s opposition. Defeat, however, and Bradford City will be just 4 points behind Barrow, and on much better form – with the possibility of sides like Harrogate Town and Gillingham settling in just 2 points behind them. Too close for comfort? You bet!

In any event, Barrow’s fate remains in their own hands thanks to a superb first half of the season that saw them win 7 straight League Two games between October 31st and December 22nd. That should be of comfort to Pete Wild and his players, but only so far as they manage to fend off the chasing pack. Recent defeats to Salford City (5-3), Forest Green Rovers (2-1) and AFC Wimbledon (2-0) have seen Wild tell the local media his side are not ‘panicking’. Saturday’s 5-goal salvo from Salford City had Wild questioning the one-to-one defending on display, but not the way his side are selected or opt to play: “We have done so well to get to this position,” Wild told the local newspaper The Mail, “so the key message from me is that we keep doing what we do.”

Improvements will be demanded, but not at the expense of ripping up the script. Will it pay off?

Against Bradford City, victory would be huge. With Barrow, like City, having played 33 games, many of the teams around them (and below them) have a game in hand. 7 of the 10-team peloton could creep even closer without Barrow so much as kicking a ball, even more so if they continue to drop points. The January signing of Cole Stockton has gifted them a potent goalscorer at this level, and he has already claimed 4 goals across 5 starts for the Bluebirds. That puts him just behind Ben Whitfield (7), Kian Spence (6) and Emile Acquah (5) while looking likely to overtake the trio sooner rather than later. Their Summer signing of Dom Telford (4) hasn’t quite worked out as well but remains a highly regarded centre forward at League Two level. Niall Canavan, Dean Campbell, and George Ray have all added 3 goals each in addition, making Barrow’s current tally of 47 league goals a real team effort.

The togetherness implied by the sharing out of goals is typical of a Pete Wild side, and that will be something they look to lean heavily upon as they approach the final 13 games of the regular league season. Whether they are to reach the playoffs will be determined during this period, but the sooner they start winning games, the better.

Now, the form table makes for grim reading, and Barrow’s home form has been nothing to write home about either. Yes, the Cumbrians have been tough to beat, with only 2 league defeats at Holker Street, but they’ve also drawn a further 6. The 7 wins they have enjoyed have them sat 13th in the ‘Home’ league table, but now they prepare to face a side sat 10th in the ‘Away’ league table. Turning some of those draws into wins at Holker Street is an objective of primary importance, but even more urgent is to snap their current 3-game skid.

Bradford City might be seen as welcome opponents, though: Barrow have beaten Bradford City in all 3 of their most recent encounters.



Salford City 5 – 3 Barrow

BRADFORD CITY

Bradford City exited the EFL Trophy at the semi-final stage with their heads held high.

Wednesday night’s fixture saw Bradford City outplay their League One opponents Wycombe Wanderers for long spells, but a combination of disappointing finishing and an inspired performance from goalkeeper Max Stryjek saw them fail to convert any of their 19 total chances. A late winner from substitute Matt Butcher was a sickener: a brutal smash and grab at the end of an entertaining fixture from which Bradford City probably deserved much more.

That defeat takes the prospect of a double visit to Wembley off the cards: the focus now has to be on making a run at the play offs. Bradford City have been making great strides in this regard with back-to-back wins over promotion chasers Wrexham and MK Dons, as well as avoiding a potential banana skin in the shape of Steve Morison’s struggling Sutton United. A 1-0 win at home to Sutton last Saturday made it 5 straight clean sheets, a brilliant defensive run they came so close to extending against Wycombe Wanderers on Wednesday night.

Graham Alexander must now pick up his players, particularly the clearly dejected Sam Stubbs, whose error led to Butcher’s last minute winner. Saturday’s game against Barrow is all about momentum, and if Bradford City can make it 4 league wins in a row, no doubt the long-suffering City faithful will start to believe this season’s league campaign hasn’t been a total bust after all.

While Bradford’s 4-0 win over MK Dons looks to be an anomaly amid a run of 1-0’s and 0-0’s that stretches back to their EFL Trophy Quarter Final win over Doncaster Rovers, they might just look at this Barrow game as a chance to score more than 1. With Barrow having leaked 9 goals in their last 3 league fixtures, City will hope that the returning Andy Cook (suspended for the Wycombe game) can get back to form alongside a new-look strike force also involving the impressive Calum Kavanagh and the reborn Clark Oduor. Kavanagh, who already has 2 goals for the Bantams after a deadline day switch from Middlesbrough, has been enjoying his football for City, while Oduor has put in a string of eye-catching performances. Jake Young and Tyreik Wright will also be waiting in the wings, eagerly anticipating their own opportunity to make an impression on a season imbued with a new lease of life by Graham Alexander’s management.

While Graham’s tactics remain defence-first, the success of his strategy cannot be denied. If 1-0’s are what it takes to make a run at promotion, few City fans will bemoan it: at one point it looked inconceivable, but now Bradford City might just be about to take the season by the scruff of the neck after all.

Brad Halliday and Alex Gilliead’s endless work has been matched by a sturdy run of form for the unlikely back 3 of Ciaran Kelly, Jon Tomkinson and Matty Platt, while goalkeeper Sam Walker has looked like an astute replacement for Harry Lewis. With things clicking at present, it’s all about keeping their forward momentum going, and in that sense they might just be about to play Barrow at just the right time…



Bradford City 1 – 0 Sutton United

 

THE BREAKDOWN

13/8: Barrow
11/5: Draw
13/8: Bradford City

Pete Wild’s record against Bradford City has been exemplary so far, but even he admitted Barrow rode their luck to a victory this past November. The previous February, Barrow approached a daunting tie at Valley Parade on the back of a 6-game winless run – slightly worse than the present situation, but similar nonetheless – and their 1-0 win was met with ‘sheer relief’ from the Barrow boss.

That the two situations are so comparable – again, in February – is a bad omen for a Bradford City side on good form. It will not, however, dictate what either side is able to do on Saturday afternoon, with Bradford City now playing a completely different style of football under manager Graham Alexander than under previous incumbent Mark Hughes. Alexander’s focus on hard work is exemplified by players like Brad Halliday, a defender-cum-wing back whose determined drives down the right flank have unlocked opportunities on multiple occasions in recent weeks. Previously, the focus was on possession and drawing teams out, a tactic that almost saw City promoted last season.

Can Graham Alexander bring success with his own brand of football? Certainly we’ve seen his City side embark on a good run of form before, when they won 6 games in a row across both league and cup, only to then fail to win any of their subsequent 7 league games. Bradford City most likely don’t have time for another dour run as long as that without falling short of the play offs, making it ever more important that they continue their consistent run of form.

Bradford City can drag Barrow further towards the chasing pack of 10 teams all chomping at the bit for a chance to finish in the top 7, but nothing but a win will do on Saturday afternoon. Whether that win comes by way of a smash and grab – like they inflicted upon Wrexham but suffered against Wycombe Wanderers – or something more eye-catching is almost by-the-by. It’s all about results right now, or more accurately, points on the board.

That does not, however, mean that Bradford City will simply trot up to Barrow-in-Furness and claim victory. Bradford City aren’t scoring many, and while Barrow’s defence has looked a little leaky lately, they’ve also continued to score goals in all but 1 of their games since October 18. While AFC Wimbledon were able to shut out the Bluebirds in a 2-0 win, none of their other 20 opponents have been able to do so since Salford City claimed a 0-0 draw at Holker Street. Expecting a clean sheet for City on Saturday as a result of City’s form? Absolutely, why not? But factor in Barrow’s form, and that suddenly looks a monumental challenge for Graham Alexander’s men – particularly with Cole Stockton having netted 4 goals in his last 4 outings.

The pick, then, is a slightly frustrating 1-1 draw that isn’t quite what either club will feel they need at this stage of the season. That said, momentum is firmly in City’s favour, and if they can somehow manage to shut out Barrow or punish their faltering defence with more than 1 goal, a massively important win is certainly not out of the question!

PREDICTION:

Barrow 1 – 1 Bradford City