The Voice - Match preview Bradford City vs Barrow Saturday 18th February @ 3:00pm

League Two Fixture #30

Saturday 18th February 2023 15:00
Bradford City (8th) vs Barrow AFC (14th)
Valley Parade (AKA University of Bradford Stadium)

Most Recent Results:

1: AFC Wimbledon 0 – 0 Bradford City
2: Stockport County 0 – 0 Bradford City
3: Bradford City 1 – 1 Mansfield Town
4: Stevenage 2 – 3 Bradford City
5: Bradford City 2 – 0 Tranmere Rovers

Form: WWDDD

1: Barrow 0 – 2 Northampton Town
2: Carlisle United 5 – 1 Barrow
3: Colchester United 1 – 1 Barrow
4: Barrow 0 – 1 Newport County
5: Doncaster Rovers 1 – 0 Barrow

Form: LLDLL

Head-to-Head Results:

Head-to-Head Form: LWDWL

31 Oct 2020: Barrow 1 – 0 Bradford City
30 Jan 2021: Bradford City 2 – 1 Barrow
18 Sep 2021: Bradford City 1 – 1 Barrow
01 Jan 2022: Barrow 1 – 2 Bradford City
06 Aug 2022: Barrow 3 – 2 Bradford City

Head-to-Head Results (All Time):

Won: 23
Drawn: 14
Lost: 15

Biggest Margin of Victory:

09 Mar 1929: Bradford City 8 – 0 Barrow

NEW FEATURE!

For Better or Worse:
First Half of the Season vs Second Half of the Season Analysis

Stockport County: DEFEAT followed by DRAW – Improvement
Mansfield Town: WIN followed by DRAW – Regression
Stevenage: WIN followed by WIN – Equal
Tranmere Rovers: WIN followed by WIN – Equal
Barrow: DEFEAT followed by ???

Results so far: The second half of the season has seen an regression by 1 point



Barrow AFC 2022/23:
Barrow's extended run of poor form turns up the pressure on manager Wild, as Hornby seeks to downplay recent slide

It's unusual to see an EFL club officials discussing the upcoming Summer transfer window as early as mid-February, but Barrow AFC chairman Paul Hornby has been doing just that as he seeks to ease the pressure on manager Pete Wild amid a slew of disappointing results. Barrow AFC find themselves cast further adrift from the play offs, having spent a good portion of the first half of the campaign in or around the top 7.

Now, though, Barrow are very much mid-slump – and down to 14th in the League Two table. Having picked up just 2 points from their last 6 games, Barrow endured the ignominy of conceding 5 goals for a second time when they travelled to Carlisle United in late January, having let in 5 at high-flying Stevenage back in December. It's not much better at the other end, either: 2 goals scored in their 6 games sees a continuation of poor results that have now seen them pick up just 2 wins in their last 14 league games.

With manager Pete Wild claiming the club received an 'apology' over the officiating during the Carlisle United thrashing, and promising to 'put this right' regarding their extended mini-crisis, it can not be particularly comforting to the Cumbrians to hear the manager is 'frustrated' and discussing 'injustices' on an almost daily basis of late. The most recent miscarriage of justice, in Wild's eyes, coming as Rory Feely received a late red card in a home tie against Newport County, with the Welshmen capitalising with a last minute winner.

While Wild may be attempting to foster a 'Barrow vs The World'-type mentality, from the outside looking in, it looks bleak for Barrow fans right now. An inability to regularly find the net, a dearth of chances in front of goal most games lately, and relegation form on top suggest Barrow might be happy they have already amassed 41 points, and are so far clear of the drop zone.

Then again, if one were to ask Hornby and Wild to take a holistic view of the season, surely both would say Barrow had been overachieving all along, and that the Summer transfer window really does offer Barrow the chance to build, as opposed to rebuild. The table, also, sees the club closer in terms of points to the play off mix than the bottom end of the division. A good run could soon reduce the now 7-point gap between themselves and 7th place.

That said, Barrow are poor travellers this season, sporting an identical record to Tranmere Rovers, who Bradford City bested comfortably on Tuesday night. They will also be without 11 goal forward Josh Gordon, comfortably their most dangerous attacker, though Billy Waters (8) and Ben Whitfield (5) cannot be ignored. No other Barrow player has managed more than 2 league goals this season, while creative forward Gerard Garner, signed from Fleetwood Town in January for a club record fee, has hardly looked prolific in either League One or League Two. 3 goals from 23 total appearances for both clubs suggests leading the line is not his natural forte, although he will seek to break his Barrow duck in only his fourth outing for Pete Wild's men – against an increasingly solid-looking Bradford City defence.

Bradford City 2022/23:
Matt Derbyshire and Jamie Walker are doubts for the weekend, as Andy Cook faces a third former side in four games

Andy Cook has been punishing his former sides lately, as he relishes his return to the starting line up. 3 goals in 3 games has seen Cook climb to second in the League Two scoring charts with a total of 16. Only Kristian Dennis of Carlisle United has scored more, with 17. The golden boot, then, is very much in Cook's line of sight, as he continues to punish former sides with brutal efficiency.

While his opener only earned City a point against Mansfield Town in the end, his penalty against Stevenage proved vital, and the header against Tranmere Rovers proved to be the death knell for the Merseyside club. Barrow, be warned, the City number 9 is in merciless form.

Jamie Walker, with 2 goals in his last 2 outings, would be sorely missed if he does not start against Barrow, however, as he looks to have found form after a miserable first half of the campaign spent blighted by injury. Matt Derbyshire, also, has had a couple of solid outings, and will be hoping to build on his first goal for his new club scored at Stevenage.

Elsewhere, Adam Clayton's set pieces are proving an inspired addition to the City team: two goals in as many home games direct from Clayton's corners have added an extra dimension to a side capable of playing attractive, passing football.

Tuesday's win over Tranmere Rovers sees Bradford City climb to 13th in the 'home' league table, and another win against Barrow would see them ascend further. While there have been too many draws at Valley Parade this season, Bradford City have continued to be very difficult to beat at home with just 3 losses from their first 15 home games. Putting teams to the sword, then, and avoiding costly late goals is the order of the day – and having just recorded a third clean sheet in 5 games, that looks to have been top of the agenda on the training ground.

Things, currently, are looking pretty positive for the Bantams – while they sit 8th in the table, they are just 4 points off the automatic places, and enjoying their best spell of form since October.

Highlights:

Bradford City 2 – 0 Tranmere Rovers



Doncaster Rovers 1 – 0 Barrow



Barrow 3 – 2 Bradford City



Outlook:

For a while, it looked like Bradford City might suffer a similarly poor run of form as Barrow are on right now. 2 wins in 8 league games from a disrupted October-to-December schedule had Bantams fans fearing the worst regarding another potential mid-season drop off – but Mark Hughes, Glyn Hodges, and Stephen Gent have all played their part in a successful January window, giving Bradford City the shot in the arm they so badly needed.

Bradford City, then, have addressed their mini-slump in a manner unmatched by Pete Wild and Barrow. Hughes has taken the club out of their nosedive down the table, while Barrow's fall has only accelerated. It's hard, then, to imagine Pete Wild turning this round on Saturday at one of the form sides in League Two.

It certainly looks like Hughes has found a successful balance in all three tiers of his City side – defence, midfield, and attack – while adding facets of play previously missing, such as danger from set pieces. Confidence is high, even if the fan base continues to feel insecure. Frustrations voiced as City dithered on the ball in the second half against Tranmere Rovers were perhaps unfounded – especially as the victory, in retrospect, was fairly routine and straight forward.

Will nerves still be frayed on Saturday evening, should City dispatch their opponents from Cumbria?

Hopefully not. Bradford City's play appears to have been the stuff of envious admiration for Tranmere Rovers fans, as their side struggled to get a foothold in the game. Barrow, while generally very competitive in terms of possession, often hovering just North of the 50-50 mark, have looked anything but sharp and incisive lately.

They managed only 2 shots on target against Doncaster Rovers last time out, the same again at Colchester United, and just 1 at Carlisle United. Even in their last victory, a 3-2 win at Mansfield Town, Barrow managed just 3 shots on target in total. Away from home, then, Barrow's statistics of hitting the target are nothing short of awful, and consistently so.

For Bradford City, then, this is another must win game. Upsetting the form book would not only hamper the club's promotion plans, but also potentially reintroduce and revitalise another rival!

Can Bradford City continue to build? Or will there be another monumental, Rochdale-esque let down for the already unsettled home fans?

Odds:

EVENS: Bradford City
23/10: Draw
13/5: Barrow

Predicted Outcome (THE VOICE):

Bradford City 3 – 1 Barrow