The Voice - Match preview Bradford City vs Northampton Town Saturday 19th November @ 3:00pm

League Two Fixture #19

Saturday 19th November 15:00
Bradford City vs Northampton Town
Valley Parade (AKA University of Bradford Stadium)

Most Recent Results:

1: Grimsby Town 0 – 0 Bradford City
2: Bradford City 1 – 1 Swindon Town
3: Bradford City 1 – 1 Crawley Town
4: Mansfield Town 1 – 2 Bradford City
5: Sutton United 0 – 2 Bradford City

Form: WWDDD

1: Leyton Orient 0 – 0 Northampton Town
2: Stevenage 2 – 3 Northampton Town
3: Northampton Town 2 – 2 Sutton United
4: Northampton Town 1 – 1 Newport County
5: Gillingham 0 – 2 Northampton Town

Form: WDDWD

Head-to-Head Results:

Head-to-Head Form:

23 Sep 2017: Northampton Town 0 – 1 Bradford City
13 Jan 2018: Bradford City 1 – 2 Northampton Town
07 Sep 2019: Bradford City 2 – 1 Northampton Town
20 Nov 2021: Bradford City 1 – 1 Northampton Town
09 Apr 2022: Northampton Town 0 – 0 Bradford City

Head-to-Head Results (All Time): DDWLW

Won: 22
Drawn: 7
Lost: 7

Biggest Margin of Victory:

17 Feb 1974: Northampton Town 3 – 0 Bradford City [League Division Four]
18 May 2013: Bradford City 3 – 0 Northampton Town [League Two Play Off Final]

Spoiler: Historic Results Analysis

Bradford City fans will never forget the events of 18 May 2013, when Phil Parkinson's Bradford City blew Northampton Town away in 45 minutes of sheer brilliance!

Goals from James Hanson, Rory McArdle and Nahki Wells sent City fans into raptures, and Bradford City into League One – with the result coming amid a run of 9 victories and 2 draws from 11 games against The Cobblers. Certainly that result was a stand out, but the history between the two clubs has seen Bradford City dominate their East Midlands rivals.

22 wins, 7 draws and 7 defeats paints a pretty picture for Bradford City fans. The good times were rolling back in the late 70's and early 80's, too, as The Bantams recorded 7 straight wins – all in League Division Four.

Recently, though, the honours have been shared more evenly. In the last four games, the clubs have drawn twice, and won one game apiece – signifying that things may have finally tightened up.

Northampton Town 2022/23:

Jon Brady was appointed caretaker manager in February of 2020/21, but was unable to prevent his side being relegated. Nonetheless, Northampton Town backed Brady as manager, and came within a whisker of promotion last season – the club lost out not on points, not even on goal difference, but on goals scored.

It could not have been any tighter, but Brady's men only had themselves to blame after Bristol Rovers pipped them to the post with a crucial 7-0 win over relegated Scunthorpe United. Northampton Town, for their part, win 3-1 on the final day, and were shell-shocked to learn that was not good enough. The play off semi finals didn't go Northampton Town's way, either, as Mansfield Town beat them twice, consigning them to another term in the basement division.

If the play offs are not friendly to Northampton Town, then they will want to do everything in their power to maintain their strong start to the 22/23 season, which sees them sat in third position at present. With Bradford City in fourth, and with The Bantams serving of another reminder of play off heartbreak (2013), defending their position in the automatic promotion places will be of paramount importance going forward.

Unfortunately for The Cobblers, League Two's top goalscorer Sam Hoskins (13 goals from 13 starts) is unavailable after picking up a fifth booking of the season in the 2-0 win at Gillingham. He will be sorely missed against Bradford City, who boast the division's second-highest goalscorer – who will be playing.

Northampton Town aren't a one-man team, however. The club's next highest scorer, Kieron Bowie, may have only netted 4 times in the league, but he did score in the last game, and also scored in a crucial 3-2 at promotion rivals Stevenage. Defenders Jon Guthrie and Tylor Magloire, forward Louis Appere, and midfielder Mitch Pinnock have all got 2 goals each, outlining the threat posed by the rest of the Northampton Town team.

Of note for Bradford City fans is that Northampton Town, like The Bantams, have made excellent travellers this season. Having earned 5 wins, 3 draws and just 1 defeat on the road, Northampton Town are third in the 'away' league table – 1 place and 1 point behind Bradford City.

Their only away defeat of the league campaign came against Walsall – a 1-0 defeat, with prolific forward Danny Johnson getting the only goal of the game, although they did also lose 1-0 at Chesterfield in the FA Cup despite naming a strong side.

Typically, Northampton Town have done well against their promotion rivals. A win at Stevenage (2nd) followed a draw at Leyton Orient (1st), while they also beat Swindon Town 2-1 away (6th) and Barrow 3-1 at home (5th), ensuring that they have taken 10 points from a possible 12 against their top 6 opponents.

Bradford City 2022/23:

If Northampton Town are going to miss Sam Hoskins, Bradford City will be delighted that their top goalscorer Andy Cook is looking back to his best form after rattling in 2 goals in his 2 games. There was a hint of offside in the goal that opened the scoring at Sutton United this past Saturday, but there was nothing fortunate about his solo effort against Mansfield Town the week before – with his goals helping to secure back-to-back league wins for the first time since mid-September.

It's also likely no coincidence that those wins have coincided with the return of goalscoring winger Scott Banks, who scored a wonder goal to secure a 2-0 away win at Sutton United. Bradford City fans will be hoping for more of the same at Valley Parade this weekend, where The Bantams have failed to win any of their last 4 home league games (or any of their last 6 league and cup games played at home).

While those stats at home are not promising for City, the fact they are back to scoring more regularly is an extremely welcome development. City hadn't scored 2 in a game in any competition for 7 games – and had won just once during that period. While their defensive performances have been consistently impressive, the mini-drought in front of goal had become worrisome.

Until now.

4 goals in their last 2 have outlined the fact that 2 appears to be the magic number for Mark Hughes' men. Only twice have sides taken anything away from a two-goal Bradford City haul, and only once at Valley Parade (Bradford City 2-2 AFC Wimbledon). They will know if they continue their goalscoring form that the pressure will be on Northampton to find a way to salvage a point.

Highlights:

Sutton United 0 – 2 Bradford City



Mansfield Town 1 – 2 Bradford City



Gillinham 0 – 2 Northampton Town



Chesterfield 1 – 0 Northampton Town (FA Cup)



Outlook:

The stand out facts ahead of this crucial 3rd place vs 4th place tie surround the absence of Northampton Town's top scorer, Sam Hoskins, as well as an unexpected disparity between Bradford City's home form and Northampton Town's away form.

Bradford City sit 13th in the 'home' league table, while Northampton Town are almost as good as The Bantams on their travels, sitting 3rd in the 'away' league table. While Northampton Town have picked up 4 more points in away games than Bradford City have managed at Valley Parade, City have remained resolutely hard to beat, even amidst a disappointing run of results at home.

At Valley Parade, Bradford City have only lost once – it's draws that have been the downfall of Mark Hughes' men. 5 draws at home is a divisional high – nobody else in League Two has achieved that largely unwelcome statistic, and the result has been the breeding of a pessimistic mentality. To hear grumbles about the overall performance of a team sat in 4th place is extremely unusual, but Mark Hughes and his players must find a way to redress the balance.

A cursory glance, then, might suggest Northampton Town should come in favourites for this tie. That isn't what the details suggest, however. While a draw may be the most likely outcome, the extra factors surrounding Hoskins' absence and Bradford City's recent improvement in terms of performances and results suggests this could be the time The Bantams are finally able to turn the corner at Valley Parade.

Andy Cook, Scott Banks, and Tyreik Wright have all looked extremely dangerous for Bradford City this season, and even with Wright absent at Sutton United, the returning Abo Eisa performed admirably on his first start since February 27th 2021. With Dion Pereira, Lee Angol and Vadaine Oliver all highly eager to impress, Mark Hughes once again finds himself with an embarrassment of riches in attacking positions that can only be improved upon the return of one other long-term absentee – Jamie Walker.

Can Northampton Town deal with that firepower? Certainly clean sheets have not been on the agenda much recently for The Cobblers – their 2-0 win at Gillingham marks the first time the club have avoided conceding for 5 games. During that run, Northampton Town conceded 9 goals – a stat which could leave City's forward line salivating ahead of a fixture City have historically enjoyed...

Odds:

Evens: Bradford City
23/10: Draw
14/5: Northampton Town

Predicted Outcome (THE VOICE):

Bradford City 3-1 Northampton Town