The Voice - Match preview Bradford City vs Salford City Sunday January 1 2023 @ 3:00pm

League Two Fixture #23

Sunday 1st January 2023 15:00
Bradford City vs Salford City
Valley Parade (AKA University of Bradford Stadium)

Most Recent Results:

1: Sutton United 0 – 2 Bradford City
2: Bradford City 1 – 3 Northampton Town
3: Leyton Orient 3 – 0 Bradford City
4: Carlisle United 1 – 0 Bradford City
5: Bradford City 1 – 0 Harrogate Town

Form: WLLLW

1: Salford City 0 – 0 Peterborough United
2: Salford City 1 – 4 Carlisle United
3: Gillingham 0 – 3 Salford City
4: Salford City 1 – 1 Barrow
5: Grimsby Town 1 – 4 Salford City

Form: WDWLD

Head-to-Head Results:

Head-to-Head Form: LWWLL

27 Apr 2021: Bradford City 0 – 1 Salford City
11 Sep 2021: Salford City 1 – 0 Bradford City
15 Jan 2022: Bradford City 2 – 1 Salford City
15 Oct 2022: Salford City 0 – 1 Bradford City
22 Nov 2022: Salford City 1 – 0 Bradford City [Football League Trophy]

Head-to-Head Results (All Time):

Won: 2
Drawn 1
Lost: 5

Biggest Margin of Victory:

21 Nov 2020: Salford City 3 – 0 Bradford City

Spoiler: Historic Results Analysis

Prior to the Football League Trophy game in November, Bradford City had started to turn a corner against Salford City with back-to-back league wins in 2022. No doubt Bradford City fans would have been happy enough to sacrifice an EFL Trophy match in favour of 3 vital points in a league match, and if Mark Hughes' men can follow it up with a third straight league win, that will surely indicate a marked improvement under the former Manchester United legend's leadership.

Bradford City have still yet to beat Salford City by more than 1 goal, though, meaning they have failed to threaten to match Salford's impressive 3-0 home win from November 2020, a margin of defeat that will likely still haunt City after this Sunday's encounter.

In any event, taking 6 points in 1 season from Salford City would be a very credible achievement after a couple of season's of misery.

Salford City 2022/23:
Matt Smith inspires a turn-around in form for play off hopefuls Salford City

A recent run of red hot form has seen Salford City progress in the Football League trophy (at Bradford City's expense), racking up 4 wins and 1 draw from their last 5 games in all competitions.

Key to that dramatic improvement has been striker Matt Smith, who helped himself to a hat trick in his last outing against Grimsby Town. Smith has now scored 5 goals in his last 3 games, but prior to his first goal of the season against Carlisle United on November 19, the 6'6 centre forward hadn't scored in any of his first 18 outings in league and cup this season.

What's more, prior to Smith bursting into goalscoring life, Salford City had gone 5 games without a goal in all competitions, spanning late October right through to mid-November. If the signs are ominous for City, they can take solace from the fact that Salford's recent revival has coincided with a string of games against teams in the bottom half: of Salford City's 3 most recent League Two wins, all were against sides placed 16th or lower.

Still, wins breed confidence, and Salford City find themselves in 8th place, 1 below Bradford City, with just 1 point separating the two sides.

In truth, the stats for the two sides as we approach the season's halfway point are remarkably similar. Salford City have scored 28 goals, conceding 20, compared to City's 27 scored and 21 conceded. The two have won precisely 10 league games each, though Bradford City have managed to convert 1 additional draw (and hence 1 less defeat) across their 22 games this season.

That's not bad for Neil Wood's first term in charge of Salford City, and a large part of their success has been down to a settled back line featuring Ibou Touray, Theo Vassell, and Luke Bolton, and a reliable midfield of Ryan Watson, Elliot Watt, and Callum Hendry. While the other positions have been up for grabs for Salford City, all eyes will be on how Bradford City are able to deal with the sheer physical and aerial threat of Smith when the Ammies arrive at Valley Parade.

Can he continue his mini-spell of excellent form, and continue to spur Salford City onwards into the play off mix?

Bradford City will certainly hope that keeping the big man quiet will stifle the largest aspect of Salford's attacking threat once again.

Bradford City 2022/23:
Victory at last, as City bury their Harrogate hoodoo with vital six point haul

Speaking of six point hauls, Bradford City have an opportunity to register back-to-back home and away wins over a League Two rival as Salford City head to Valley Parade following Harrogate Town's humbling on Thursday night. With the away win against Salford in the bag, Bradford City will be hoping for more of the same on New Year's Day.

Arresting a four game losing streak against Harrogate Town was arguably more vital than beating their Yorkshire rivals in both League Two contests this season, however, as Mark Hughes' men showed the grit and determination required to dig themselves out of a pit of increasing despair.

What's more, it was Bradford City's first victory on home soil since the 3-0 win over Stevenage way back in mid-September – arresting an increasing sense of frustration among the home faithful. That's that braved the cold for the Thursday night game were treated to a resilient display against an in-form Harrogate Town side that had been chasing a fourth straight league win.

They couldn't get one. An early goal from Tyreik Wright sunk Harrogate, and the winger looked like he'd helped himself to a second before the offside flag ruined the party. Still, Harrogate Town were limited to few meaningful opportunities, as Bradford City got the basics right with a new-look 4-3-3 (or 4-4-2 Diamond) formation.

Vadaine Oliver made a rare start up front, and had a reasonable game, winning most of his headers and even drawing the worst foul of the game from defender Joe Mattock. Levi Sutton also came in and put in an industrious shift, bolstering the midfield area – and Bradford City fans might fancy something similar on Sunday.

Romoney Crichlow was at his best in central defence, inspiring an assured performance from a back line that has struggled in recent outings, while both full backs were able to roam forward more freely.

It was a solid performance that thwarted Harrogate hot shot Luke Armstrong; now, on to another form striker in a different mould.

Highlights:

Salford City 0 – 1 Bradford City



Salford City 1 – 0 Bradford City



Outlook:

All signs point to a 1-0 win either way, as two sides not renowned for high-scoring thrillers meet. While Salford City have been able to dispatch Grimsby Town and Gillingham with ease in recent league games, they have looked far less capable against mid-table sides such as Barrow (1-1) and AFC Wimbledon (0-0). What's more, Carlisle United hammered them 4-1 as recently as mid-November.

That's not to say Salford City's recently improved form is all smoke and mirrors; their recent five-game run of positive results (4 wins, 1 draw) accounts for a 1-0 win over Bradford City, no less, in the EFL Trophy.

Still, the EFL Trophy does not match the importance of a League Two fixture against a play off rival...

Bradford City's 1-0 win over Harrogate ended a miserable run of form, but did little to improve the dismal goalscoring record The Bantams have amassed since recording back-to-back away wins over Mansfield Town and Sutton United back in early November. 2 goals scored in 5 games simply isn't good enough, and the pressure will remain on the forwards for this one.

Speaking of forwards, 36 year old striker Matt Derbyshire could theoretically make an appearance after signing from Indian Super League side North East United. That would certainly be an inclusion Neil Wood and Salford City could hardly have prepared for, though it may yet prove too soon for the well-travelled veteran striker.

Much more likely is the prospect of Tyreik Wright playing up front alongside either Andy Cook or Vadaine Oliver. Either will look like a decent option considering Cook's quality goalscoring record this season, and the fact that Oliver performed manfully against Harrogate Town.

While the match has a bit of a coin toss feel to it, it's too tempting to plump for a 1-0 win for Bradford City, improving their miserable recent home record, as well as recording back-to-back wins following the humblings at the hands of Northampton Town and Leyton Orient respectively. There's certainly nothing to suggest Salford City are equipped to dole out a footballing lesson as those two sides did; and if Bradford City can show the same kind of character they did on Thursday night, they should be able to work their way towards another win this weekend.

Odds:

Evens: Bradford City
5/2: Draw
11/4: Salford City

Predicted Outcome (THE VOICE):

Bradford City 1 – 0 Salford City