The Voice - Match preview Bradford City vs Wrexham Saturday 21st October 2023 3:00pm

EFL LEAGUE TWO FIXTURE #13

Saturday 21st October 15:00
Bradford City (11th) vs Wrexham (5th)
University of Bradford Stadium (AKA Valley Parade)

22/23 Results:

Did Not Play

Head-to-Head Form: WDWDL (most recent first)

Won: 34
Drawn: 16
Lost: 24

Current League Form:

Bradford City: WWLLW
Wrexham: WWDDL

WREXHAM

Phil Parkinson’s Wrexham have recorded 3 straight wins in both league and cup, but the thrilling climax to last Saturday’s 3-2 victory over Salford City included strikes in the 88th and 89th minute, leaving the former Bradford City manager feeling “not so pleased” with his side’s “lacklustre” performance.

As City fans will know only too well, it’s somewhat typical of Parkinson to be less-than-satisfied with a win if the overall 90 minutes weren’t well executed. Those exacting standards are what make him one of the best managers in the lower leagues, and one imagines he will be asking for much more from his players ahead of a trip to newly resurgent Bradford City.

Wrexham have had a decent season overall. Sitting in 5th place, Wrexham have lost just 2 league games this season, but have sometimes struggled to convert draws in to wins, leaving them 3 points off top place – a position their high-profile owners no doubt covet this season.

Parkinson has, however, had to contend with the erratic form of the now-retired former England stopper Ben Foster, who called it a day after conceding 5 goals for the second time in 4 league outings when Wrexham had to battle back with 2 last minute goals in a 5-5 thriller at home to Swindon Town. On the opening day, Foster had an equally nightmarish outing, as recently relegated MK Dons lashed another 5 past him, but on that day Wrexham’s penchant for last minute strikes only warranted a 5-3 home defeat (and yes, they did score in the 90th minute).

Veteran goalkeeper Mark Howard plugged the gap between the sticks for a few games before Arsenal’s 22-year-old shot stopper Arthur Okonkwo signed on loan for the remainder of the season. Okonkwo, though, ultimately had to wait for Howard to have his own personal 5-goal nightmare, which came (of all things) away to rivals Stockport County in a crushing 5-0 defeat.

More recently, things don’t seem to have changed too much for a leaky Wrexham back line that immediately conceded several more goals in a 3-3 draw at home to Crewe Alexandra, although the Dragons did put together a couple of clean sheets in the league before narrowly overcoming Salford City in the aforementioned 3-2 home win.

Whatever it is that Phil Parkinson’s men are getting wrong defensively (they are this season’s 3rd worst League Two defence overall), they have gone some way to making up for it with an attack that has scored 27 goals in just 13 games – almost exactly double the tally that Bradford City have managed (14) in the same period. That they missed star striker Paul Mullin for the early part of the season makes that even more impressive, with Elliot Lee (8) leading the way, Ollie Palmer (3) the next highest scorer, and no fewer than 6 other players with a pair each – including Mullin.

Wrexham are a side that don’t seem to overly rely on any single player controlling the game, operating with 5 across the middle in a 3-5-2 that can sometimes become a 5-3-2. Bradford City fans can certainly expect a front 2 of Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer lining up against them, with a central midfield trio most recently taking the form of George Evans, Elliot Lee and James Jones, with James McLean and Jacob Mendy seemingly having secured their positions on the flanks. At the back, Ben Tozer is one of only 4 players to make starts in the double figures, with Thomas O’Connor another. Aaron Hayden has recently been called upon to fill out the first XI – but that’s not to say Parkinson won’t be willing to mix things up, particularly considering the recent performance of midfielder Jordan Davies. Substitute Davies was pivotal in Wrexham’s 3-2 victory over Salford City recently, coming off the bench with 36 minutes to go and rattling off no fewer than 8 shots… he’ll certainly be one to watch.

In terms of discipline, Wrexham have the joint 6th worst record with 28 yellows dished out and 2 straight reds, perhaps typical of the level of combativeness Parkinson expects from his players – though one wonders if a lapse in concentration inside the pressure cooker atmosphere of a rejuvenated Valley Parade might be a possibility…



Wrexham 3-2 Salford City



Crawley Town 0 – 1 Wrexham

BRADFORD CITY

Like Wrexham, Bradford City have made it 3 straight wins across league and cup, but unlike their Welsh opponents the sense of dissatisfaction in performances seems to have lifted from Valley Parade – at least for now. Battling performances, a high press, and more direct play are all markers of some of Bradford City’s most successful teams down the years, and a return to that style of play has been more than welcome following the departure of Mark Hughes.

That’s not to say that away wins over Grimsby Town (EFL Trophy) and AFC Wimbledon (League Two) came easily for the Bantams. Kevin McDonald’s men were largely out-gunned against Wimbledon, and only a return-to-form for goalkeeper Harry Lewis (and the width of a post) prevented The Dons from helping themselves to a share of the spoils. Like Lewis, Emmanuel Osadebe looks like a player reborn after his EFL Trophy heroics with extremely tidy finishes for the winning goals against both Grimsby Town and AFC Wimbledon.

That’s 2 in 2 for Osadebe, putting him behind only Andy Cook (5), Jamie Walker (2) and Alex Pattison (2) as players with more than a single league goal this season. Scoring has indeed been a problem for Bradford City this season, more so due to the lack of fitness of key striker Cook earlier in the campaign. While Cook has been back at it with 5 goals in his last 5 league games, one of the issues the Bantams still needed to address after last season’s ‘nearly’ campaign was goals from elsewhere. Osadebe’s return-to-form will have pleased not only McDonald but Bradford City fans overall, though there remains a lot of work to be done to address the lack of threat from set pieces and the club’s meagre goal-per-game average that sits a little over 1.00.

While recent clean sheets in the league have been well-earned, City’s luck won’t last forever. Lewis performing with a little more confidence, perhaps as a result of no longer having to play out from the back so often, is welcome, but both Wimbledon and Swindon Town had chances to score that other teams might just take.

Kevin McDonald might well choose to bring Osadebe back into the starting line up after a middling performance from Adam Wilson last Saturday, while Oyegoke’s most recent cameos out wide have reminded Bradford City fans why he was signed in the first place – as a right-sided utility player who could, on his day, offer something different. Whether he can displace this season’s feel-good story in Bobby Pointon, however, remains to be seen.



AFC Wimbledon 0 – 1 Bradford City



Bradford City 1 – 0 Swindon Town

THE BREAKDOWN

Bradford City: 15/8
Draw: 9/4
Wrexham: 6/4

It’s unusual to see Bradford City approaching a home game as the underdogs, but such are the expectations surrounding Phil Parkinson’s Wrexham side who have recently turned mediocre performances into wins and continued to be reliable goalscorers. A threat long into the dying minutes of a game, Bradford City will need a true 90-minute performance here (plus injury time) if they’re to stop Wrexham spoiling the party vibes under Kevin McDonald.

For McDonald, that 100 % record must end sometime, but Bantams fans will be desperate that it doesn’t happen against Parkinson’s Wrexham of all teams.

That said, last time Phil Parkinson returned to Valley Parade for league action with a Bolton Wanderers side a couple of places above Stuart McCall’s City side, they clawed their way back from 2-0 down with an impressive second half performance to clinch a 2-2 draw. It almost feels like a repeat of that is a distinct possibility, with Wrexham both leaky at the back and lethal going forward – and with Bradford City playing with a new-found sense of confidence that has seen them conquer 2 other sides currently sitting in the play offs in consecutive league games.

The scale of Kevin McDonald’s achievement with back-to-back wins over Swindon Town and AFC Wimbledon should not be dismissed lightly. One suspects the Scot will have his players geed up in a way that Mark Hughes’ Bradford City just weren’t when they visited Derek Adams’ Morecambe earlier this season, where they were thumped 3-0.

With that said, a draw wouldn’t be the worst result by any means – but maybe, just maybe, McDonald can keep the revival going even if that means riding his luck a little more. The pick, perhaps surprisingly, is a 2-1 home win, though picking City’s results feels like a lottery at this stage, and a lot will depend on whether (in such a situation) City could once again ride out a little bit of ‘squeaky bum time’ late on.

It's also worth remembering that Mark Hughes put one over on Phil Parkinson's Wrexham side earlier this season, when they dispatched the Welshmen on penalties in the EFL Cup, and that was without talismanic striker Andy Cook.

PREDICTION:

Bradford City 2 – 1 Wrexham