Match Thread Notts County vs Bradford City Saturday 18th November 2023 12:30pm

EFL LEAGUE TWO FIXTURE #18

Saturday 18th November 2023 12:30
Notts County (5th) vs Bradford City (18th)
Meadow Lane

22/23 Results:

Did Not Play

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

Won: 23
Drawn: 16
Lost: 28

Current League Form:

Bradford City: LLLDW
Notts County: LLWWL

NOTTS COUNTY

2 teams have beaten Notts County at Meadow Lane in the league this season: Mansfield Town and Wrexham. Mansfield Town sit 3rd in the League Two table, and Wrexham sit 2nd. No other team has managed to lay a glove on Notts County at home, not even so much as earning a draw. That said, in cup competitions, Notts County have lost on home soil on 3 additional occasions: to League One Lincoln City in the EFL Cup, and to Wolves U21’s and League One Derby County in the EFL Trophy. Sufficed to say, all those teams are significantly better placed in the EFL pyramid than Saturday’s visitors Bradford City.

One of only 5 teams to have scored more than 30 goals so far this campaign, Notts County are undoubtedly one of the most potent attacking sides in the division. That said, the defensive side of this Notts County side isn’t up to the same standard. While they’ve netted no fewer than 33 goals in 17 league fixtures, they’ve also conceded a rather startling 29: only 5 league two sides have conceded more.

It’s been raining goals, then, for Notts County under Luke Williams, making the Magpies head coach one of the most sought-after figures in the fourth tier. Oxford United may well have plucked Williams from Meadow Lane by the time Saturday afternoon rolls round, a prospect in stark contrast to the departure of Bradford City’s previous manager, former Manchester City man Mark Hughes. Last season’s Conference Premier play off success will be key to Williams’ attractiveness to external suitors, but Notts County have also made an impressive start to life back in the football league: though just recently, there are signs of a wobble.

The aforementioned defeats against automatic promotion rivals have knocked County out of the top 3, and another loss last weekend to Crewe Alexandra saw the Railwaymen leapfrog Notts County into 4th place. Defeats in such high stakes games may have rocked some of the confidence oozing out of Meadow Lane, but there is still a distinct lack of defeats to lower-placed opposition.

Even between the Wrexham and Crewe losses, Notts County ran out 3-2 winners in a typically open encounter at home to Crawley Town, and before that they thumped Newport County 3-0 at home. Put simply, County look well-equipped to dispatch lesser opponents, even if they’d obviously prefer to take more points in crucial top-of-the-table clashes.

The fact that Notts County have 3 players in the League Two top 20 goalscorers so far this season is part of the reason they are so hard to handle for opposition defences. Macauley Langstaff (11) perhaps unsurprisingly leads the way, though Dan Crowley (7) and David McGoldrick (6) also ensure there are no easy days at the office for opposition center halves. Jodi Jones (3) and John Bostock (2) might be the only other players to have netted on more than one occasion in the league, but when your attack is as reliable and razor-sharp as the County front 3, that becomes less of an issue.

Notts County are extremely possession-based in terms of their general play, and routinely harbour 60-65 % of the ball – though it has been as high as 75 % against Morecambe (away) earlier this season, and hovered close to 70 % in other fixtures. Only Swindon Town managed to retain more of the possession in their fixture at Meadow Lane in early October, but it didn’t help much: County ran out 3-1 winners.

That said, County’s back line hasn’t really benefitted from that possession-based style, a gripe that Bradford City fans might be familiar with under the now-departed Mark Hughes. A 5-4 defeat at Colchester United, for example, saw Colchester net all 5 with a possession percentage of just 34.7 – though they did have a man sent off after 79 minutes…

It will be Graham Alexander’s job, then, to find a way to maximise the returns from County’s leaky defence but balancing that with ensuring his own back line are up to scratch is a balancing act few teams have achieved so far this season. That said, if there is a new manager in the Notts County dug out, and there are some lingering effects from disappointing recent clashes with top-of-the-table opposition, this might not be the worst time to play the Magpies. That said, County could be out to make a show for any prospective new head coach, and to reaffirm their status as one of League Two’s best sides.



Crewe Alexandra 1 – 0 Notts County



Notts County 3 -2 Crawley Town

BRADFORD CITY

Graham Alexander’s first game in charge of Bradford City was hardly an exercise in the total overhaul of a side on stuttering form. In fact, the performance will have held an air of unwelcome familiarity for the Valley Parade faithful, with a high possession percentage leading to little of any real note in terms of attacking intent.

Though Bradford City were on top in the second half and managed more efforts both on goal and on target, City fans might struggle to name many such opportunities beyond the pair that fell to Tyler Smith – one of which was saved brilliantly at point blank range by Barrow goalkeeper Paul Farman.

Smith’s effort that did go in, his fourth in two starts after netting a hattrick against Manchester City U21’s, was for nought though, as Dom Telford and defender George Ray helped them to a goal apiece in either half to run out 2-1 winners. That Telford’s goal came within the very first minute must have been the stuff of nightmares for Alexander and Lucketti in the Bradford City dug out for the very first time, but their side at least showed enough resilience to avoid falling to pieces. In truth, though, Barrow never really asked many questions of City. Pete Wild’s men were perfectly happy to park the bus for long periods, but still ultimately found their way through an off-form Bantams back line just often enough to register a full haul of 3 valuable league points.

There were some boos at the final whistle, but referee David Webb may have attracted those himself with a very indifferent performance in the middle of the park. If not, and the derision was aimed at City once again for failing to perform at Valley Parade then Graham Alexander Chris Lucketti might find they don’t get very much of a honeymoon period in charge of a frustrated and frustrating Bantams squad.

2-1 defeats now seem to be a growingly familiar scoreline for Bradford City – Barrow, Wycombe Wanderers (EFL Cup), Sutton United, and Tranmere Rovers have all registered wins by that scoreline in City’s last 10 outings, while City have netted just once 8 times in that same period – that’s an 80 % hit rate for single goal tallies.

Alexander and Lucketti will have their hands full trying to coax more goals from this City side, though generally speaking Notts County will offer opposition attackers opportunities on goal. Can City show that a front 2 of Andy Cook and Tyler Smith pack enough of a punch, or will City end up closer still to the bottom 2 come Saturday evening?



Bradford City 1 – 2 Barrow



Sutton United 2 – 1 Bradford City