The Voice - Match preview Salford City vs Bradford City Saturday 15th October @ 3:00pm

League Two Fixture #13

Saturday 15th October 15:00
Salford City vs Bradford City
Peninsula Stadium

Most Recent Results:

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

Form: LWDWW

1: Harrogate Town 0 – 1 Salford City
2: Salford City 0 – 1 Tranmere
3: Sutton United 1 – 2 Salford City
4: Salford City 1 – 1 Grimsby Town
5: Northampton Town 0 – 1 Salford City

Form: WDWLW

Head-to-Head Results:

Head-to-Head Form: WLLLL

07 Mar 2020: Salford City (Hunter 10, 47) 2 – 0 Bradford City
21 Nov 2020: Salford City (Burgess 8, 45+1, Henderson 21) 3 – 0 Bradford City
27 Apr 2021: Bradford City 0 – 1 (Henderson (90+1) Salford City
11 Sep 2021: Salford City (Lund 90) 1 – 0 Bradford City
15 Jan 2022: Bradford City (Watson 57 (og), P. O'Connor 85) 2 – 1 (Thomas-Asante 35, Thomas Asante 42 (RED) Salford City

Head-to-Head Results (All Time):

Won: 1
Drawn: 1
Lost: 4

Biggest Margin of Victory:

21 Nov 2020: Salford City 3 – 0 Bradford City

Spoiler: Historic Results Analysis

Another very modern fixture, Salford City have capitalised on their substantial investments by celebrating victory in 4 of their 6 games against Bradford City. With City managing just 4 points from a possible 18, success has been squarely in Salford's possession since their first meeting in December 2019.

It's a familiar story for Bradford City fans. As with Harrogate Town, the emerging long-term non league outfit Salford City have dominated despite being nowhere near as established or well supported – which has to be a source of frustration for The Bantams.

However, as with Harrogate Town, the onus is on this new-look City side to redress the failures of the past, and close the gap with a win this weekend.

Salford City 2022/23:

Things are going well for Salford City, with the Ammies sitting 4th in the League Two table, 3 points ahead of Bradford City in 6th. Salford have scored 1 less goal than the Bantams, but have managed to conceded 2 fewer, lending them a slightly superior goal difference.

It's away from home that Salford City have looked particularly potent, with 4 wins, 1 draw, and just 1 defeat – a superior record to their home form, which has faltered of late. One potential reason for Salford City's home form falling off (they haven't won any of their last 4 home games) could be the departure of top scorer Brandon Thomas-Asante.

Thomas-Asante started the season on great form, netting 4 goals from 6 starts, before West Brom made a move for the pacey striker, bagging him for an Undisclosed Fee. His final game for the club came in the 1-0 victory over Stevenage, and since then Salford City have had to endure a somewhat erratic set of results – despite winning 4 of 4 away games, the club's sole home victory came against Liverpool U21's in the Football League Trophy...

That will be something Bradford City will be looking to make the most of on Saturday.

Since Thomas-Asante's departure, former Bradford City midfielder Matty Lund and Ryan Watson have been Salford City's most prolific goalscorers, with their other forwards, including Callum Hendry, Matt Smith and Conor McAleny, all having failed to impress.

One thing that has not deteriorated of late is Salford City's defence. Having conceded just 3 goals in their last 6 games, Salford City are a well-organised unit who compete well in their own half, relying heavily on ever-present defenders Ibou Touray and Theo Vassell. Ahead of them, former Bradford City midfielder Elliott Watt is their mobile playmaker, feeding the likes of Lund, Watson and Luke Bolton in raids through the opposition half.

Goals will be the main concern for Salford City going into a game against top 6 opposition; Salford City have the lowest tally of any of the top 6, averaging less than a 1.5 goals per game.

Bradford City 2022/23:

After going 7 league games without defeat, Stockport County were the unlikely side to consign Bradford City to a 1-0 loss, a penalty from Paddy Madden enough to send the visitors home happy. Bradford City have not drawn a blank since the 0-0 draw against Crewe Alexandra in late August, with the club having been scoring freely in recent times – netting no fewer than 16 goals in their previous 7 games across all competitions.

That ruthless streak was sorely lacking against Stockport County, with Bradford City managing just 6 shots on goal, but there was still reason for optimism – Harry Chapman rattled the bar, but Vitezslav Jarov was not to be beaten, and needed to make just 1 save. Still, no reason to panic; Bradford City managed to dominate possession with 59 %, and were more than competitive in terms of tackles won (16 to Stockport's 15) and passing accuracy (72 % to Stockport's 64%), though ultimately Bradford City fans will rue their lack of firepower in the opposition box.

The gamble to bring Vadaine Oliver on alongside Andy Cook at half time did not pay off for Mark Hughes, and we may or may not see him try that again – but one thing Bradford City had made a hallmark of their attacking play this year is the early goal – without that, it was a long, hard slog against Stockport County.

Bradford City will no doubt look to strike early against Salford City, and put the disappointment of suffering their first home defeat of the season behind them.

Recent Highlights:

Salford City 1-1 Grimsby Town



Northampton Town 0-1 Salford City



Bradford City 2-2 AFC Wimbledon



Bradford City 0-1 Stockport County



Outlook:

Salford City meet Bradford City with both having suffered recent disappointments at home. Salford City haven't won any of their last 4, while Bradford City suffered their first home defeat of the season. Now Bradford City will look to build on their good run of 3 straight away wins – although Salford City look a tougher proposition than any of Hartlepool United, Tranmere Rovers or Harrogate Town, at least according to the League Two table.

Who will best overcome their recent setbacks? That question could be answered by whichever team can get their foot on the ball. Salford City have a similar statistical output in that they prefer to see most of the play, possession and passing, but without necessarily creating more chances as a result. In several games this season Salford City have relied on late goals to win games (Sutton United, Harrogate Town, Stevenage, and Newport County, for example), implying that their steely determination and never-say-die attitude has been key to their success this season, as opposed to simply ripping teams apart and scoring at will.

Bradford City will almost certainly consider themselves the more capable in front of goal. The prowess of top scorer Andy Cook is beyond reproach, and in recent games, both Tyreik Wright and Vadaine Oliver have started to chip in with goals of their own. Getting these players involved as much as possible will be crucial, particularly if Salford City do gain the upper hand in terms of possession. After all, Bradford City have often been dangerous playing on the break, a facet that has become even more useful in games where The Bantams have been able to score early. If teams have to chase the game, Bradford City invariably become more dangerous.

Still, Bradford City will need to be switched on for the full 90. A likely scenario seems to be that Bradford City open the scoring, only for Salford City to rescue a point at home – but that hinges on a huge number of variables in what really should be an intriguing game between two stellar League Two sides.

With any luck, this should be one to savour!

Odds:

6/5: Salford City
12/5: Draw
9/4: Bradford City

Predicted Outcome (THE VOICE):

Salford City 1-1 Bradford City