The Voice - Match preview Tranmere Rovers vs Bradford City Tuesday 13 September @ 7:45pm

League Two Fixture #9

Tuesday 13th September 19:45
Tranmere Rovers vs Bradford City
Prenton Park

Most Recent Results:

1: Bradford City 2 – 0 Newport County
2: Colchester United 1 – 0 Bradford City
3: Hartlepool United 1 – 3 Bradford City
4: Bradford City 0 – 0 Crewe Alexandra
5: Bradford City 2 – 1 Walsall

Form: WDWLW

1: Tranmere Rovers 3 – 0 Gillingham
2: Hartlepool United 0 – 0 Tranmere Rovers
3: Newport County 2 – 1 Tranmere Rovers
4: Tranmere Rovers 2 – 0 Colchester United
5: Leyton Orient 2 – 0 Tranmere Rovers

Form: LWLDW

Head-to-Head Results:

Head-to-Head Form: DLLWW

03 May 2014: Tranmere Rovers (Pennington 7, Brown RED 31) 1 – 2 (Stead 81, McLean 87) Bradford City [League One]
26 Dec 2020: Tranmere Rovers 0 – 1 (Novak 62) Bradford City [League Two]
20 Apr 2021: Bradford City 0 – 1 (P. O'Connor 45+1 OG) Tranmere Rovers [League Two]
23 Nov 2021: Tranmere Rovers (Morris 50, Glatzel 56) 2 – 1 (Sutton 26) Bradford City [League Two]
15 Apr 2022: Bradford City (Walker 19, Watt 28 RED) 1 – 1 (McManaman 89) Tranmere Rovers [League Two]

Head-to-Head Results (All Time):

Won: 31
Drawn: 20
Lost: 37

Biggest Margin of Victory:

06 Mar 1929: Bradford City 8 – 0 Tranmere Rovers [Division Three (North)]

Spoiler: Historic Results Analysis

Tranmere Rovers are one of the few League Two sides with a positive historical record against Bradford City, though in recent decades the two clubs have shared wins, draws and losses pretty evenly. Since 1996, Bradford City have picked up 8 wins, 4 draws, and 7 defeats, giving them a marginal advantage.

Prenton Park has been a relatively happy hunting ground in that time, as Bradford City have lost just once in their last seven visits. Defeats have actually come more regularly at Valley Parade, perhaps defying expectations.

Tranmere Rovers' superior performance overall stems back to the earliest meetings between the two clubs. Between the 1920's and the early 1950's, Tranmere boasted 13 wins from the first 20 clashes. Times may have changed, but not enough for Bradford City to restore parity.

Tranmere Rovers 2021/22:

Tranmere Rovers finished 9th in the 2021/22 League Two table, finishing just two points adrift of the play offs, although their goal difference was also slightly inferior to that of 7th-placed Mansfield Town.

Tranmere finished the season on good form with 3 wins from their final 4 fixtures, but prior to that a winless run of 5 matches (4 draws, 1 defeat) ended up costing them dearly. An earlier period of 4 defeats from 5 games came on the back of a very impressive Novermber-January period, where Tranmere picked up 10 wins from 13 games.

An indifferent start to the 21/22 campaign under new boss Micky Mellon saw them pick up 2 wins, 2 draws, and 3 defeats. Still, Tranmere were able to pick up real momentum, and will feel unfortunate not to have competed in the play offs.

Last season's top league goalscorer Kane Hemmings (8) only joined the club in January 2022, and remains at the club. Elliott Nevitt (7), Josh Hawkes (6), and Kieron Morris (5) are all also present at Prenton Park still, although stalwart centre back Peter Clarke (4) moved on a free transfer to Walsall – who Bradford City defeated last time out.



Tranmere Rovers 2022/23:

Tranmere Rovers have come close to replicating their mediocre start to the 21/22 campaign, with 2 wins, 1 draw, and 4 defeats actually putting them 1 point short of last season's tally after 7 games. Micky Mellon will know what it takes to turn Tranmere Rovers' fortunes around, but Bradford City looks like a difficult fixture to use as a springboard.

In terms of goalscorers, none of Hemmings, Nevitt or Hawkes have found their form yet, though they are all joint top scorers for Tranmere Rovers – on one goal apiece! Joining them with a single goal are young forward Jake Burton, new defender Ethan Bristow, and defender Josh Dacres-Cogley. No doubt Mellon will be hoping for a breakout goalscorer, although the club are adept at sharing out goals rather than propelling an individual forward to the top of the charts. That will be scant consolation for Tranmere fans backing Kane Hemmings to score plenty, as 8 goals in just 22 appearances implied he could be a real danger over a full season.

So far, Tranmere Rovers have had 7 ever-present players in the league, with their back line and strikers playing consistently. The midfield, however, has been far less consistent, with only Reece McAlear managing to start every game.

Bradford City will need to be cognizant of the fact that Tranmere's 2 wins this season have both come at home, with back-to-back wins over Gillingham (3-0) and Colchester United (2-0). Defeat in the opening fixture to high flying Stevenage (1-2) will be a tough task for Bradford City to reproduce; but with Bradford City currently enjoying the better overall form, Mark Hughes' men will still be confident they can get the job done.

Tranmere Rovers have enjoyed the majority of possession in 4 of their games so far, conceding territory in the other 3. Against Newport County, Tranmere enjoyed 61 % of possession, their highest to date – but still lost. Against Leyton Orient they enjoyed only 41 % of possession, their lowest to date – and again lost.

Defenders Lee O'Connor and Jordan Turnbull will again likely see most of the ball for Tranmere Rovers, while striker Kane Hemmings and midfielder Josh Hawkes could provide the majority of Tranmere's goal threat. In terms of physicality, Tranmere Rovers are as adept at intercepting passes as they are tackling; Ethan Bristow in particular will look to shut down Bradford City's threat from the right wing.

Bradford City 2022/23:

Despite sitting 8th in the League Two table with 3 wins, 2 draws, and 2 defeats, Bradford City have yet to post back-to-back league wins this season. That said, Bradford City have been able to post back-to-back wins twice this season when incorporating cup victories – an impressive 2-1 EFL Cup win over Hull City was followed by a 2-0 home win against Newport County, while the 3-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday in the Football League Trophy was also followed by a 2-1 home win against Walsall.

Bradford City will now look to make it 6 wins from their previous 9 game across all competitions, and continue their good form. Bradford City remain in negative equity away from home, having lost to last gasp winners twice (Barrow and Colchester United), before finally turning the corner against Hartlepool United with a 3-1 away win.

Key to Bradford City's form has been the emergence of Jake Young as a secondary goal threat (4 in all competitions), taking some of the pressure off of centre forward Andy Cook (7 in all competitions). Cook and Young look to have secured starting places for the foreseeable future, proving invaluable to Mark Hughes' sides success – despite the fact that neither player started the season in favour.

That tenacity and character could be crucial for Bradford City this year, as a deep squad lends them a lot of potential options. Vadaine Oliver and Lee Angol might still be looking for their first goals of the season, but Scott Banks, Harry Chapman and Richie Smallwood have all broken their league ducks already. Kian Harratt also has a cup goal to his credit, despite not having started a game.

The arrivals of Dion Pereira and Tyreik Wright on deadline day look to have offered Bradford City yet more firepower in the form of two more-traditional wide men. Both players enjoyed short cameos in the win against Walsall most recently.

If Bradford City are to take anything away from Prenton Park, they will have to avoid repeating their mistakes late on in games, but they should be able to give as good as they get.



Outlook:

Bradford City's only away win of the season came against Hartlepool United, who have had a miserable start to the season. Still, the victory was something Tranmere Rovers were unable to match themselves, having played out a goalless draw in the North East. Likewise, Tranmere were unable to match Bradford City's victory over Newport County, instead losing 2-1, but conversely Tranmere Rovers defeated Colchester 2-0 whereas Bradford City slumped to a last minute defeat away from home.

Common fixtures, then, might not tell us too much; nor recent history, outside of the fact Bradford City have enjoyed trips to Prenton Park in the last decade or so. Instead, we might look to the league table to give us clues. Tranmere Rovers have lost 4 times in the league already, and even though last season suggests they might have enough to recover under manager Micky Mellon, starting that recovery in such a difficult fixture may be a bridge too far.

Home wins over Gillingham (21st) and Colchester United (20th) is a reasonable start, but Tranmere Rovers have lost to all three sides that they have faced in the top half of the table – Stevenage (2), Mansfield Town (7), and Leyton Orient (1) – that said, all three are going very well.

Bradford City, meanwhile, are perhaps underperforming in the league table after a pair of unfortunate away defeats, but there was also a hint of fortune about the most recent win over Walsall – with Walsall missing an early penalty, and managing more than 20 shots on goal.

Still, Andy Cook and Jake Young will be the players to stop – but will Tranmere Rovers focus too much attention on them, leaving openings from other areas of the pitch? The bookmakers seem to think so, installing Bradford City as favourites despite being away from home.

Odds:

15/8 – Tranmere Rovers
23/10 – Draw
6/4 – Bradford City

Predicted Outcome (THE VOICE):

Tranmere Rovers 1 – 2 Bradford City