The Voice - Match preview #26: Bradford City vs Walsall Saturday 25th January 12:30pm

EFL League Two Fixture #26
Saturday 25th January 2025 12:30
Bradford City (8th) vs Walsall (1st)
University of Bradford Stadium (AKA Valley Parade)

Record:
Games Won: 20
Games Drawn: 23
Games Lost: 16

Last 5:
03 Sep 2022: Bradford City 2 – 1 Walsall
07 Mar 2023: Walsall 0 – 0 Bradford City
30 Sep 2023: Bradford City 1 – 3 Walsall
20 Apr 2024: Walsall 2 – 3 Bradford City
14 Sep 2024: Walsall 2 – 1 Bradford City

Walsall:
Immense credit must go to Mat Sadler and his Walsall side for defying the preseason odds and launching a startling promotion campaign that has only picked up pace at the midway point of the season. Currently wave a tidal wave of 9 straight League Two wins, The Saddlers have not tasted defeat since October 1st, when Fleetwood Town thumped them with a now-anomalous-looking 6-2 away day win at the Bescot. That bizarre result in the rear view mirror, Walsall have amassed an incredible 36 points from a possible 44.

The free-scoring Saddlers have scored 11 more than the second most prolific goal-getters Notts County averaging more than 2 goals a game. This isn’t a fluke. They also top the xG table and have the best xGA statistic, they top the ‘Home’ league table and are in second place in the ‘Away’ league table behind only Port Vale – who happen to have played 3 full away fixtures MORE. In other words, Walsall are almost certainly the best away side in the division as well.

Facing them at this point looks like a monumental task for Bradford City – but such phenomenal form cannot continue indefinitely. There is always an end, even if it’s only a blip, as Fleetwood Town proved over 3 months ago. That 15 goal top scorer Nathan Lowe has returned from his loan spell to parent club Stoke City, and the 19 year old duly scored 9 minutes into his return game against West Brom in the Championship. Jamille Matt is now the Saddlers top scorer with 9, with defender Taylor Allen (5), Albert Adomah (4), highly-sought Jamie Jellis (4), and Harry Williams (3) the other players to have scored more than 2 league goals this campaign. Jellis has been the target of multiple offers from Wycombe Wanderers, but thus far Walsall have shrugged off all efforts to lure the former non-league man away from the club.

Jamille Matt is a player Bradford City have played several times before, and the powerful target man has managed to score just once against the Bantams, but classy veteran Albert Adomah, now 37, has much more effective. The winger has scored 3 goals in 6 games against City and grabbed an assist in the reverse fixture at the Bescot that Walsall won 2-1. Adomah, while used mostly as a substitute this season, was one of the players that stepped up to cover the absence of Nathan Lowe in a 4-2 win over MK Dons this past weekend, and as well as playing the full 90 minutes, the former Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest man also scored. Defenders Harry Williams and David Okagbue grabbed a goal each themselves, and Liam Gordon got his second of the campaign.

Much like Bradford City have coped manfully with the absence of their own top scorer Andy Cook, Walsall have shown early signs that they can keep the momentum going even without their star teenage loanee.

The goals against the Dons weren’t exactly of the highest quality. All four were individual howlers, except arguably the third Walsall goal, which was very much a full team effort in terms of bad defending. If anything can be said of Mat Sadler’s men it’s that they don’t need any helping hands. The way MK Dons’ panicky backline self-imploded couldn’t have been better timed for Walsall – Bradford City had better not perform similarly at the back, or they too will undoubtedly be punished by the marauding Midlanders.

Walsall 4 – 2 MK Dons


Walsall 5 – 1 Tranmere Rovers


Bradford City:
If ever Bradford City needed to be at their very, very best it will be this Saturday! The rampant, runaway League Two leaders Walsall are not just churning out wins, they have been blowing teams away in a manner City have not been able to match at any point this campaign. That said, Bradford City’s own form is nothing to be sniffed at, particularly at home – though the sight of a hoodoo-breaking 1-0 victory at bottom side Carlisle United will have been more than welcome for the travelling faithful!

While away wins haven’t been easy to come by for Graham Alexander’s men, Valley Parade has been a different proposition altogether. 4 straight league wins, including over prospective promotion/playoff rivals Port Vale, Chesterfield and Grimsby Town has at last addressed another crucial aspect of City’s form this season – prior to Port Vale, they had not beaten a single top 7 side.

With miserable statistics falling left and right for City of late, Bantams fans could be forgiven for approaching this Walsall tie in high spirits and with little fear. As relentless as the Saddlers’ march has been, the Bantams are enjoying their best form of the season, and that’s without top scorer Andy Cook. Calum Kavanagh got the only goal of the game at Carlisle United, and his endeavours (along with those of Pattison, Sarcevic and Pointon) limited the game time of the 4 new signings to just 1 minute of normal time. Tommy Leigh came on to give Kavanagh a well-earned round of applause from the away fans, while Michael Mellon, George Lapslie and Brandon Khela were unable to get on to the pitch.

There are questions about the game management by Graham Alexander in not blooding any of his new boys in any serious manner, but that is more a matter of personal preference than an out-and-out error. Graham will certainly not be cowed into forcing changes for changes sake, although Aden Baldwin had no choice but to come off with 10 minutes or so remaining after picking up a knock.

Whether Baldwin is available for this weekend’s key clash is uncertain, but whichever centre backs are selected, they will have their hands full with a potential power-and-pace partnership of the highly experienced duo of Adomah and Matt, and how long of a leash wing backs Halliday and Richards get will also be interesting. Invite too much pressure on themselves, and City could be in for a long afternoon – be brave, though, and Graham Alexander’s men could earn their own reward.

At worst, even for pessimistic fans, from City’s own perspective they are coming into this game at just the right time. They are doing many of the right things and on their best form to date. Their chances could be much worse.

Carlisle United 0 – 1 Bradford City


Bradford City 3 – 1 Grimsby Town


Prediction:
Beneficiaries of some extraordinarily bad defending by MK Dons last Saturday, Walsall brushed aside any questions pertaining to the loss of prolific loanee Nathan Lowe back to his parent club Stoke City, netting 4 in the process. Assuming Bradford City don’t defend quite that badly, however, this game might not follow the same script. Walsall probably won’t be as free-scoring as they have been with 9 goals in their last 2 if City show defensive resilience and tactical responsibility. But therein lies the challenge: striking the right balance between respect and ambition.

Too much time spent worrying about the runaway leaders will likely result in defeat, just as it did at the Bescot. Too little attention to the opposition and Walsall, likewise, will punish City. While the game could be won or lost in midfield, it could equally be lost on set pieces, or out wide if the defensive shackles placed on Halliday and Lewis are applied too tightly. Then there’s the problem of Walsall’s defence: the Saddlers are not statistically the best in the division at the back, but given they are the division’s top scorers by some distance, they haven’t always had to be. Still, only AFC Wimbledon, Crewe Alexandra and Salford City have conceded fewer, and all 3 are legitimate promotion candidates as it stands. Getting by David Okagbue, Harry Williams and third-top scorer Taylor Allen, all plucked from relative obscurity, will not be easy. The young trio, aged 21, 22, and 24 respectively, have played a huge role in the Saddlers’ success this campaign. Williams, at 6’4, is a big aerial presence at both ends of the pitch, and complemented nicely by the smaller, pacier Okagbue and Allen. Should Calum Kavanagh be expected to try to unlock that defence single-handedly, that will once again play into Walsall’s hands.

It is imperative that Pattison, Sarcevic and Pointon (if utilized again) all support the lone front man, as it will be a tall order to expect the untested and out-of-practice Michael Mellon to suddenly turn the division on its head. Lapslie and Leigh may hope for more minutes, but again are most likely to be utilized from the bench barring any fitness issues for the current attacking midfield trio.

Whoever plays, though, this is a big one. This is a chance for City to prove that Valley Parade really is one of the toughest places to visit in League Two this season, and that will involve blood-and-thunder defending and pacy, incisive attacking play that doesn’t simply rely on long diagonal balls.

There’s a lot to get right – but lately, the Bantams have been doing just that.

With full respect given to both sides, the pick will be a 2-2 draw – with both sides without their top scorers for the rest of the season, firepower should be theoretically reduced, but both sides have enjoyed goalscoring surges of late. Both will still try to be responsible and will certainly be up for the battle. More to the point, though, both are on form, and this should make for a cracking game.

May the best side win (or at least share the spoils)!

Final Score:
Bradford City 2 – 2 Walsall