The Voice - Match preview #29: Bradford City vs Harrogate Town Saturday 8th February 2025 12:30pm

EFL League Two Fixture #29
Saturday 8th February 2025 12:30
Bradford City (7th) vs Harrogate Town (20th)
University of Bradford Stadium (AKA Valley Parade)

Record:
Games Won: 2
Games Drawn: 1
Games Lost: 7

Last 5:
05 Nov 2022: Bradford City 0 – 1 Harrogate Town [FA Cup]
29 Dec 2022: Bradford City 1 – 0 Harrogate Town
16 Sep 2023: Bradford City 1 – 1 Harrogate Town
23 Mar 2024: Harrogate Town 3 – 0 Bradford City
28 Sep 2024: Harrogate Town 2 – 1 Bradford City

Harrogate Town:
Harrogate Town’s inconsistent form this campaign currently sees them in 20th place, 7 points above the drop zone but with the added insecurity of having played more games than all those sides below them. As with any such scenario, it’s always preferable to have points already on the board than to be left calculating which ‘must win’ fixture might drag a side out of the mire, but that doesn’t mean Harrogate Town can rest on their laurels just yet.

With the second worst xG in the division coupled with the second worst xGA, The Sulphurites still have a lot of work to do if they are to stave off the dreaded drop. That said, least Harrogate Town can say they are neither the worst home side nor the worst away side in the division – those ‘honours’ go to Carlisle United and Tranmere Rovers respectively, both sides currently positioned below Harrogate Town and fighting for their EFL survival. Sat 18th in the ‘Home’ league table and 19th in the ‘Away’ league table, Harrogate Town find that many of the teams below them in those particular collations have, again, played fewer games than they have. Ultimately, what that – and the actual League Two table – suggests is that relegation is a very real threat to City’s North Yorkshire neighbours.

Indeed no set of stats bodes particularly well for Simon Weaver’s side, but there is one that stands out: Harrogate Town’s ability to pull off wins and gain results against better performing sides. While Harrogate Town haven’t won many relegation 6-pointers this season, they can account for wins over the likes of Lincoln City [EFL Cup], Wrexham [FA Cup], Doncaster Rovers (2nd), Bradford City (7th), Chesterfield (10th), and Cheltenham Town (12th), while they recently held Crewe Alexandra (5th) to a 1-1 draw. A fairly strong Leeds United outfit only narrowly beat Harrogate Town at Elland Road (1-0), and Town have rarely been thrashed: only AFC Wimbledon (3-0), MK Dons (5-1) and Crewe Alexandra (3-0) have really put the Sulphurites to the sword this season.

Perhaps the biggest threat to Harrogate Town’s EFL future is their lack of goals. While Tranmere Rovers (21) and Carlisle United (22) have scored fewer, Harrogate Town’s third-worst tally of 25 looks to be even more of a problem than a mediocre defensive record.

Efforts have been made to fix that problem with the arrival of former Bradford City loanee Olly Sanderson in a temporary switch from Fulham, while Tom Cursons has been signed from Ilkeston Town for an undisclosed fee. While Cursons’ game time has been limited to a pair of 10 minute cameos, Sanderson has broken into the squad a little bit quicker having made 3 starts and 5 appearances overall, and he would no doubt love to silence the doubters at a vibrant Valley Parade this weekend with his first goal for his new club.

It is Josh March (5), though, who is Harrogate Town’s most potent threat, with James Daly (3) and Ellis Taylor (3) the only other players to have scored more than 2 league goals for Harrogate Town this season. The evergreen Jack Muldoon cannot be completely discounted at 35 either, having scored against both Wrexham and Liverpool U21’s in cup competition, but in truth there are no prolific scorers among Town’s ranks. They are, as results and tables suggest, a below average League Two side who will nonetheless take advantage of any side perhaps not prepared to battle for every second ball. Write them off at your peril because the occasional surprise result against a better-performing side looks like it might just be enough to stave off non-league football for another season.

Harrogate Town 1 – 1 Crewe Alexandra


MK Dons 2 – 1 Harrogate Town


Bradford City:
Defeat last weekend at AFC Wimbledon was a tough one to take as Bradford City’s performance arguably deserved at least a point, but going up against the most resolute defence in the division, perhaps it was inevitable once City went behind to a poorly defended set piece. AFC Wimbledon offered City no such favour in return and duly took all 3 points at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.

Graham Alexander’s men haven’t made a habit of losing of late, however, and were back to winning ways in the EFL Trophy as they booked a spot in the final 4 with a 1-0 victory at Rotherham United. City fans would no doubt take the same scoreline come 2:30 this Saturday afternoon, with points on the board being the number one priority for a side that have dropped to 7th – but look very well placed for another assault on the automatic promotion places.

Transfer deadline day brought a few surprises. The departure of long-suffering Vadaine Oliver was counterbalanced by 3 new faces: Goalkeeper Joe Hilton arrives from Blackburn Rovers, while Tayo Adaramola joins on loan from Crystal Palace and Romoney Crichlow signs on a permanent, returning to Valley Parade after a stint at Peterborough United. The absence of a striker through the doors of the University of Bradford Stadium was met with some consternation among the Valley Parade faithful, and everybody involved with the club will hope that isn’t something that comes to bite the club on the behind in the second half of the campaign.

If Bradford City are to make up for the lack of a prolific striker to replace Andy Cook then former Harrogate Town man Alex Pattison (5) will be crucial. Only Bobby Pointon (3) and Calum Kavanagh (3) have scored more than 2 league goals for City this season, heaping pressure on the performance of incoming attacking midfielders like George Lapslie and Tommy Leigh, the latter who looks like a Graham Alexander favourite in the early days of his Bantams career. Young striker Michael Mellon has scarcely featured, and that might be expected to continue for now, but the news that will be the sound of music to City fans’ ears will be that results simply haven’t suffered as much as first feared.

When the severity of Cook’s knee injury was confirmed, some expected the worst – but Pattison, Sarcevic and Kavanagh have performed manfully in an attacking trio that has combined well with young home grown talent Pointon. Part of the conundrum going forward for Graham Alexander will be how to introduce the newer players without upsetting the balance that has worked so effectively in midfield. Key to City’s success has been a high press and an energetic output from a forward 4 determined to benefit from sides overplaying in much the same as City were accused of under predecessor Mark Hughes. Can players like Leigh and Lapslie continue that good work? Time will tell.

AFC Wimbledon 1 – 0 Bradford City


Bradford City 1 – 0 Morecambe


Prediction:
Bradford City’s miserable record against Harrogate Town might not be as worrisome as it might have seemed following form-busting wins at Carlisle United and against Derek Adams’ Morecambe, with City showing the work ethic and ability to overcome hardworking and increasingly desperate sides keen to grind out any result they can. At home, Bradford City have been particularly potent, and while the defeat at AFC Wimbledon was a setback, there is little to suggest the home form under Graham Alexander is set to evaporate any time soon.

With 6 straight home wins under their belt, Bradford City have shown they are equally adept grinding out a 1-0 win over a struggling side as they are scoring 2 or 3 in a more open encounter. If this particular game follows the same script as recent 1-0 wins over Swindon Town and Morecambe, both sides in the bottom half, the main danger would be a going behind and finding a side parking a double decker bus in front of their goal – which Harrogate Town would almost certainly do if they can get their noses ahead here.

Avoiding going behind is always perilous at this, or indeed any level. Mistakes happen, but they have tended to be few and far between for The Bantams. Only when Graham Alexander tinkered with his City side ahead of the trip to AFC Wimbledon have City faltered, and it’s hard to blame Graham too much given the raft of games they have had to play in quick succession. That schedule shows no signs of slowing with another Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday in the offing, so we could see a slightly less settled side than we are used to with a few changes enforced rather than preferred.

Nonetheless, the trends are suggesting City might run out 1-0 winners in another ‘just enough’ performance to keep their excellent momentum going. With Harrogate Town struggling to score themselves but rarely being overwhelmed, a tight game with a few nervy moments against a bit of a bogey side would not be unexpected. A few goals, though, would be a real boon.

Final Score:

Bradford City 1 – 0 Harrogate Town