The Voice - Match preview Notts County vs Bradford City Saturday 21st December 3:00pm

EFL League Two Fixture #20
Saturday 21st December 2024 15:00
Notts County (11th) vs Bradford City (10th)
Meadow Lane

Record:
Games Won: 23
Games Drawn: 16
Games Lost: 30

Last 5:
01 Jan 2014: Notts County 3 – 0 Bradford City
28 Dec 2014: Bradford City 1 – 0 Notts County
14 Mar 2015: Notts County 1 – 1 Bradford City
18 Nov 2023: Notts County 4 – 2 Bradford City
19 Mar 2024: Bradford City 0 – 3 Notts County

Notts County:
When Notts County won games under Luke Williams last season, they tended to win well. That would explain resounding 4-2 and 3-0 triumphs over the Bantams in the 23/24 campaign, but that trend seems to have slowed down somewhat under manager Stuart Maynard. Both of Notts County’s most recent 2 league wins were 1-0, and while Notts County started the season with impressive 4-1 and 4-2 wins over Grimsby Town and Bromley respectively, things seem to have settled down a little bit since then.

Of course, Notts County’s form having fallen off recently would partly explain that, but the free-scoring nature of the Nottinghamshire side seems to have died down. While 14 of County’s 18 league wins saw them score at least 3 goals last campaign, they have done so in just 2 of their 7 league wins this time around. While last season Notts County ended up with a (quite frankly bonkers) 89 goals scored and 86 conceded, they are well shy of those numbers so far this campaign; 25 goals scored and 21 conceded from 19 league games is far closer to the average.

On the plus side, that has made Notts County much, much harder to beat. County’s fall off last campaign saw them finish as low as 14th having threatened the automatic promotion spots in the early months, absorbing a full 21 league defeats along the way. So far this campaign they have been bested just 5 times from those 19 games so far, and have already matched last season’s draw tally with 7. In others words: gone are the days of Notts County’s routine goalfests, at least for the most part.

That said, two of Notts County’s recent defeats came by scorelines of 4-3 (against Peterborough United in the FA Cup) and 3-2 (against promotion-chasers Walsall). Salford City recently hammered them 3-0, as well, as some of County’s defensive woes re-emerged. Check out the highlights below for some truly embarrassing defending from the Magpies.

Ex-Bantam Matty Platt has joined the likes of Jacob Bedeau and Lewis Macari in a more stable backline, though Lucas Ness has recently shouldered his way into a starting berth at Meadow Lane in a change hasn’t reflected positively in recent performances with 4 defeats in 5 games across both league and cup lately. At the other end of the pitch, Notts County have two fairly reliable goalscorers in veteran David McGoldrick (7) and Alassana Jatta (7), while winger Jodi Jones (4) had a very promising start to the season prior to suffering an unfortunate fractured shin back in September. Midfielder Dan Crowley (3) is the other player to have scored more than 2 league goals this season, though the aforementioned Platt has an overall league and cup goal haul of 4 himself. The loss of prolific hitman Macauley Langstaff has understandably hit hard, though the man that scored 70 goals in 90 starts for the Nottinghamshire side hasn’t found his level yet at Championship Millwall. He has managed just 1 goal from 19 appearances.

Salford City 3 – 0 Notts County


Walsall 3 – 2 Notts County


Bradford City:
Huge credit must go to the video artist who trawled Saturday’s game and found almost 2 minutes of highlights during the 1-0 win over Swindon Town, but the fact a miskick from Jack Shepherd and an extended highlight of Andy Cook trapping the ball but failing to get a shot away made the cut tells you everything you need to know about such an unmemorable tie. Graham Alexander won’t be too concerned, however – the game may have been a dull affair, but the result was the most important aspect of it, ending a run of 6 league games without a win.

The fall out between Ian Holloway and at least 1 travelling Swindon fan made for an unsavoury footnote in a very poor game, evidencing the pressure on Swindon Town as they fight for their EFL future. That said, Bradford City haven’t always been known as a club that piles on the misery for other sides! This time it worked out, however, and Bantam’s fans will be hoping for more of the same as they visit an out-of-sorts Notts County this Saturday at a ground they haven’t won at since 2012. Last year’s performances against Notts County left much to be desired, a 4-2 loss away from home being followed by a 3-0 battering at Valley Parade, with City simply unable to match Notts County’s monumental attacking output – even if their defence was as equally porous as their attack was razor sharp.

This season the goalmouths haven’t been quite as lively for the Meadow Lane-based side, however, and that should suit a Bradford City side who continue their run of 1’s and 0’s in the league, a run of low-scoring games stretching right back to October 19. City under Graham Alexander seem more than capable of embroiling other sides in their low-scoring affairs, as evidenced as they slammed the brakes on to Swindon’s entertaining output and ground out an uninspiring 1-0 home win.

That might sound appealing to a beleaguered Notts County defence that have shipped 10 goals in their last 3 games across both league and cup, as City simply don’t seem to have the attacking firepower to turn the screw on fragile back lines but can certainly dictate the pace of a game and frustrate the opposition effectively and efficiently.

Bradford City 1 – 0 Swindon Town


Crewe Alexandra 1 – 1 Bradford City


Prediction:
There is little reason to expect a glut of goals, and it seems over-estimating the attacking output of this Bradford City side based on cup performances has got the better of a few City fans, The Voice included. Notts County might be struggling defensively, but so were Swindon Town, and so were Morecambe before them, and Graham Alexander’s tactics have consistently failed to take advantage of that. What’s more, Notts County’s recent defensive woes have all come away from home; at home they have been, like City, settling for 0-0’s and 1-0’s quite consistently.

It's hard to expect a repeat of last season. Notts County aren’t the same attacking force as they were in 23/24, and equally they are not as poor defensively at home as they have been away this campaign. Add in a Bradford City side who are conservative and workmanlike in their approach, and who have struggled away from home with no wins in their last 5 games against League Two opposition on the road, and it’s not looking like a classic will be on the cards.

That’s not to say the game won’t be well-contested. Bradford City certainly aren’t lacking for physicality or good ol’ fashioned work rate, and Notts County aren’t likely to be bullied on home soil. Without overanalysing the tie, the most likely outcomes are a 0-0, a 1-0 either way, or a 1-1.

Since both teams have been consistently been netting 1 a goal in most comparable fixtures, the selection will be a straightforward 1-1. With both sides starting to lag behind the true promotion contenders, the question will come to this: is it enough?

Final Score:
Notts County 1 – 1 Bradford City