This EFL Trophy clash sees two of the best teams in League One, in the form of Bradford City and Bury, go head-to-head. They both won their first EFL Trophy match of the season and have represented a contrast of styles in the league.
Bradford City are the more solid of the two and have made their best ever start to a league season. The Bantams are currently undefeated in League One this season, one of only four sides in the entire Football League pyramid to remain unbeaten.
Former Motherwell manager Stuart McCall has made Bradford a very organised team with the Yorkshire side having only conceded seven goals this season – the joint lowest of any team in the three Football League divisions. This bedrock at the back means that if Bradford score, they should be able to pick up at least a draw. As Sir Alex Ferguson famously said “goals win you games, defending wins you titles”, Stuart McCall must surely be taking that philosophy from his fellow Scot.
The only worry with Bradford is their lack of goals with them having scored just 13 all season which is worse than most teams in the division. This was shown in their five successive draws on the bounce where you just feel if they had an out-and-out goalscorer they would have picked up maximum points from all of those games.
After a poor opening couple of games, Bury went on a run of five consecutive wins which boosted them up to third in the league before losing at home to league leaders Scunthorpe United on Saturday. They are the opposite of Bradford City in that they tend to be a lot more open – hence why they have scored 20 goals so far (the second highest in the league) yet have conceded 13, which is more than both Coventry City and Oldham Athletic – both of whom are in the League One relegation zone.
Going into that match against Scunthorpe, the Shakers would have been confident of pulling off a result given their five match winning streak. However, with them losing that match, it will be interesting to see if manager David Flitcroft can get his side going again to go on a similar run.
With both of these sides currently feeding off the winning habit, I think these two teams will take this competition seriously in order to keep up their decent form.
Going up against an in-form Bradford side is not the ideal scenario for Bury having just been on the end of a defeat, even if it is just in the EFL Cup. Additionally, with Bradford being at Valley Parade, where they were also incredibly good towards the end of last season, as well as this one, will help Stuart McCall’s side. Finally, I would always back the more solid side at home rather than the more expansive one away.
See all of Tuesday’s tips here.