This League One match sees two Lancashire-based sides, who are both chasing a place in the play-offs, come head-to-head as Fleetwood Town take on Rochdale at Highbury Stadium.
Fleetwood are on a fantastic run at the moment and are currently top of the League One form table after no defeats in their last 13 games. However, they have recently had to settle for draws in their last two matches so will want to claim victory here to continue their promotion push.
Uwe Rosler’s men are relatively high up the charts in both defence and attack with the fifth best ‘Goals For’ record in the league whilst they have also kept more clean sheets than all but one League One team this season with 11 – 37% of games.
Home form has been key to the Trawlermen’s success so far this campaign with just one league loss at Highbury Stadium which came all the way back in September.
After a run of six league victories in a row, Rochdale have hit a rather large bump in the road with no win in their last four, including three losses – two of them by a 4-0 score-line. This means that Keith Hill’s men have dropped out of the play-off places for now but, fortunately for them, they are only outside the top six on goal difference.
Looking at their offensive and defensive stats, The Dale seem pretty average with 41 scored and 36 conceded in 28 matches. However, these have been somewhat misconstrued by those recent results and it is worth noting that Rochdale have kept 10 clean sheets in the league so far this campaign.
The visiting team were pretty poor on the road in the early part of the season but then managed to win four matches on the bounce away from Spotland. However, their latest away loss to play-off rivals Southend United did not help their cause. Furthermore, they have kept just two clean sheets on their travels in the league this season.
Although these two teams are actually pretty close in the table, given their circumstances and Fleetwood having the home advantage, you really do have to side with the Trawlermen here. At odds of 7/5, backing Fleetwood to come out top is an excellent bet.
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