You didn’t think I’d spoil the whole of Easter for @Gavin77 did you?
The Association Football match between Walsall Football Club and Salford City Football Club is scheduled to commence at three hours past midday on the first day of the fourth month.
Let’s take a look at some of the stats heading into this game:
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The Saddlers have played against Salford on nine occasions up to this point, and have an unfavourable aggregate result.
Walsall Wins - 3
Draws - 0
Salford City Wins - 6
A small sample size but the trend so far is that we always lose straight games. First time we lost, we then won. 2 defeats followed before we won again. Three defeats then followed before the win earlier this season. Hopefully we can buck the trend this time round.
LAST TIME OUT
9th September 2023
Salford City 1-2 Walsall
A 15th-minute opener for the hosts, provided by Matt Smith, was not enough for the hosts as second half goals from Freddie Draper and Oisin McEntee turned the game around for us and ensured all 3 points came back to WS1. After a disappointing first half, we feared the worst, but whatever happened at half time appeared to have done the trick.
This was our 2nd victory in 5 games played at Salford.
LEAGUE POSITIONS
Walsall - 11th in League Two with 58 points from 39 games (W15, D11, L13)
Salford City - 20th in League Two with 47 points from 41 games (W12, D11, L18)
RECENT FORM (Last 6)
Walsall - W2, D2, L2
Salford City - W2, D1, L3
HOME / AWAY RECORD
Walsall Home - P19, W10, D6, L3
Salford Away - P20, W7, D4, L9
SALFORD PLAYERS TO WATCH
Striker Matt Smith who has a great record of 23 goals in 40 games this season in League Two. Usually a handful for us to deal with and seems to have a good record against us.
Walsall-born defender Curtis Tilt, who has 3 goals and 2 assists from CB, and has played in 95% of Salford’s league minutes this season. He has plenty of experience within higher divisions and is still only 32-years old.
Ex-Saddler, Theo Vassell, turns out for The Ammies, making 25 appearances so far this season for them.
WALSALL NEWS
Heading into the fixture, boss Matt Sadler has confirmed that prior to the game at MK Dons, we are now in a much stronger position squad-wise. International stars Liam Gordon and Brandon Comley are available for selection, as is striker Danny Johnson. Jamille Matt is also ready to be part of the group yet he may feature off the bench rather than start any of the two fixtures over Easter. New-boy Jamie Jellis is also now available, and Saddlers fans will be keen to see what he can bring to the party.
Donervon Daniels, Priestly Farquharson and Aramide Oteh were all rated as having a 25% chance of being fit for Easter however Daniels started against MK, whilst PF and AO were on the bench. Definitely out will be Harry Williams, Tom Knowles and Oisin McEntee.
Providing no new injuries or suspensions from the MK Dons game, this should all be correct.
PREDICTION
This could be a tough game, as Salford’s away record isn’t all that bad, however our home record is actually very good having only lost three games at the Poundland Bescot Stadium all season. I can see it being a tight game, but think the Saddlers will come out with a 2-0 or 2-1 victory, to hopefully give us a minimum return of 4 points from our 2 Easter fixtures.
What are your thoughts?
- Walsall Win
- Draw
- Salford City Win
0 voters
PS. Just for the record @Gavin77 this has taken me about 40-50 minutes to compile, type up, etc. I do it on a free basis. If you’d like to take the time out of your life to do it, or you have the time available then feel free to take it over. Or if you’d like to pay me per word to make it a more attractive proposition to take me away from my day-to-day life, I’m all ears.
Failing that, I’ll start doing them from the beginning of next season again.
Happy Easter everyone x