Sports Mole previews Saturday’s League One clash between Wrexham and Northampton Town, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Wrexham will look to bounce back from their second league defeat of the season when they welcome Northampton Town to the Racecourse Ground on Saturday.
The Cobblers will also be hoping to produce a positive response after losing their last two matches without troubling the scorers.
Match preview
© Imago
After winning back-to-back promotions, Wrexham made a fast start to win four and draw one of their opening five league matches.
However, Wrexham have found wins harder to come by in recent matches, having won just one of their previous four games in the third tier.
The Red Dragons lost to Birmingham City and beat Crawley Town before settling for a goalless draw in their away meeting with Leyton Orient.
Unfortunately for Wrexham, they drew another blank in Tuesday’s away clash against Stevenage, falling to a narrow 1-0 defeat following Louis Thompson‘s 10th-minute effort.
Despite failing to win their last two matches, Wrexham are still sitting in the automatic promotion places due to their goal difference advantage over third-placed Mansfield.
After competing in consecutive away games, the Red Dragons will be looking forward to returning to the Racecourse Ground where they have won all four of their league matches this season.
© Imago
In contrast to their hosts, Northampton are hovering one point above the drop zone after taking just eight points from as many matches.
Earlier this month, the Cobblers recorded a 3-1 away win over Huddersfield Town to end a three-game winless league run.
However, instead of building upon that result, Northampton have gone on to lose back-to-back home matches against Mansfield and Bolton.
Jon Brady‘s side fell to a 2-0 defeat to the Stags, before two stoppage-time goals proved fruitless in Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to the Trotters.
The Cobblers will have to pick themselves up for their first road trip since beating Huddersfield on September 21, and they are hoping they can produce a strong performance to record successive away league victories for the first time since December and January of last season.
Wrexham League One form:
Wrexham form (all competitions):
Northampton Town League One form:
Team News
© Imago
The hosts are likely to be without the services of Max Cleworth, Luke Bolton and Anthony Forde due to their respective injury issues.
Midfielder George Evans is unlikely to be involved after he was forced off in the early stages of the second half against Stevenage.
Andy Cannon and Elliot Lee dropped down to the bench in midweek, but they are likely to be recalled to the starting lineup for Saturday’s fixture.
As for Northampton, they are unable to call upon Patrick Brough and Ali Koiki due to leg and muscle injuries.
Aaron McGowan is likely to replace Manchester City loanee Luke Mbete, who is set for a spell on the sidelines after being stretchered off against Bolton.
Tom Eaves could be given more minutes off the bench after he returned from injury to came off the bench and score on his debut in midweek.
Wrexham possible starting lineup:
Okonkwo; Barnett, Scarr, O’Connell, O’Connor, McClean; Dobson, Cannon, Lee; Marriott, Palmer
Northampton Town possible starting lineup:
Burge; Odimayo, Guthrie, Baldwin, Mbete; McGeehan, Sowerby; Pinnock, Chouchane, Fosu; Roberts
We say: Wrexham 3-1 Northampton Town
Wrexham may have won just one of their last four games, but they have won all of their four home league matches this season, and we think they will make full use of home advantage again to condemn Northampton to a third consecutive defeat.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.