The Grecians host Cheltenham this weekend in a game where the home side are the heavy favourites to claim all three points. Having said that, the Robins had a 100% win record against this weekend’s opposition last season, winning 1-0 in this exact fixture last year and 3-1 at home.
Exeter
Exeter have had a brilliant start to the season, especially considering how poorly they ended the previous campaign. The Grecians sit in third place at the moment after seven games, winning four, drawing one and losing two. This weekend they play at St James Park, where they have actually struggled at times this season compared to their away form.
For example, last week Gary Caldwell’s side suffered a 2-1 defeat to Leyton Orient who picked up their first away win of the season. Despite having plenty of the ball, Exeter created almost nothing whilst being extremely vulnerable on the counter. Leyton Orient had 19 shots with 7 on target compared to the hosts 5 shots with 2 on target. Usually this game state occurs when a team is winning, but the visitors registered 12 shots in the first half whilst the score was 0-0.
Cheltenham
The Robins have really struggled this season and haven’t been able to get going yet at all. Frustration is high and morale is at an all time low, with the Cheltenham faithful having literally nothing to cheer about. After six games, they are the only side in the top five English leagues to have not scored a goal yet this season, which clearly underlines their biggest problem that Wade Elliot simply has to fix as soon as possible. Their only point this season came on the road versus Portsmouth in a 0-0 draw.
Last time out, they lost 2-0 to Barnsley at home but there were positives to take. The Robins were able to create a couple big chances that unfortunately their forwards were unable to convert but if they keep getting into promising positions, it is only a matter of time before they do score. Pressure will be on the players and Elliot to perform this weekend, but given they face Exeter who are expected to win, the complete underdog status may alleviate a fraction of that pressure.
Verdict?
It is difficult to see anything other than an Exeter win based on what we have seen so far this season, but I’m not convinced it will be by an astounding scoreline as defensively, Cheltenham are solid enough. Yet not scoring a single goal so far is too big of a statistic to ignore.
The final prediction is Exeter 2-0 Cheltenham.
