St James Park hosts Exeter City and Port Vale this weekend in a clash that could shake up the bottom half of the table. Both sides have had disappointing seasons so far and will be looking for the win to put some more breathing room between themselves and the relegation zone.
Exeter City currently sit 20th in League One after 18 games. The Grecians have five wins, three draws and ten losses, leaving them on 18 points which is just three points above the relegation zone.
In their last five games in all competitions, Exeter have one win, one draw and three losses. In the First round of the FA Cup, Exeter hosted Wigan. Thelo Aasgaard and Steven Sessegnon both scored in the second half to give Wigan the 2 - 0 win and the spot in the next round. Back in League One it wasn’t much better for Exeter. Ryan Broom, Brendan Sarpong-Wiredu and Phoenix Patterson all scored in Fleetwood’s 3 - 0 thrashing of Exeter.
In the Football League Trophy, Exeter travelled to Swindon. Yanic Wildschut scored the only goal of the game in the sixth minute for a 1 - 0 win for Exeter. However, this winning euphoria was short lived as Exeter met Bolton back in the league. A brace from Dion Charles and goals from Jack Iredale, Victor Adeboyejo, Paris Maghoma, Kyle Dempsey and Dan Nlundulu all scored in the 7 - 0 demolition of Exeter.
Last time out for Exeter was against Shrewsbury in the league. Neither side could find the back of the net as the game finished 0 - 0, despite Exeter having 12 shots with five of those on target and 64% of the possession.
Port Vale, similarly, sit 19th in League One. In 18 games, Port Vale have five wins, four draws and nine losses which leaves them on just 19 points, one point ahead of Exeter and four points above the relegation zone.
In their last five games in all competitions, Port Vale have one win, one draw and three losses. In the First round Replays of the FA Cup, Port Vale travelled to Burton. Gavin Massey and Lewis Cass both scored in the 2 - 0 win for Port Vale after a 0 - 0 draw in the first game. However, back in the league, Port Vale were on the losing side. Max Mata and Daniel Udoh gave Shrewsbury the 2 - 0 lead, but Ben Garrity scored to give Port Vale a fighting chance of at least a point. Port Vale couldn’t find the back of the net as Shrewsbury took home the 2 - 1 win.
Tyreece John-Jules scored the only goal of the game late on to give Derby the 1 - 0 win over Port Vale. The one draw came in the FA Cup against Stevenage. Jamie Reid scored first in the 69th minute but Funso Ojo equalised seven minutes later through a penalty, securing the 1 - 1 draw and another replay.
The most recent outing for Port Vale was in the Football League Trophy against Bolton. Charles and Carlos Mendes Gomes both scored in a 2 - 0 win for Bolton.
Exeter and Port Vale have met 63 times in their histories, with the first meeting coming back in 1938. Port Vale have the better record in the fixture with 29 wins in comparison to Exeter’s 21 wins, with the other 13 games ending in a draw.