Forest Green Rovers travel to Accrington Stanley at the weekend, with the visitors in desperate need of a victory. Both sides were relegated to League Two and in League One last season, each team won 2-1 at home.
Accrington
Accrington Stanley have had a rather inconsistent start to life in League Two, after they were relegated last season. 11 games have been played and John Coleman’s side have picked up 14 points which puts them in 15th place. The ‘Owd Reds have a respectable scoring record, yet it is their defence that has shown signs of vulnerability, as they’ve conceded 1.55 goals per game. A positive ahead of this weekend is that they perform much better at home, than they do on the road.
Last time out, Accrington drew 1-1 away to Morecambe, in a fairly evenly contested tie. The first half saw plenty of action, but no goals, with the hosts missing two big opportunities. After the break, the game became really scrappy and each side were handed three yellows each. Morecambe opened the scoring just after the hour mark and by the 70th minute, the visitors equalised through a Tommy Leigh penalty.
Forest Green
Forest Green have been rather disappointing this season and their 23rd place position is a fair reflection on David Horseman’s sides performances. The Green Devils have lost eight out of their 11 games so far and they’ve lost all of their last five. There are major issues at both ends of the field, but the biggest problem is most certainly their inability to keep the ball out of their net. They have the third worst goals conceded in the league (22) and the third worst goals scored (10).
This week, Forest Green travelled to Stockport where they suffered a 2-0 defeat. The gameplan would have been to frustrate the hosts, but by the 35th minute, they were two goals down. To make matters worse, Marcel Lavinier was sent off in the second half with half an hour to go, which essentially settled the tie.
Verdict?
Forest Green are on a really poor run of form and it would take a drastic change for them to get a victory this weekend. Accrington will view the tie as a three pointer and they will hope to get the job done.
The final prediction is Accrington 2-1 Forest Green.
