Salford City will be aiming to record back-to-back victories as they face a Rochdale side who sit rock bottom of the League Two table on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts currently find themselves inside the playoff places in 5th position, having gained 45 points from their 28 league games so far this campaign. The Ammies have had a mixed bag of results in recent weeks, having won two, lost two and drawn one of their last five games in all competitions.
Salford’s defence has been pivotal to their success this year and they have kept two clean sheets in their last four games. The Ammies have the 5th best defensive record in the league, having conceded 28 times in 28 games.
Salford Hosted Walsall on Tuesday night in a tight game of few chances. The only goal of the game came from Veteran striker Matt Smith in the 5th minute. The Ammies were able to hold onto their slender lead for the best part of 85 minutes to secure all three points.
Rochdale currently occupy the foot of the League Two table, having gained 20 points, following 5 wins, 5 draws and 18 defeats from their 28 league games so far this campaign.
The Dale come into this tie on the back of a terrible run of form that has seen them lose their last three consecutive league games. This run has seen Rochdale record significant defeats at the hands of fellow relegation strangers in the form of Hartlepool and Colchester.
Rochdale have lost eight of their last 11 league games, their only victory in that time came on the road against Bradford in January where they won 2-1. Jim Bentley’s side will have to record another away victory if they are to climb out of the relegation zone this weekend.
Last time out, Rochdale put on a valiant defensive display but narrowly lost to a promotion-chasing Carlise side. John-Kyani Gordon’s early goal proved to be the difference between the two sides. Ian Henderson thought that he had equalised in the dying moments of the game however his header was ruled offside.
These two sides have only met competitively on five occasions in their history, with it often being a tight affair. There has been a win for each side and three draws in the five encounters of these sides. This is often a low scoring fixture, as there has only been more than three goals on one occasion.
Rochdale secured a rare victory when these sides met earlier in the season. Despite only having 35% of the game's possession, an 80th minute Ian Henderson strike was enough to take all three points away from the game.
Unsurprisingly, given the respective form of these sides, it is Salford who are favoured at the books ahead of this tie @ 19/20, whilst a shock away win for Rochdale is currently priced @ 14/5.
We are backing Conor McAleny to score for Salford as he has been in excellent goalscoring form since the Christmas period. McAleny has scored three in Salford’s last four league games and we believe that he has every chance of netting this weekend given Rochdale's defensive struggles.
