Wrexham owners Ryan Renolds and Rob McElhenney will be hoping that their storyline journey continues on Saturday as begin their League Two campaign against relegated MK Dons at the Racecourse Ground. Although two leagues separated Wrexham and Mk Dons last season, the National League winners are favourites for the tie.
Wrexham
Last campaign, Wrexham won the hearts of football fans from all over the world, not just because of their connection to extremely famous actors but because they produced some unbelievable football which earned them an astonishing 111 points. The Red Dragons scored 116 goals, conceded 43 and only lost 3 games in the entire season, which all came away from home, underlining just how impressive their unbeaten home form is. Their star striker Paul Mullin was the favourite to win the League Two golden boot after he scored 38 goals last year, but he was unfortunately on the receiving end of a collision in pre-season, which left him with a punctured lung and Wrexham without their main man going into the season.
Other than the awful injury to Mullin, Wrexham enjoyed their pre-season in America and tested themselves against some of the very best, such as Chelsea. They ultimately lost 5-0 against the Premier League opposition, but they redeemed themselves against a very youthful Manchester United side six days later where they won 3-1.
MK Dons
The Dons head into game week one with a point to prove following their relegation from League One last season and they only went down by the smallest of margins. The mood in both camps going into this season is a complete contrast but what will give MK Dons hope is that their away record last season was actually a lot better than when they were at home. Having said that, they didn’t exactly excel at either end of the pitch, conceding 1.43 goals per game and only scoring 1.04. Despite relegation, they’ve managed to keep hold of last season’s top goal scorer Mohamed Eisa which will please Graham Alexander.
However, their pre-season and end of season form is quite worrying, they haven’t picked up a win in any competition in 12 consecutive games, therefore getting out of this rut may be a difficult task. Two back-to-back defeats of 3-1 against Northampton town and 5-1 versus Coventry City clearly highlights their need for defensive reinforcement.
Verdict?
Without Paul Mullin, it is unknown how Wrexham will perform and even their fans are less optimistic due to his absence. Furthermore, it is always difficult to predict the outcome of a game when a team that has been relegated faces a newly promoted side.
Based on pre-season, recent form and morale, Wrexham will just come out on top but I doubt it will be a dominant scoreline.
