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dannyboyk2000 · 6 years ago

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Cheltenham Town vs Grimsby Town Match Preview: 8th December

(Source/Credit- SofaScore)

Cheltenham Town will be looking to get back to winning ways in the league after their 4-1 defeat to a high flying Bury side on the 27th November.

Prior to that Bury defeat, Cheltenham Town were on the best run so far under Michael Duff. Picking up 2 wins in the League- a 0-3 away victory at a struggling Notts County, and an impressive 2-1 home victory against a top 4 Newport County side.

However, Grimsby come into this game with a better run of form than the Robins. They are 3 unbeaten- picking up 7 points out of a possible 9.

This good run of form for the The Mariners has moved them 6 points away from the relegation zone (23rd placed Notts County).

Grimsby Town’s last defeat in the League came just over a month ago on the 6th of November when they lost 2-1 away to a top 6 Mansfield Town Side.

Since then, they have beaten Crawley and Tranmere, and have picked up a point away to Northampton Town.

They are also doing well, unlike Cheltenham in the FA Cup. The Mariners knocked out top of league 2 MK Dons and last week knocked out Chesterfield to progress to the 3rd round of the FA Cup.

The Mariners have earned themselves a 3rd round tie away at Crystal Palace, which all Grimsby fans will be looking forward to on the 5th of January!

However the Robins lost in the second round of the FA Cup, last week against League 1 side Accrington Stanley, allowing them to fully focus on moving away from the relegation zone in League.

There are 5 points separating these teams, from Grimsby in 18th place with a points tally of 22 points, to Cheltenham on 22nd place with a points tally of 17 points.

Recent Form for both teams

Cheltenham Town- L/D/W/W/L

Grimsby Town- L/L/W/D/W

Manager Comments

Cheltenham Town- Manager: Michael Duff

Michael Duff on Grimsby Town;

“We know if we beat them we get closer to them but flip that on its head and if they beat us the gap gets wider,” Duff said at Thursday’s press conference.

“We’ve played a lot of teams at the top end of the table so the next run of games are important because they are against teams in and around us.

"I think we know what we’re going to get from them. They get in your face, they press high, have good energy - similar to Newport in the way they go about with a different shape and the way they go about their business. We know what we’ll be expecting from them.”

Grimsby Town- Michael Jolly

Michael Jolly on the upcoming January transfer window;

The Town boss confirmed that he is speaking to people ahead of the transfer window reopening in January.

He also stated that it was important that he got his transfer dealings right.

He said: “It’s a strange time because there’s so many possibilities and players that are going to move in this window that we need to get it right.

“It’s an important time for everybody, so any business we do participate in, we need to make sure it’s the right business for us, so we’ll see how we go.

“Until somebody is actually here with a signed contract, then nothing is ever 100 per cent lined up.”

Team News

Cheltenham Town- Michael Duff

“We hope Jacob will be okay. Ryan Broom was a protection, so we’ll have to see where he is. Other than that it’s just Daws (Kevin Dawson) and Longy (Sean Long).”

Forster is suspended for this game.

Cheltenham Town Predicted starting 11- Flinders, Boyle, Tozer, Mullins, Broom, Clements, Maddox, Thomas, Hussey, Varney, Barnett.

However i do think that there is a real possibility that Alex Addai may get a start in this game because of his good form recently, but the other thing stopping me putting him in my starting 11 is that he played the full 90 minutes midweek against Newport County in the Checkatrade Trophy. If he was to start, it would be in place of Ryan Broom.

Michael Duff did hint that Addai has done enough to earn a first-place spot in his team;

When being asked the question; Is Alex Addai now in genuine contention for a League Two start? This is what Michael Duff said;

“Absolutely. A lot of thought goes into every team, even if you roll out the same team. It’s who you are playing, this is our 10th game in 34 days, so it’s tough. But Alex has been good, he’s show a good attitude and that he wants to learn, he has come on and delivered good performances, so I’d be foolish to say he’s not in my plans because he’s done well for us.”

Grimsby Town- Michael Jolly

On injuries, Jolley confirmed that Martyn Woolford, Akin Famewo, Elliott Whitehouse and Reece Hall-Johnson remain sidelined.

Grimsby Town predicted starting 11- McKeown, Henrie, Whitmore, Davis, Fox, Embleton, Hessenthaler, Clifton, Pringle, Vernam, Thomas.

Head to Head record

These sides have met 13 times over the years, with Cheltenham having the better head to head record. The Robins have won 6 times against Grimsby. There have been 3 draws over the years. And Grimsby have won 4 times against Cheltenham.

The last meeting between these sides was last year in the league at the start of February, where Grimbsy and Cheltenham drew 1-1 at Blundell Park.

Betting Odds/ My Prediction

Despite Grimsby recent good run of form in the league, Bet 365 have made Cheltenham Town the favourites to claim a win over The Mariners, with a Cheltenham win being priced at 6/5. A draw between these two sides is being priced at 12/5, whereas a Grimsby win is being priced at 13/5.

My Prediction for this game is a 2-1 win to Cheltenham with Maddox and Varney scoring both goals for the Robins.

So can the Robins collect an important win to close the gap between themselves and Grimsby to only 2 points. A Cheltenham win would also move themselves further away from the relegation zones.

So can the Robins win on Saturday?

We will find out soon…

By Danyal Khan

#league2 #Cheltenham #Grimsby #Festivefootball #skybet #bet365

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dannyboyk2000 · 6 years ago

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Cheltenham Town vs Grimsby Town Match Preview: 8th December

(Source/Credit- Sofascore)