I've seen it mentioned a bit that this is a good time to play Accrington but if it is, I wouldn't want to play them at a bad time. They come to Plough Lane tonight on the back of three straight wins in the league, and four straight wins if you include the football league trophy. The last team to beat them (six games ago) was Stockport, and given that they beat just about everyone right now there's no shame there. So what can we expect when they come out tonight?
Well first things first. Any hopes that they might be distracted by the public row between the owner (who wants to sell the club) and the management team are in my opinion pie in the sky. John Coleman is an excellent manager, one of the best in the league, and if anything I reckon his players will be MORE galvanized not less by the strange situation around the club. In terms of style, I wouldn't describe Accy as being "direct" but like us they aren't shy of getting the ball forward quickly. Again like us they are a big, powerful team who aren't concerned with not having posession for lengthly periods of the match. Up top in Josh Andrews (on loan from Birmingham) they have a big, ugly target man who is a huge threat when crosses come into the box. They aren't shy about crossing it either, so our full backs are going to have to get out quick and tight to encourage a re-cycle. They are also a big threat from set pieces, the monstrous figure of Jay Rich-Bagalou launching himself at anything available.
They almost always play 4-2-3-1, and have two young kids in front of the back four who put the miles in (can't remember their names). In the three in front, the Scouse lad Whalley has a goal in him & will hit it from range, and I like the Portsmouth kid Tommy Leigh if he plays. All in all they are a solid outfit and will in my opinion finish top 12. They are in that group (as are we) of eight teams which are not quite as strong as the top four (Stockport/Wrexham/Notts Co/Mansfield).
Their recent record is good, but they were in my opinion lucky to win at Grimsby where until they had a man sent off, the home team were much the better side. Grimsby missed some sitters, something we obviously need to avoid. They won at home on Saturday too, but the away team missed a couple of really good chances. We'll need to defend properly, as already stated the full backs as first line, but Ryan and Joe are going to have a battle with Andrews. I'd let Ryan have him, he's hungry for a bit of raw meat after a few quiet weeks.
To hurt THEM, if we're brave enough to press higher and not instantly retreat into our shape, I think we can catch them around the edge of their box. They kind of try and play out sometimes (particularly the full backs), I can see a goal from a counter press if we do that. And I think our wide players can cause both of their full backs problems, both of their wide defenders are more the robust than the nimble types. As they only play one up top, I hope we're brave enough to push our full backs on (Josh Andrews isn't going to outpace anyone down the sides) and if we can get Reeves/Little on the ball in their half, Ali will be on for the slide rule through a gap. He'll really bother them with his pace if we can give him some service.
I like the game, under the lights it'll be a great atmos and I think a really good match up. I take us to nudge it 2-1, and I fancy Ali to score twice (which is 10/1). COYD.
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