Accrington Stanley vs Scunthorpe Predictions

After they lost to Gillingham in front of a home crowd on the opening day, some people may have feared the worst for Accrington, though John Coleman’s men took no time at all to turn things around. As things stand, they’re unbeaten in four in the league, so they’ll be looking to continue moving in the right direction when they welcome a struggling Scunthorpe to Crown Ground on Saturday afternoon.

Considering that they are one of the newly promoted teams, Accrington have made a very pleasing start to the campaign, especially from an offensive point of view. Just like they did in League Two last season, John Coleman’s men have adopted an attacking approach, an approach that has so far seen them do well. As most of their matches have shown, they’re not the most astute at the back, though Coleman will probably take the view that it’s better to score plenty of goals at the expense of some defensive frailties than the other way around.

As things stand in League One, Saturday’s hosts have scored a pleasing seven goals, though it is the chances they’re creating rather than the goals that they’re scoring that impresses most. In terms of expected goals (xG), Stanley are the joint-fourth best team in the division, while they also rank inside the top half in terms of both shots taken and shots on target accumulated. Their attacking strength has been there for all to see in each of their games this season, so it’s easy to see them doing well against a Scunthorpe side that has struggled at the back.

If the hosts have done well offensively, then Scunthorpe have floundered at the back, while they’ve not exactly been good going forward either. The visitors, who’re now managed by Stuart McCall, a manager who is not short of League One experience, currently rank very lowly in a variety of areas. They’re bottom of the expected goals against table, while they rank fourth from bottom in terms of expected goals for. They’re also in the bottom six for shots on target, while only one team has conceded more shots on target than the Iron.

With the new manager in charge, things may change, though improvement is likely to take time. With the hosts expected to get forward as usual on their own patch, a visiting back-line that is short in terms of both confidence and solidity could very easily be in for another tough afternoon.

Based on what we’ve seen from both during the campaign so far, coupled with the prices on offer, ‘Accrington to Score Over 1.5 Goals’ makes considerable appeal.