AFC Wimbledon vs Fleetwood Town Predictions

• AFC Wimbledon have failed to score in just one of their home matches in League 1 this season.
• Both teams have scored in 71% of Wimbledon’s League 1 matches at Kingsmeadow.
• Both teams have scored in 67% of Fleetwood’s away games during the current campaign.

Dons sturdy at home

It’s certainly not been a vintage campaign for AFC Wimbledon, who despite their best efforts have not been able to shed the tag of relegation scrappers. Fortunately, thanks largely to the failure of others, the Dons are doing enough to remain comfortably above the drop-zone, even if they are in 20^th position. Six points separate Wimbledon and the bottom three.

Without being imperious, Wimbledon have been strong at home in recent times. The Dons have lost just one of their last nine league matches at Kingsmeadow, and it’s not as if they’ve faced poor teams during that time. Saturday’s hosts have proved that they’re no mugs at home by beating Portsmouth, Doncaster and Peterborough, all three of whom are in the top nine, two of whom currently occupy top-six places.

However, while Wimbledon are tough to beat at home and while they have a very good scoring record, notching in each of their last 11 at Kingsmeadow, they’ve not been not great at keeping teams out, conceding in four of their last five. Both teams have scored in a rather chunky 71% of Wimbledon’s home games this term.

Lack of wins blighting Cod Army

Much like Wimbledon are at home, Fleetwood are a tough side to get the better of (both home and away), but their top-six bid has been derailed somewhat by a lack of wins. Joey Barton’s men have won just two of their last ten, which is reasonably alarming. They’ve only lost one of those ten, but they’ve dropped five points behind the play-off places by not picking up three points on a regular basis.

In general, the Cod Army, who’ve scored in 19 goals in 12 travelling matches, have made their presence felt offensively on the road, though their best defensive work certainly hasn’t come away from home all that often. Barton’s side did shut out Bristol Rovers in their most recent away outing, but that was their first travelling clean sheet since September. Two clean sheets in 12 games doesn’t exactly scream defensive solidity.

Goals for both on the cards

Given what we’ve seen from this pair both in recent times and in general this term, ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score’ stands out as a viable option. Neither side has made a habit of keeping teams at bay in their respective home and away games, while both are no strangers to scoring and conceding, with both teams notching in 71% of Wimbledon’s home games and in 67% of Fleetwood’s away matches. Furthermore, the visitors have made a real habit of being involved in high-scoring games on the road, with 71% of their travelling matches containing three or more goals. More than three goals have also been scored in five of Fleetwood’s seven away games against teams currently in the bottom-half.