Blackpool vs Scunthorpe Predictions

After a couple of draws, Blackpool resumed winning ways on Saturday afternoon when they beat Wimbledon by two goals to nil at this venue. On that occasion, Terry McPhillips’ men weren’t exactly at their best, but they ground out the result nonetheless. With that win under their belts, the hosts will fancy their chances of getting the better of a very leaky Scunthorpe side.

On Saturday, Blackpool’s performance wasn’t of the highest calibre, nor were they overly deserving of the three points, but the most important thing is that the Seasiders did regain the winning thread. In general, they’ve done well at home this season, so they can be forgiven for one slightly below par performance.

Overall, when playing on their own patch, Terry McPhillips’ men have offered a real threat going forward, while they’ve given less away at the other end. The Seasiders have lost just one of their seven home matches, winning three of the other six, scoring 11 goals and conceding seven in the process. In addition, they’ve done well when it comes to creating more opportunities than they’ve given away at the other end, as their average expected goal difference of +0.67 suggests. The same cannot be said for Scunthorpe on their travels.

When plying their trade away from home, Scunthorpe have struggled to get going this season. As has been the case since Stuart McCall’s took over, the Iron did compete well on Saturday, as they fought their way back into the game against Wycombe, but they ultimately paid the price for giving far too much away at the back, and that’s exactly what they’ve done on the road this season.

Scunthorpe have won just two of their seven away games, and such a record is largely down to their inability to keep teams at bay. Having shipped three in defeat at Wycombe on Saturday, the Iron have now conceded thirteen goals away from home, while their expected goals against average of 2.05 suggests that such a total is completely warranted.

As each of their last two travelling efforts have suggested, Scunthorpe have started to offer more going forward, though that is largely insignificant if they’re going to give so much away at the other end. With Blackpool looking strong offensively on their own patch, it’s tough to make a case for Scunny.

The bet that stands out ahead of this fixture is ‘Blackpool to Score Over 1.5 Goals’. With the hosts averaging 1.96 expected goals for per home match, alongside Scunthorpe averaging 2.05 expected goals against on their travels, supporting the hosts to notch at least twice appears to represent a small chunk of value at the current prices.