Bury vs Mansfield Town Predictions

It has been a decent start back to life in League Two for Bury under manager Ryan Lowe. They sit one point outside the play-offs after 11 matches but have slipped up a couple of times in recent games.

Indeed, in their latest match, a midweek clash with struggling Northampton, Bury played out to a goalless draw. Whilst it may be seen as a point gained come the end of the season, Northampton had been all over the place at home and even if new manager Keith Curle had an effect after being in charge for a day, it was a game they should have won, or at least dominated.

This had come two matches after Bury had slipped to their first home defeat of the season against Carlisle. They had lost 1-0 despite the visitors going down to ten men and having a number of chances and fell victim to a real smash-and-grab performance. It was in stark contrast to their previous home form, which had seen them win three and draw one, against strong teams in the league like Yeovil and Forest Green Rovers.

That being said, in between the matches against Northampton and Carlisle, Bury had secured an impressive 2-1 away win at Colchester to make it back-to-back away victories. They matched a side who had been the league’s top scorers to get all three points and follow up an equally notable win against Swindon. Ironically, their away form has picked up whilst their home record has suffered. Before these three away matches, Bury had lost all of their games on the road.

Mansfield are a team that feels as if it is in a false position in the league. They are 14th but have played a game less and have only lost once this season so far, against Exeter at home.

Apart from that, Mansfield have looked potential play-off candidates. They have a range of potent attacking options, such as Nottingham Forest loanee Tyler Walker, Danny Rose, Otis Khan and veteran Craig Davies. Between them, there is a wealth of experience and potential that has come to life at times. It occurred at the weekend against Northampton Town, who they beat 4-0 at home, with Rose scoring twice to secure a thumping victory. They have also thrashed Newport County and Accrington Stanley during this campaign to further confirm this talent.

However, Mansfield have drawn too many matches that they should have won and this strike-force needs to up their game to fire them up the table. They needed to do better than draw with strugglers Macclesfield and Cambridge, although ties against Colchester and Yeovil were not the worst results.

This was witnessed in the midweek match against Oldham at home. The match finished goalless but Mansfield dominated the game throughout, having more of the possession and 15 attempts on goal. They were kept out by some great goalkeeping and poor finishing but showed their attacking potential against a side above them in the league and who had been playing some good football themselves.

Thus, despite both teams drawing stalemates in the week, we think both teams will score in this match. They have shown good attacking qualities in many other matches this season so it could be an exciting match between two teams looking for a response and a position in the play-offs. To pick a winner, we think Mansfield could edge this one 2-1. They have been in slightly better form going forward this past couple of games and may realise their full potential with a win against a team of similar quality.