Colchester vs Exeter City Predictions

• Colchester and Exeter have drawn three of their last four league meetings, including both games this season
• Exeter started the season brightly, going ten games unbeaten
• Both teams have scored in eight of Exeter’s last nine league matches

Colchester may prove second best

Colchester and Exeter have drawn three of their last four league meetings, including both games this season, and there is unlikely to be much between them as they battle it out over two legs for a place at Wembley.

With form unlikely to be a factor after a three-month layoff, punters should consider their respective records against playoff rivals and look at their early-season results.

Colchester finished seven points behind Exeter in the League Two standings, failing to win any of their opening four games and winning just one of their first four on home soil.

The pair had identical records against playoff opponents – one win, three draws and one defeat – and their latest meeting at St James Park in January finished goalless.

However, it was a 2-2 draw in December’s league clash at Colchester and given the attacking quality on show it should be another enterprising encounter at the JobServe Community Stadium, where there have been three or more goals in six of the last nine league games.

Fast-starting Grecians should be well prepared

The three-month layoff is unlikely to be any hindrance to Exeter, who made a fast start to the season with a ten-game unbeaten run.

The Grecians held promoted pair Swindon and Crewe to draws in that early-season period and we are predicting them to be ready to go from the off in their bid for promotion.

Exeter, who made the playoff final at Wembley in two of the last three seasons, also have the advantage of knowing how to prepare for situations such as this and they boast superior attacking quality through the likes Ryan Bowman, Nicky Law and Randell Williams.

The net could bulge at both ends

Both teams have scored in eight of Exeter’s last nine league matches and our predictions suggest that sequence will continue here.

It was 2-2 when these two locked horns in Colchester in December, which was the fourth meeting in a row at the JobServe Community Stadium in which both teams had scored.

Exeter are taken to prevail but Colchester, whose attacking options include Theo Robinson, Luke Norris and Frank Nouble, have failed to score in only four of their 18 home games this term and can grab a consolation.