Macclesfield vs Plymouth Argyle Predictions

• Only five League 2 teams have conceded less home goals than Macclesfield this term.
• Macclesfield are League 2’s seventh-best team in terms of shots on target conceded at home.
• Plymouth are in the bottom half in terms of shots on target conceded and shots conceded away from home.

Moss Rose no easy place to visit

Macclesfield aren’t in a favourable position, so much so that they’re only one place away from being bottom of the pile. Fortunately for them, thanks to expulsion of Bury, only one team is due to be relegated from League 2 this season, so they’re currently a healthy seven points above the drop-zone.

Despite their rather poor league position, Macclesfield are no easy team to face at Moss Rose, where they’ve lost just two of their last 14 league matches. They may not be prolific winners, but the hosts are certainly capable of making life tough for teams, while they’re also good at stopping teams from hitting their stride in the final third. A clean-sheet ration of just 0.19 isn’t impressive, but the fact that the Silkmen have conceded more than once in just one out of 16 matches is extremely impressive.

Plymouth poised

While Macclesfield are down towards the foot of the table, Plymouth find themselves at the other end fighting for promotion. And not just promotion, automatic promotion. As things stands, Ryan Lowe’s men are just a point outside of the coveted top three, while they’re only three points shy of top spot. Things are going well for Argyle, that’s for sure.

However, Plymouth haven’t been overly convincing away from home of late, or in general this term. They’ve scored only one more travelling goal than they’ve conceded, while each of their last two away wins were by just a single goal. Sandwiched in between those two victories was a 3-0 defeat at Colchester.

A 50% away-day win rate is certainly not to be sneezed at, but it doesn’t exactly suggest that the visitors will go to Moss Rose and make light work of winning, which is what the early betting would have us believe.

Hosts value to compete

As a side chasing promotion, Plymouth will want to win this game, but their task isn’t an easy one, so much so that the hosts look a good bet to avoid defeat. Punters are advised to side with ‘Macclesfield +1 Handicap’. Don’t be fooled by their league position, the Silkmen are very good at staying in games at home, as their record suggests, while they’re also very good at preventing teams from getting into full flow offensively. Add in Plymouth’s rather patchy overall away record, alongside the fact that they rank in the bottom half for both shots on target for and shots for on the road and backing the hosts to avoid defeat appeals, especially as they easily rank in the top half when it comes to shots on target and shots conceded at home.