Mansfield Town vs Newport County Predictions

• Mansfield have scored in each of their last 7 matches.
• Mansfield conceded at least 1 goal in 81% of their home matches.
• 70% of Newport’s points have been earned at home.

A season to forget

Just nine months ago, the clash between Mansfield Town and Newport County was taking place in the play-off semi final, with the winners going on to win a spot at Wembley in order to compete for promotion to League 1. However, that was last season and at Mansfield Town, things have not exactly gone to plan this season.

The Stags are currently just 10 points above the bottom of the league, and although they are capable of pulling off a good performance every now and again, they have still lost five of their last eight league matches. Things have not exactly gone to plan defensively and the hosts have the second worst defensive record in the division having conceded 53 times so far this season.

It’s not been plain sailing for Newport County

Although Newport County will have been hopeful of being able to bounce back from defeat in the play-off final last year, they have had plenty of troubles of their own this season. The visitors have maintained the good defensive record which served them so well last term, and they go into this match having kept three clean sheets in their last six attempts.

However, on the road it has been a different story as they have won just three matches on their travels in the league and have conceded in 69% of their away matches. The visitors have plenty of games in hand on their rivals which is probably why they feature so highly in the fewest goals conceded, but they know they need to improve offensively if they are to start climbing the league table.

Not much to split the sides

It is probably one of the most difficult matches to pick a result from as both of these sides will be determined to earn three points to improve their standings, but neither have a viable claim to be favourites. The hosts concede plenty but they play an attacking game and have scored 12 times in their last seven outings. Although the visitors play a defensive game, they are poor on the road and will have to attack if they are to get anything from this fixture. With this in mind, we think that the hosts may be able exploit this attacking intent and backing Mansfield to score over 1.5 goals looks to be a solid bet.

In terms of a correct score tip, the hosts have scored an average of 1.63 goals per game and have conceded 1.81 goals per game at home. Whilst the visitors have scored just 0.77 goals per game on the road, they have conceded in 69% of their away matches, so a 2-1 home win is where our trust is going in this fixture.