Met Police vs Newport County Predictions

Southern League Premier Division South club Metropolitan Police welcome League Two’s Newport County to Imber Court this weekend in a first round FA Cup clash that should make for compelling viewing.

Metropolitan Police occupy 13^th spot in the Premier Division South after ten fixtures, though The Met are on the rise. Gavin Macpherson’s side have lost just one of their last fourteen matches in all competitions and though they are still seven points adrift of the play-off of places, Metropolitan Police have games in hand on the teams around them.

The Met have lost just once at Imber Court in all competitions this season and the 3,000 capacity stadium has been turned into something of a fortress in 2018/19. Metropolitan Police had to come through four qualifying rounds to reach the first-round proper of this year’s FA Cup.

Metropolitan Police’s sparkling home record will be put to the test by Newport County on Saturday. The Exiles have their thoughts trained on winning promotion from League Two this season, though 1 win from their last 7 has seen them tumble down to 6^th place in the standings.

Newport were denied a point last weekend at Carlisle United, falling to a 90^th minute winner in a 3-2 defeat. That loss means that County are without a win in four away games since the end of September.

That contest was only the second time Newport had scored more than once in a game in eight attempts. Finding a regular route to goal has proven a difficult thing for manager Mike Flynn to mastermind of late. In total, the exiles have scored just ten times in their last nine fixtures.

Despite their poor recent points return, County aren’t a team that are used to losing. The Exiles have lost just four of their seventeen League Two matches this term, though three of those defeats did come on the road against Mansfield, Crawley and of course, Carlisle.

Nevertheless, Newport will have ability on the pitch that Metropolitan Police will find hard to match on Saturday. County are fighting for promotion in League Two, while the Met languish in mid-table several divisions below.

Although the FA Cup is famous for upsets, we’re tipping Newport to avoid being on the wrong end of one here. County haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last eight matches however, so there is every chance Metropolitan Police can extend their run of scoring in straight games from seventeen to eighteen this weekend.

With that considered, we recommend backing the Newport County win and over 2.5 goal combination for Saturday’s fixture. Our correct score prediction follows along similar lines. We’re tipping Newport to win 2-1 at Imber Court.