Morecambe vs Mansfield Town Predictions

• Morecambe conceded at least 1 goal in 87% of their home matches.
• Morecambe conceded at least 1 goal in each of their last 6 home matches.
• Mansfield have conceded 2 goals or more in each of their last 4 away matches.

Another relegation dog fight

It almost seems as if the old saying of only a few things in life are permanent needs amending so the answer becomes, death, taxes and Morecambe in a fight to save their spot in the Football League. The Shrimps have been in this position plenty of time previously so the prospect of being second from bottom will be nothing new to them, but they will know that they need to put points on the board if they are to start to secure their spot in League 2 for next season.

Fortunately for the hosts, over the past few weeks that is exactly what they have been doing as they have suffered just two defeats in their last six outings. Much of this turnaround in form has come thanks to being able to find the back of the net on a much more regular basis and they have scored eight times in those same six outings.

A season to forget

Expectations are always pretty high at Mansfield as they have one of the higher budgets in the division, they are not shy in the transfer market and they have ambitious owners who want to see the club play as high up the pyramid as possible. However, the owners will probably be the first to admit that things have not exactly gone to plan this season.

The Stags are currently just nine points above the bottom of the league, and although they are capable of pulling off a good performance every now and again, see the morale boosting 3-0 victory over promotion chasing Bradford a few weeks ago, they have still lost four of their last six league matches. Things have not exactly gone to plan defensively and the hosts have the second worst defensive record in the division having conceded 50 times so far this season.

Two bad defences are on show

With the two worst defensive records in the division on show, it is fair to say that we do not expect either side to be pretty resolute at the back. Between these two teams, they have had to pick the ball out of the net on 103 occasions already this term and with that showing no signs of ending any time soon, we expect plenty of goals this weekend. Both teams can be dangerous at the other end of the pitch too, so backing there to be over 2.5 goals scored looks to be the way to go.

In terms of a correct score tip, we think that home advantage should be enough to see the hosts get the points. Morecambe have scored an average of 1.07 goals per game at home but have scored eight in their last six outings and are against a side who have conceded 10 times in their last four away matches. With this in mind, we are predicting this one to end in a 2-1 home win.