Rochdale vs Charlton Predictions

Rochdale’s up and down campaign continued on Tuesday evening, as they were beaten 3-0 by Wycombe away from home. That result means that Rochdale’s recent record now reads: LWLWD, so it’s fair to say that consistency is very much something that they’re struggling to find. Now back on their own patch, Keith Hill will expect his side to deliver an improved performance, though facing Charlton won’t be easy.

Delivering a promising performance one week and then struggling the next is becoming a real habit for Rochdale, who’re finding it very tough to keep things tight on a regular basis. Having seen his side win by two goals to nil away at Bradford at the weekend, manager Keith Hill would’ve expected to witness something similar at Adams Park on Tuesday evening, though instead he looked on as Rochdale slumped to a 3-0 defeat.

Even at home, Rochdale have struggled to keep teams at bay, which means that a lot of their promising attacking play has gone to waste. That has been the case for a lot of teams in League One this season and no team can keep their opponents out all the time, but a lack of defensive solidity really is becoming a problem for Saturday’s hosts, who’ve conceded a worrying total of 16 at home. In truth, such a total is probably slightly harsh on Hill’s men, but they’re conceding an average of 1.67 expected goals per home game, so it’s easy to see why their visitors are hitting the net so much. Frankly, if you’re too open and give away plenty of chances, then keeping clean sheets will always be tough.

On paper, this is a good opportunity for the visitors, who’ve often done well against the more open teams. Charlton did fail to overcome Oxford on their own patch on Tuesday evening, though they were a tad unlucky not to walk away with all three points, as they certainly did more to get the victory than their visitors.

Playing away from home hasn’t always been something that Charlton have done well this season, though their last few efforts on the road suggest that they can hurt a Rochdale side that continues to struggle defensively. In their penultimate away match, Charlton became one of the very few teams to really get at Luton on their own patch, while their attacking effort away at Scunthorpe after that was as impressive. Having notched twice (and deservedly so) against that pair, it would be no surprise if Charlton, who have top marksman Lyle Taylor leading their line, get themselves among the goals again on this occasion.

With the betting the way it is currently, backing ‘Charlton to Score Over 1.5 Goals’ is hard to resist. If we consider the fact that the Addicks have posted xGf (expected goals for) figures of 2.0 and 1.53 in their last two travelling matches, alongside the fact that Rochdale have conceded 2.11 and 1.96 in their last two at home, it’s easy to feel that visiting goals should be a bit shorter.