Rochdale vs Tranmere Predictions

• With 15 goals to their name, Rochdale are League 1’s second-lowest scorers at home this season.
• Tranmere are one of only four League 1 teams to score less ten goals on the road this season.
• Rochdale are League 1’s third worst team in terms of shots on target for at home.
• Tranmere are League 1’s third worst team in terms of shots on target for away from home.

Dale inconsistent

Rochdale inconsistent season continued during the week as they were easily beaten away at Stadium of Light. Losing to one of the promotion contenders certainly isn’t the end of the world, though that loss once again highlighted Dale’s apparent inability to put together a string of results.

Fortunately, despite their struggles, thanks mainly to the poor form of others, Rochdale are comfortably above the drop-zone. Ten points separate Dale and Saturday’s opponents, who at present occupy the last relegation spot.

In recent weeks, Rochdale have performed well at home, avoiding defeat in each of their last three at Spotland, two of which they’ve won. Clean sheets against bottom-half sides such as Shrewsbury and Bolton bode well ahead of Saturday’s match, though Dale’s general lack of goals at home doesn’t. Rickett’s men have scored just 15 goals in 14 home games this season. Only one team in League 1 has scored fewer home goals.

Terrible Tranmere

Tranmere stopped the rot on Tuesday evening by drawing at home to Bristol Rovers, keeping clean sheet in a process, though given the position that they’ve put themselves in, draws won’t really suffice. Micky Mellon’s men are six points from safety and are now without a win in ten matches.

Worse still, Tranmere have struggled hugely to find their feet offensively of late, scoring in none of their last five League 1 matches. On the road, their attacking woes have been particularly prevalent. Saturday’s visitors have scored just nine goals on their travels this season, failing to score in 54% of their matches away from the comforts of Prenton Park.

Lack of goals on the cards

Given the lack of attacking power shown by both Rochdale and Tranmere, ‘Under 2.5 Goals’ catches the eye. Rochdale have been anything but prolific at home, averaging 1.07 goals for, while Tranmere have been even worse on the road, averaging a measly 0.69. The fact that Rochdale have kept recent clean sheets at home also lends itself to the selection, as does the fact that both teams rank very poorly in terms of shots on target for. Rochdale’s are League 1’s third worst home team in that respect, while Tranmere are the third worst away team.

‘Correct Score’ punters can try a 1-0 win for the hosts, who may not be the biggest scorers but who’ve scored in all but one of their home games against bottom-half teams. They’ve also kept three home clean sheets against such opposition.