Southend vs Walsall Predictions

Having regained the winning thread away at Gillingham a fortnight ago, Southend would’ve gone into Saturday’s home fixture against Coventry in good spirit, though they were unable to take anything from the game. The Shrimpers failed to dominate on Saturday and were deservedly beaten as a result, so manager Chris Powell will be looking for an improved performance when his side welcome Walsall to Roots Hall on Tuesday evening.

There’s no need to panic just yet, but Shrimpers’ boss Chris Powell may be slightly worried with how his team have conceded goals at home this season. For the most part, Southend have looked dominant when playing on their own patch; they dictate possession of the ball, are creative in the final third, can score goals, though a lot of their promising offensive work has tended to be undone by poor/slack defending.

Saturday’s match against Coventry was the fourth time that Southend have conceded more than once at home this season. The Shrimpers have now conceded eight goals in seven home games, while their expected goals against average of 1.35 suggests that they’ve not exactly been hard done by.

Going forward, as several of their home performances have proved, Southend have plenty about them, and they’re likely to hurt a Walsall side that looked weak at the back on Saturday, though don’t be surprised if they come unstuck at the back in the process.

As for Walsall, well, the Saddlers tasted their first away defeat of the season on Saturday, as they were dominated by Luton, though Southend aren’t as sturdy as the Hatters at home, so Dean Keats men should remain upbeat.

Much like Southend at home, Tuesday’s visitors have looked more than reasonable from an offensive point of view on the road. They’ve scored a pleasing ten goals in seven away games, scoring at least once in all but one of those. However, they’ve struggled to keep things tight at the back, despite what the basic stats may suggest. On the face of it, just seven goals conceded in seven away games is respectable, but Walsall have certainly been lucky not to concede considerably more, as the fact that they’re shipping an average of 2.2 expected goals suggests.

From a betting point of view, a high-scoring game is very easy to fancy, especially at what appears to be a slightly generous price. With Southend averaging 1.84 expected goals at home and with Walsall averaging 1.64 on their travels, combined with the fact that there’s been 3.14 expected goals in Southend’s home games on average, alongside the fact that there’s been an average of 3.89 in Walsall’s away games, ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score’ is a must.