Walsall vs Accrington Stanley Predictions

Barring a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Doncaster, Walsall have done well this season. After beating Oxford away from home last time out, the Saddlers will be hoping to gain another three points when they face Accrington at Bescot Stadium on Saturday afternoon, though Stanley are no easy team to beat, as they’ve proved of late.

As mentioned above, Walsall have generally held their form well in recent times. The Saddlers come into this match with just one defeat in nine this season, while they’ve recorded a very pleasing five wins. Defensively, they’re not exactly keeping things tight, as they’ve kept just one clean sheet, but that hasn’t stopped them from collecting several very good results.

However, while everything may appear rosy on the outside, the underlying number suggest that Walsall may be punching above their weight at present. As things stand, Dean Keats’ men sit 5^th in the table, but the fact that they rank 17^th in terms of expected goals for, 21^st in terms of expected goals against and 19th in terms of expected goal difference, tells us that they’re quite fortunate to occupy such a lofty position.

In contrast, Accrington are where they are on merit. In fact, they could probably be a bit higher. Stanley are unbeaten since the opening day of the season, and it’s fair to say that John Coleman’s men have been playing well. They look strong going forward, both in terms of creativity and end-product, while they’ve steadily improved at the back as the season has gone on.

Unlike Walsall, who rank poorly based on a variety of metrics, Accrington boast some pleasing underlying figures. Coleman’s visitors sit 6^th in the expected goals for table, while they rank as high as second in terms of expected goals for, averaging a pleasing 1.75 expected goals for.

In truth, Accrington, who rank inside the top six in terms of shots on target accumulated this season, have been a good bit more impressive than their hosts, who currently rank inside the bottom three in terms of shots on target accumulated, make far more appeal at the prices.

With an average of 1.75 expected goals for, compared to Walsall’s 1.5, coupled with an average of just 1.36 expected goals against, compared to Walsall’s 1.93, the visitors ought to be outright favourites, even on their travels. Backing the visitors to come out on top is the way to go.