Blackpool vs Bradford Predictions

After losing to Portsmouth on match-day two, Blackpool rallied and they’re now unbeaten in four league matches. Terry McPhillips’ men couldn’t edge ahead against Walsall last weekend, but their performance was another encouraging one. With that under their belts, the hosts will be hoping to regain the winning thread when they welcome Bradford to Bloomfield Road on Saturday afternoon.

Blackpool’s solid start to the campaign continued last weekend. The Seasiders haven’t set the world alight over the first six match-days, but they’ve been tough to beat and have offered a threat going forward. On the overall balance of play, they may have been disappointed to walk away from Bescot Stadium with just a point last time out, though they can be pleased with the fact that they dominated the game and gave very little away. If they can build on that performance now back in front of their own fans, then Blackpool can get another good result.

In contrast, Bradford have made a poor start to the season, which is disappointing considering that they’ve got some very useful players. The likes of Jack Payne and Eoin Doyle have the potential to be among the best offensive players at this level, though that pair are yet to really hit their stride. That said, it is of course early days.

Bradford currently have two main problems and they’re not exactly small issues either. Going forward, they’re failing to create anywhere near enough, which, as pointed out above, is disappointing given their attacking personnel, while they also look a soft touch at the back. As things stand in League One, the Bantams, who’ve just appointed David Hopkin as their new boss, sit second bottom in the expected goals for table, while only six teams sit below them in the expected goals against table. Blackpool rank inside the top ten in both of those areas.

What’s more, Saturday’s visitors rank bottom of the pile in terms of both shots taken and shots on target, while Blackpool rank 18^th and 13^th in those areas.

The fact of the matter is that Blackpool have simply outperformed Bradford in all areas over the first six match-days; they’ve offered more going forward both in terms of creativity and productivity, while they’ve given a hell of a lot less away in the defensive third. This makes it very difficult to side with anything other than a home win, especially at the prices. Given that there has been quite a disparity between this pair during the early part of the campaign, Blackpool could easily be shorter, so backing the Seasiders to regain the winning thread at what is a slightly generous price makes plenty of sense.