Bury vs Dover Predictions

England is getting ready for the historic FA Cup to kick off the next chapter of the famous competition, and this weekend it is time for the first round proper to come into focus. The action at Gigg Lane sees League Two side Bury look to progress through to the next round of the competition when they welcome a Dover Athletic side who are struggling at the wrong end of the National League table.

Following a difficult start to the campaign, the hosts have started to impress of late and their new found form has seen them surge up the table in League Two. Although there is still plenty of work for them to do, they will certainly have plenty of confidence and given that they have scored an average of two goals a game on home soil so far this season, they will certainly be expecting their name to be in the hat for the second round.

Making the trip to Gigg Lane is a Dover Athletic side who will be hoping the FA Cup provides a welcome distraction to what has been a pretty miserable season so far. The side are at the foot of the National League and have a long way to go if they are to retain their place in the top division of non-league football come the end of the season. The visitors concede regularly and it should shock nobody to learn that they have the joint worst away record at their level.

With a division between the two sides and a form book which heavily favours the hosts, it should come as little surprise to learn that we fully expect Bury to go and claim the win this weekend. However, given that the odds for this are short, we think that the fact that the opposition have been leading at half time in over half of Dover’s outings this season is sufficient for us to back Bury to be winning at both half time and full time for our tip.

If the hosts are to come out on top, then one man who is sure to play a pivotal role is experienced hit-man Nicky Maynard. The 31-years-old has managed to find the back of the net in six of his eight matches this season and with all of them coming in his last six appearances, it is hard to ignore the bet for him to score anytime against the National League strugglers.