Cliftonville vs Newry City Predictions

It hasn’t been a vintage season for Cliftonville, though Monday’s hosts have been in fine form of late, so they ought to approach this fixture against bottom-of-the-pile Newry feeling confident.

As mentioned above, Cliftonville have started to find their feet of late; Barry Gray’s men come into this fixture off the back of three consecutive league wins, while they’re unbeaten in their last six at home, five of which they’ve won. During that time, Monday’s hosts have been scoring plenty of goals, while they’ve done a pleasing job of keeping them out at the other end too.

In their last five games at Solitude, Cliftonville have scored an impressive total of 13 goals. Such a total is very impressive, though the fact that they’ve shipped just four in reply is almost equally impressive. What is also very pleasing is their home record against the lesser teams during the current campaign. The Reds have won each of their four home games against bottom-half teams this season, scoring ten goals and conceding just two in the process. They’ve scored at least three goals in three of those four. Such form bodes very well ahead of this match.

While Cliftonville have come into their own in recent weeks, Newry have continued to struggle massively. The side that currently sit bottom of the division only recently entered the top flight and, unless major changes take place, they’re unlikely to be there for long.

Monday’s visitors have lost each of their seven away league matches this season, while their record when facing the top teams on the road is comical. Newry have played four away matches against teams that currently reside in the top six and they’ve lost them all, conceding nine goals and scoring just one in the process. Such form suggests that they’re going to struggle at Solitude on Monday night, as does the fact that they’ve lost five of their last six matches at that venue, conceding a whopping 15 goals in doing so.

With the hosts thriving against the lesser teams at home, scoring at least three goals in 75% of such games, coupled with the fact that the visitors have found it very tough to compete against the better teams on the road, especially from a defensive point of view, the bet that stands out is ‘Cliftonville to Score Over 2.5 Goals’. Against a lowly team that has conceded an average of three goals when playing at this venue since 2007, the hosts are backed to run riot.