Dagenham and Redbridge vs Braintree Town Predictions

The National League’s bottom two meet on Tuesday night, as the pair fight for a first victory of the season. The pair both picked up solid weekend results to boost morale ahead of this huge clash, but who will be left propping up the league following this encounter? Can Dagenham & Redbridge jump off the foot of the table with a home victory, or will the visitors avoid defeat and add to their points haul for the campaign?

The hosts have fallen quite some way in the last few months, after they secured a top half finish in the 2017/18 campaign. They were just five points shy of a spot in the play-offs last term, and now they’re winless after eight games and bottom of the pile. Dagenham picked up just their second point of the campaign in a hard fought draw with Salford City at the weekend, the first time they’ve managed a clean sheet all season. Only this week’s opponents Braintree have a worse home record from the early stages of the campaign.

Braintree were able to secure a point at Boreham Wood at the weekend, and they’ll be hoping to pick up another result on their travels here. They have only just been promoted from the National League North, but they’ve struggled to adapt to the fifth tier in the early stages of the campaign. They’ve lost five matches from their first eight, and they’re already fighting a tough battle to just remain at this level. Can they boost their survival hopes with a result in this trip?

The hosts have been priced up as favourites for this clash, probably due to last season’s great form at home. While they’ve been waiting for a turnaround this season, they scored in 83% of their home matches last term, averaging 1.74 goals per game. They’ve averaged a goal per game in front of their own support so far this term, and they should have joy going forward against a poor Braintree side who have conceded in every game so far this season.

Meanwhile, Dagenham have conceded 1.5 goals per game on average at home this season. The hosts have seen both teams score in five of their last seven at home, and given that these two seem to be on the same level, we see this clash being fairly close. With neither defence covering themselves in glory so far, we’re backing both teams to score in Tuesday’s clash.