Forest Green Rovers vs Macclesfield Predictions

But for a slip-up at home against MK Dons a fortnight ago, Forest Green have been ticking along nicely of late. Last weekend’s victory away against Crawley means that Rovers are inside the top seven by three points, though the margin between themselves and Carlisle, who’re in 8th, isn’t wide enough for them to take things easy. Maintaining the winning thread when they welcome Macclesfield to The New Lawn is a must.

Forest Green did come out on top last weekend, but they relied on a slice of good fortune to do so. Going forward, Rovers offered a limited amount, as they clocked just 0.86 expected goals for, while they weren’t amazingly astute at the back either. In fact, given that they ended the match with an expected goal difference of -0.53, it’s not difficult to conclude that Forest Green were lucky to take all three points. An improved performance will be required if they’re to get the better of a resurgent Macclesfield side.

Somewhat disappointingly, last Saturday’s game, where Forest Green created less than their opponents, wasn’t a one off. Rovers have failed to match the opposition in terms of creativity in each of their last three at home. During that time, they’ve conceded five goals and have shipped expected-goals figures of 2.08, 1.76 and 2.12. Such numbers suggest that Mark Cooper’s men have been relatively easy to get at, while the fact that they’ve posted expected-goals for numbers of 0.77, 0.4 and 0.85 in their last three at home tells us that they’ve struggled to get going in the final third.

Like Forest Green have done at home lately, Macclesfield have struggled to get going offensively on their travels of late. Sol Campbell’s men, who are now out of the bottom two for the first time in several months, have made a habit of getting on the score-sheet away from home, scoring in all but one of their last nine travelling matches, though they’ve only scored more than once in three of those. Moreover, their away average of just 0.89 expected goals for is poor, as are their recent numbers of 0.51, 0.64 and 0.35.

From a betting point of view, there appears to be two viable options at the prices. Firstly, ‘Under 2.5 Goals’ catches the eye. In their recent respective home and away games, Forest Green and Macclesfield have both struggled to create, while neither are known for scoring lots of goals.

Secondly, at the prices, the visitors make plenty of appeal. Quite frankly, Macclesfield’s recent efforts have been far more impressive than anything that Forest Green have achieved in recent times, so much so that Sol Campbell’s men, who’ve held their own against the likes of Lincoln and Exeter in recent weeks, really ought to be a tad shorter. At generous-looking odds, a small bet on ‘Macclesfield +1 Handicap’ is worthwhile.