Hitchin Town vs Fleetwood Town Predictions

Hitchin aren’t a club known by the mainstream footballing audience, though those of an older generation may remember the Southern League Premier side as reaching the FA Cup second round twice in both the 70’s and the 90’s. Having failed to reach the second round for over 20 years, the Canaries will be hoping to give what is likely to be a capacity crowd something to cheer about on Sunday afternoon.

The hosts will have their eyes on reaching the next round, and as they’ve avoided a Football League club in the draw, they may well fancy themselves to get there. However, for all they’re not operating in one of the top four division, Solihull are playing at a better level than the hosts, while recent form hasn’t exactly been great as far as Mark Burke’s men are concerned.

In addition to losing each of their last two matches, Hitchin don’t exactly have the most encouraging home record. Sunday’s hosts have won just one of their last five matches at Top Field, though they have only lost one of their last seven, so it appears that they’re not the easiest side to face in the Southern League Premier.

As for the visitors, well, Solihull have adapted well to the life at the highest level of non-league football. The midlands side are currently sitting in a lofty fifth position in the National League, while they’ve avoided defeat in each of their last four league matches. Their form against some of the best non-league teams around should mean that the away side come into this match feeling confident, though they will have to handle the pressure of heavy favouritism on this occasion, which is not something that they often have to worry about in their own division.

From a betting point of view, the selection that makes most appeal is ‘Under 2.5 Goals’. For all Solihull have been in good form of late, they’ve not been imperious in front of goal. The visitors have failed to score in each of their last two, but they’ve also kept back-to-back clean sheets.

Furthermore, Solihull are averaging a very modest 1.01 expected goals away from home this season, so it would be no surprise if they failed to run away with things offensively. Add in the fact that the hosts will look to contain, especially early doors, coupled with the fact that each of their last five home matches have seen less than three goals go in and supporting a low-scoring game doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.