Rochdale vs Peterborough Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

They may have been away from home first time out, but that didn’t stop Rochdale from taking all three points. After a winning on the opening day, Keith Hill’s men will now be looking to go on a run by winning their first home match of the new campaign.

During the previous campaign, failing to take chances and subsequently being made to pay for doing so was a constant problem for Rochdale, so manager Keith Hill would have been delighted to see his side gobble up two early chances on route to an opening-day victory away against Burton. Though not amazing, their performance was respectable; they took a couple of early chances, nullified their opponents at times, rode their luck at others, but generally defended well before coming out on top by two goals to one.

If Rochdale can continue to be clinical, then they ought to do very well this season, especially at home. On their own patch during the last campaign, Keith Hill’s men were very tough to beat. Few teams went to Spotland and had an easy ride, though a lack of goals blighted Dale.

Peterborough also reaped the rewards for being clinical on the opening day, though Steve Evans’ men were less deserving of their victory than Saturday’s opponents. They scored very early against Bristol Rovers last weekend, and although they held a two-goal lead until deep into stoppage time, they were fortunate to come out on top.

Leading 2-0 with moments to go would suggest that Peterborough were comfortable, though that couldn’t be further from the truth. As was often the case during the last campaign, Posh looked open, while they allowed their opponents to do far too much in the final third. Luckily for Evans’ men, Bristol Rovers, who had seven shots from inside Peterborough’s penalty box, didn’t have their shooting boots on. Unless they improve defensively, then Posh are likely to concede an awful lot of goals this season.

Of the two, it was Rochdale who impressed more. They looked more of a threat going forward, while you’d have to fancy Keith Hill’s men to do a better job defensively than Peterborough, as they did last weekend.

At times during the last campaign, Rochdale, who ranked inside the top half in terms of both shots and shots on target conceded at home, did a good job of nullifying teams on their own patch, while Peterborough offered far less of a threat than the score-line suggested last weekend. Add those two facts together and it’s not at all hard to fancy the hosts ahead of this one.

A replication of their opening-day performance would surely see Rochdale get plenty of opportunities against the defensively weak Peterborough, and it is indeed the hosts who’re fancied to come out on top. Backing a home win in combination with ‘Over 1.5 Goals’ makes sense at the prices.