Scunthorpe vs Blackpool Predictions

The fact that Scunthorpe aren’t in the bottom four at this stage of the season is reasonably impressive, especially after the way in which they performed during the first half of the campaign. Though, they’ve been struggling of late, so much so that they’re now just potentially a single defeat away from being thrown back into the drop-zone. The Iron, who’re currently under the stewardship of Andy Dawson, desperately need to win, having taken just one point from their last five.

It’s difficult to put a positive spin on Scunthorpe’s effort last weekend. Despite playing in front of a home crowd, the Iron offered little going forward, as they recorded just a single shot on target and clocked a rather pathetic 0.41 expected goals for, while they struggled to keep things tight at the back too, as they shipped three goals, conceding no less than eight shots on target. Unless they improve, a side of Blackpool’s quality is likely to have few problems doing well on Friday.

Results haven’t exactly gone Scunthorpe’s way at home of late, though prior to their disappointing effort against the Brewers, the Iron were at least getting competitive. They were unlucky to lose against Wimbledon, while they delivered a very promising performance when beating Southend prior to that. However, the fact remains that they give too much away. Scunthorpe have surrendered an average of 1.86 goals at home this season, while they’ve shipped an average of 1.81 expected goals for. Both numbers tell us that teams have found it relatively easy to hurt the Iron at Glanford Park.

Scunthorpe may be struggling to keep teams at bay, but they’re certainly not the only ones. Blackpool come into this match having lost at home to Peterborough last time out, while the Seasiders are now without a clean sheet in ten. During that time, Terry McPhillips’ men have conceded a rather worrying total of 18 goals, while they’ve recently shipped some rather worrying expected-goals numbers of 1.65, 1.76, 2.79 and 2.1.

If we consider the fact that Scunthorpe have recently looked poor at the back on home soil and the fact that Blackpool have offered little resistance on their travels in recent times, then ‘Both Teams to Score’ starts to make plenty of appeal. With neither having defended well over the last few weeks, backing both the hosts and the visitors to find the net at Glanford Park on Friday afternoon is the way to go.