Walsall vs Peterborough Predictions

While Peterborough are fighting for a place in the top-six, the Saddlers are fighting for their lives, though they’re currently losing that fight. With just two games to go, Walsall find themselves four points from safety. Anything other than a win from this fixture would see Saturday’s hosts ejected from the division with a game to spare.

Walsall aren’t officially down just yet, but it’s hard to see a way back for the Saddlers, who’ve been playing poorly for some time. Their performance last week simply wasn’t good enough, as they struggled to get anything going offensively, creating just 0.23 expected goals for. They didn’t give a tremendous amount away, as they often have done, but if they cannot create anything offensively, there’s little hope for the side being temporarily managed by Martin O’Connor. It’s not as if they faced one of League One’s best either; they were playing Wycombe, who’re also fighting for survival If they can’t get going against opponents near them in the table, then they can hardly be expected to get the better of a side going for a place in the play-offs.

Even in front of their own fans of late, Walsall have been poor. The Saddlers have now lost three of their last four at home, while they’ve won just two of their last 11 on home soil. Last time out at Bescot Stadium, they did hold fellow strugglers Southend, but they didn’t exactly sparkle in doing so, as they gave away 2.06 expected goals and created only 1.23.

However, while Walsall have struggled to get the better of teams at home of late, they have at least created chances and scored a few goals. At the very least, their attacking efforts at home have been better than they have been on the road. Walsall have scored in all but one of their last six at home, scoring at least twice in three of those. They’ve also posted some decent expected goals for numbers of 2.37, 1.69 and 2.12 during that time.

Peterborough haven’t been amazing on their travels of late, but they’ve certainly been no worse than Walsall have at home. Last time out on the road, they held a decent Fleetwood side to a draw, while they probably deserved more, as they created considerably more than their opponents, posting an encouraging 1.89 expected goals for.

Creating chances and scoring goals is something that has seemingly come easy to Peterborough away from home this season. Posh have scored an average of 1.76 goals on their travels, while they currently rank as League One’s third highest scorers away from home. Unfortunately, they’ve not always thrived at the back, or at least they’ve rarely gone without giving chances away, as an average of 1.58 expected-goals against suggests.

In the betting, ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score’ stands out as a viable option. For all the hosts are struggling, they’ve offered enough going forward to suggest they can get at a Peterborough back-line that isn’t always secure on the road, though they lack the defensive stability to hold a side of Posh’s attacking quality.

Furthermore, given that there’s been an average of over 3.0 expected goals in both Walsall’s home games this season and Peterborough’s away games, it’s easy to feel that a high-scoring game, where both teams score, is slightly more likely than the current prices suggests.