BLACKPOOL vs AFC WIMBLEDON
Saturday 16th November 1500hrs
Football – England – League One
Pick Blackpool Win
Bookmaker Bet365
Odds: 1.72 (odds taken 09:03 GMT, 14 November )
Blackpool and AFC Wimbledon clash at Bloomfield Road in this League One encounter, with the Tangerines trading as strong favourites to claim the three points.
Blackpool Prediction – Tangerines Bidding for Top Six Spot
It’s been a solid season for Blackpool in League One, with Simon Grayson’s side having amassed a healthy 25 points from 16 games played.
Grayson will be relatively happy with that return and this match represents an opportunity to enter the top six, with the Lancashire side able to go as high as fourth place if they manage to beat their lowly opponents.
Blackpool were recently involved in an exciting clash against an in-form Peterborough United side, with the Tangerines coming from behind to win by a 4-3 scoreline and the manager praised the character of the team after that performance.
Armand Gnanduillet is one reason to feel confident that the home side will land a maximum haul, with the Frenchman having scored twice against Posh and he now has nine goals for the campaign.
Jay Spearing has been with the club since October 2017 and the experienced midfielder is very accomplished at this level, having previously achieved promotion with Bolton Wanderers.
Blackpool have enjoyed home victories over Bristol Rovers, Oxford United and Lincoln City this season, with those wins occurring before beating Peterborough United and Grayson will be confident that his side can outscore a team struggling at the wrong end of the table.
Grayson has been in football management for a long time and this is actually his second stint at Bloomfield Road after originally starting out at the seaside club in 2005.
Indeed, the 49-year-old was a success with a club that he represented over 100 times as a player before making a high-profile move to Leeds and he’s subsequently gone on to manage Huddersfield, Preston, Sunderland and Bradford City, although he’s now back at his spiritual home.
Blackpool have only lost one of their past eight League One matches and we think that the current odds about a home win make plenty of appeal, with promotion very much the target for this club this season.
It appears there are no particular standout teams in the English third tier this term, with Ipswich Town and Wycombe Wanderers having stolen a march although it’s perfectly likely that Blackpool will get in the promotion mix and it appears to be a club back on its feet after the end of the toxic Oyston regime.
AFC Wimbledon Prediction – More Gloom on the Road for Dons
How can we make a case for AFC Wimbledon when they travel to the seaside to take on Blackpool? It’s been a tough season to date for a club who were founded as recently as May 2002 in direct response to the fact that the original Wimbledon FC were uprooted and relocated to Milton Keynes to become the MK Dons.
The plain fact is that the Dons are punching above their weight to be in League One considering that they have one of the smallest grounds and smallest budgets in the division, with the club being run by the supporter-led The Dons Trust and it would appear that a return to League Two is currently on the cards.
While Bury FC going out of business means that there are only three relegation berths in League One this season, Wimbledon sit in 20th position after amassing just 13 points from their 16 games played and the team’s form has been horrendous on the road this term.
Wally Downes started the campaign as first-team manager although a sorry start has led to Glyn Hodges being appointed and it appears that he has a tough assignment on his hands to keep this proud club in their current division.
AFC Wimbledon have lost seven of their eight away games, with their solitary success being a 4-1 victory at Roots Hall against a Southend United team who looked completely abject and could be joining them in League Two next term.
However, you can argue that the Dons have always been competing on the road this term and there have been several matches where they’ve been beaten by a slender margin.
Their opening two defeats on the road were 2-1 defeats away to Ipswich and Fleetwood, with six of the team’s reverses occurring by a single goal and perhaps they will feel as though their luck will subsequently improve, with only two teams having left Kingsmeadow with the three points.
However, a recent four-match winning run came to an end when losing 1-0 at Burton and perhaps this trend will continue at Bloomfield Road, with Blackpool certainly having their tails up after that tremendous win over Peterborough United.
Wimbedon’s following two League One matches after this game are clashes against Gillingham and Bolton Wanderers which look more like crunch games than this particular encounter.
Key-Facts – Blackpool vs AFC Wimbledon
- 25 goals have been scored in 8 Blackpool home games
- Armand Gnanduillet has scored 8 goals for Blackpool
- Wimbledon have lost 7 of 8 away games
