The sides come into this game at opposite ends of the table. Scunthorpe currently sit in the play-off places whilst Braintree sit 21st and in the relegation zone. Despite Scunthorpe losing their last game, they have picked up eight points in their last five fixtures, whilst Braintree have only picked up four points in their last five, but they did win their previous fixture.
Andy’s Bet Club’s football analyst will break down Braintree Town’s recent clash with Truro City to see what the statistics indicate about how they might set up against Scunthorpe.
Braintree Town vs Truro City
Braintree came away with all three points with a 2-0 win, and the statistics suggest it was a comfortable win for the home side. They dominated possession, the shot count and also created the best chances in the game with an xG of 2.88. In comparison, Truro generated an xG of 0.64.
One of the standout stats from the game was Braintree’s ability to counter-attack. Despite controlling the majority of possession in the game, they managed to counter-attack on three occasions and were also able to convert all three of those attacks into shots.
The pressing statistics can be measured by a PPDA (Passes per Defensive Action) value, which indicates the intensity of a team's press. The PPDA average is 11, and both sides were significantly below this, with Braintree’s PPDA at 6.62 and Truro’s at 5.36. This shows that both sides pressed high with a lot of intensity.
Final Thoughts
Despite the gap between Scunthorpe and Braintree in the National League table, this fixture could be a close one after their most recent performances. Scunthorpe are coming off a poor performance against Solihull, whilst Braintree had a convincing win in their last outing against Truro.
Scunthorpe have dominated possession in a lot of their recent fixtures, and they will probably approach this game in the same way. However, they will need to be aware of the threat Braintree pose on the counter-attack.
Scunthorpe have stayed fairly consistent this season with their formation, with only slight alterations from their 4-2-3-1. Whereas Braintree in recent weeks have moved from their 4-2-3-1 into a 3-4-1-2 formation and have performed well with this, so it would be no surprise if they stick to this against Scunthorpe.
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