Bristol Rovers VS Swindon Town Match Prediction
2019-11-13
19:45:00
Bristol Rovers
VS
Swindon Town
Our Prediction Tip
Bristol Rovers will win this match.
2019-11-1319:45:00 Bristol Rovers will win this match.
With Bristol Rovers having crashed out of the league and bounced back up again, this will be their first match against Swindon Town since the 2017 Football League Trophy, when Swindon won 4-2 at the Memorial Stadium – a result which put them through to the knock-out stages at Bristol Rovers’ expense.
Bristol Rovers reached the semi-finals of this competition last season and will be aiming to go one better this time out and earn a trip to Wembley.
They have four points from two games so far, and a win will see them qualify for the knock-out stages as group winners.
Swindon have generally been in good form in other competitions but two defeats from two in this competition gives them nothing to play for.
Bristol Rovers also have home advantage, and those factors combined makes them favourites to reach the knock-out stages.
Both teams may be tempted to rotate players, within the competition’s allowance of course, particularly after both have ended up needing FA Cup first-round replays.
But even so, Bristol Rovers’ win against Chelsea Under-21s – a result Swindon did not manage – makes the hosts’ favourites to secure their progress.
Swindon have a good record for scoring away goals, but Rovers will be confident a strong performance will keep them on track for another Trophy run.
With home advantage and a place in the next round to play for, Bristol Rovers are a best price of 8/13 with Ladbrokes and Betway to beat Swindon.
Swindon have a good record of scoring away from home, however, and both teams to score has been set at 8/11 with Bet365.
Over 2.5 goals is set at 4/6 with 888sport, and Bristol Rovers to win and BTTS will return a best price of 11/5 with 888sport.
Bristol Rovers need a win to reach the knock-out stages of the EFL Trophy and, against a Swindon team with nothing but pride to play for, they should achieve their goal.
Goalkeeper Jordi van Stappershoef could replace Anssi Jaakkola between the sticks from the team held by Bromley in the FA Cup at the weekend, but the Pirates might otherwise keep changes to a minimum. They did play three at the back when they beat Chelsea Under-21s in this competition in September, however.
Victor Adeboyejo – The striker scored in Rovers’ last league win, at Rochdale, as well as in their previous EFL Trophy success against Chelsea too.
Luke Leahy – Stepped off the bench against Bromley at the weekend and scored Rovers’ goal less than a minute later.
Liam Sercombe – The midfielder scored in the previous EFL Trophy match against Chelsea, and added another assist in the draw with Bromley having got one apiece either side of that Chelsea match too.
Bristol Rovers were in good form until back-to-back defeats to Doncaster and Bolton, but they arrested their slide by coming from 2-0 down to draw with Portsmouth – Alex Rodman and a last-minute own goal ensuring a share of the spoils. They then won 2-1 at Rochdale, with Victor Adeboyejo and another own goal to their credit, before last weekend’s 1-1 FA Cup draw with National League Bromley. Luke Leahy scored Rovers’ goal.
While competition rules prevent too much squad rotation, Swindon know they can not qualify from this group and so have little motivation for playing a full-strength team. Luke McCormick was in goal against Chelsea Under-21s and Taylor Curran and Ellis Iandolo could also be among the players to come into the team.
Jerry Yates – Scored Swindon’s goal against Cheltenham at the weekend to continue his good goalscoring form, even if the has been overshadowed by Eoin Doyle.
Luke McCormick – The goalkeeper has had Steven Benda take his place lately and so, with this their lats game in this season’s competition, he needs to take his opportunity to prove his worth.
Ellis Iandolo – Another who may find opportunities limited without this competition, and so who needs to take full advantage of his chance to impress.
Swindon are unbeaten in their last four matches, but their three-game winning streak – in which Eoin Doyle scored five times, including a hat-trick in a 4-0 win against Crawley Town – ended with a 1-1 draw with Cheltenham at the weekend. Jerry Yates’ goal looked to be sending the Robins through to the next round, but Cheltenham scored an even later equaliser to force a replay.
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