- Team form: Bury FC have won three straight at home.
- Recent streak: Harrogate Town are on a four-match winning streak.
- Overall form: Bury FC have seven wins and three defeats across their last ten matches (all-competitions).
Shakers could make a splash
After a long, dry spell of being out of the Football League, Bury FC are finally getting back to where they belong. Paul Wilkinson has been the club's boss since 2 July 2019, so there has been a real sense of continuity to their rebuild and we predict they'll make a statement in the FA Cup Qualification 2026 campaign.
Their home record across that time is even more impressive with six wins and just one defeat from seven fixtures, so Gigg Lane really has been a fortress for The Shakers.
- The Shakers are a full throttle side who like to attack, transition quickly, and hurt teams with width and set pieces.
- They've also been in pretty fine form recently, so there's a solid base of form to suggest that they could spring a surprise on Saturday.
- Bury FC have won seven and lost three of their last ten in all-competitions, which is a pretty sharp run that has put them firmly in the running.
Compact Sulphurites can be opened up
Style and approach
Harrogate Town are in great form themselves, but their style couldn't be more different to that of Bury. The Sulphurites like to keep things compact and disciplined and are much more comfortable building up slowly rather than getting involved in a messy mess.
Manager and structure
Simon Weaver has been in charge since 21 May 2009, so it's clear that he has been a major driving force behind the structure and stability that the Sulphurites have been able to build.
Form and away record
Harrogate have seven wins and just three defeats from their last ten in all-competitions, while their away record in that time is three wins and two defeats from five matches. So, they travel well, but they're definitely beatable.
Bury to edge it at Gigg Lane
Bailey Hobson has three goals in Harrogate's last five games, so he has been one of the sharper attacking sparks for the visitors, however, we think the hosts should have the quality to come through. Harrogate score an average of 1.20 goals per away game in all-competitions and concede an average of 1.40, which is a good stat to show that they can be undone.
Given Bury's incredible home record and the fact that Harrogate will need to be at their best to cause problems, we're going for Bury to win at 3.5. It should be a close, gritty game, but we think The Shakers have the edge.
