- Team form: Grimsby beat Swindon 4-0 and Cambridge 2-1 in the 2025-26 season before losing in the League Two play-off.
- League position: Blackpool finished 13th in League One in 2025-26, but have played mixed form in pre-season.
- Head-to-head: Grimsby have won one of the two games played between these sides since 2016, drawing the other.
Familiar foes meet at Blundell Park
Grimsby Town and Blackpool have played each other only sparingly since 2016, with the Mariners edging the pair of games played since then with a win and a draw. The pair have plenty of familiar faces at the club at the moment, so it is a tale of familiar foes when they meet at Blundell Park on Saturday.
Grimsby finished in the playoff spots in League Two with 78 points last season and are coming off a strong end to the campaign. The Mariners have made a habit of hurting teams on transition, particularly after keeping their shape at the back.
David Artell has done a fantastic job turning Grimsby into a well-organised and workmanlike side that can be tough to get at, but there is also an element of flair in this side that can be deadly.
Blundell Park can be a trap for the bigger sides
Odds and predictions
Ian Evatt's Blackpool side are the bookmakers' favorites at 2.7, with Grimsby listed at 2.42 and the draw at 3.5. We're happy to take the visitors here in the paper bet, but we think this is a cup tie where the draw and penalties might be live, particularly if the game gets cagey.
Tactics and wide threats
Blackpool will set up in their familiar back-three system with wing-backs and look to control the territory and win games by overloads and keeping the ball. Josh Bowler and Scott Banks add some pace and trickery down the wide areas for the Tangerines, who will be looking to target the full-backs of Grimsby.
Key players
- Ashley Fletcher will be Blackpool's main target in the box, but he finished as the club's top scorer in 2025-26 and will be a handful for the hosts' centre backs, who will need to keep him quiet.
- Christy Pym gives Grimsby a reliable last line, but he will also have to be at his best to deal with Blackpool's wide service.
- Sullay Kaikai is Grimsby's livewire outlet, capable of scoring, delivering to Cameron McJannet, who looks to have the genes to be a clutch scorer.
Both teams to score is the play
Grimsby have been playing some excellent soccer of late, winning 4-0 at Swindon and then following that up with a 2-1 away win at Cambridge, before a narrow play-off exit. McJannet's 94th-minute winner at Cambridge suggests he could be a threat in this game.
Both teams to score look a good fit for this one with 1.67, over 2.5 goals is also shorter than the under option and we think both markets are a reflection of the likelihood of a open and competitive EFL Cup first-round clash.
Blackpool have a higher-quality squad than Grimsby, but the division gap should be bridged and the most likely outcome of this tie is a tight win for the visitors, with 2-1 our top pick in the exact score market.
