- Athlone Town's home record in the First Division reads won 4, drawn 3, and lost 2 from 9.
- Wexford FC's away record in the First Division is won 1, drawn 3, and lost 5 from 9.
- Wexford FC beat Athlone Town 1-0 at home in the First Division two months ago.
Two solid sides in search of First Division consistency
Sixth-placed Wexford FC, on 25 points from 19 games, are just three better off than Athlone Town in seventh with 22 points from as many matches.
The odds for this Friday night's First Division clash are Athlone Town 131/100, Wexford FC 179/100, so the hosts are the favourites.
The oddsmakers may be right, but a Wexford win could be on the cards in what is always a keenly contested local derby.
Wexford to edge it by the smallest of margins
Wexford have had much the better of the rivalry in the last three First Division clashes, winning two and drawing one, while Athlone are winless in their last three home H2H clashes (D1, L2).
In the five-game period that Athlone are coming into this off the back of, they've lost four and drawn one, taking just one point from the last 15 available.
Wexford have been in mixed form, winning one and losing four of their last five, but two defeats in a row is enough to make us favour the away side here.
Wexford boss Ian Ryan has created a disciplined and pragmatic unit that can sit deep and hit on the counter-attack.
Sitting deep allows them to be open to playing with a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 system, one in which wide play, full-backs overlapping and ball-side pressing are the priority.
Athlone Town set up in a more compact 4-4-2 system, sitting deep and springing forward when they win the ball, usually down the channels where the two strikers are looking to get on the end of quick counter-attacks.
Both teams to score likely
Athlone score an average of 1.11 goals per home game in the First Division and the away team have scored just 0.89 goals per away match, conceding an average of 1.56.
Jake Doyle has been the most reliable striker for Wexford, scoring three of the team's last four in the span of their previous five games.
The matchup between Athlone's compact, well-drilled defensive block and Wexford's more expansive, wing-driven attack should make for a real chess game on Friday night, one that could be decided by whichever team wins the second ball battle and the duel of full-backs.
Given Athlone are the slight favourites and hold a much better home record than Wexford have away, we're expecting a tight contest with a marginal edge to the hosts.
But with neither team performing particularly well of late, we're going for the BTTS - Yes market at 7/10 over the draw.
