- Avro's last five first-team games have yielded four wins and one friendly win, culminating in a 4-2 play-off final victory over Stalybridge Celtic and a 13-0 rout of Darlaston Town in the closing weeks of 2025-26
- Quorn have been in poor shape in pre-season, winning 3-1 at Matlock Town before losing 4-1 at Bedworth United and 3-0 to Spalding United
- The two teams have never met competitively, so there is an opportunity for the home side to edge it on the first day
Tempo vs control should favour hosts
Quorn's pre-season results have been inconsistent with a 3-1 away win at Matlock Town coming before a 4-1 defeat at Bedworth United, a 3-0 loss to Spalding United and back-to-back 2-2 and 0-0 draws.
Ryan Beswick has been reshaping the club as player-manager, using pre-season to bed in new faces and build a more controlled midfield base.
Quorn like to do their damage out of a structure while Avro like to play a vertical game where they can transition out of turnovers into attacks very quickly. Saturday's clash between the two will be a game of tempo against control, with the hosts' ability to create danger out of nowhere the deciding factor if they can make Quorn stretch their shape.
Avro a solid 7/10 here
Avro are 7/10 favourites for the game, which is a bit high, with Quorn available at 29/10 and the draw at 72/25, so the market is expecting the hosts to nick it.
Grant Shenton's team play with real intent and his hard-nosed, win-at-all-costs approach carried them to promotion via the play-offs last season. Avro's late-season punch has carried over into pre-season with the team playing with flair and winning 4-3 against FC Halifax Town last time out.
Kyle Hawley is their main man of danger and his new deal indicates he is the club's leading marksman. Darrhyl Mason is an exciting young winger who gives them an immediate cutting edge and James Simms was bang in form during the team's late-season surge and in pre-season too.
Quorn have enough quality to score
Aidan Edwards has introduced a higher-level energy into the midfield. Quorn have a good chance of scoring at least once in this game with Elliot Smith looking good between the posts if he gets the nod, but an Avro win, probably by a one-goal margin, is the likeliest outcome.
This game is likely to be tight enough for goals markets such as Over 2.5 goals at 59/100 and Both Teams To Score - Yes at 61/100 to be on the safe side, but the 2-1 score line stands out from the Correct Score odds with a draw representing the main danger in this fixture.
