- Leiston have won three and lost two of their last five matches, including the last two.
- Spalding have won two, drawn one and lost two of their last five.
- Spalding have won 12, drawn four and lost just three of their 19 away league games, scoring 2.32 goals per game on average.
Leiston have momentum as hosts
Spalding Utd are the slight favourites at 109/100 to Leiston’s 183/100 for Saturday’s Southern League Premier Division Central clash but home advantage and momentum mean the hosts can make this an interesting clash.
Spalding, who are second on 83 points from 40 games, are ten points better off than Leiston, who are tenth on 61, and are the clear superior team in terms of quality, but they haven’t been in their best form of late.
The Black Riders' last two games were a 2-0 away victory at Barwell FC and a 1-3 home defeat to Stratford Town, and they look better than their league position indicates.
Leiston are in excellent form, having won three and lost only two of their last five, while their home record of seven wins, nine draws and four defeats from 20 is much better than the average for the division.
The Blues have conceded an average of just 1.20 goals per league game at home and should be in good spirits after two wins in a row away at Quorn (2-1) and Real Bedford (1-0).
An open, attacking game is expected
Spalding United hammered Leiston 4-1 in this competition when they met on home soil four months ago, but the Blues are in much better shape now and can’t be so easily written off.
This fixture represents a clash of styles in that Spalding play at a higher tempo than Leiston, favouring vertical transitions, full-backs pushing on and a fluid front three in either 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 systems. The hosts like to play a slower game, patiently passing the ball around, keeping a compact back four and exploiting set pieces from their 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 hybrid.
Kevin Blois is Leiston’s main threat, having scored three of their last six goals over the last five games, while Spalding United talisman Ben Fowkes has struck three of the club’s last seven goals in the same period. With the visitors having more at stake in terms of promotion, they have the extra motivation to edge this clash, but Leiston have enough momentum to make it competitive and perhaps both teams to score and over 2.5 goals at 12/25 is the best play here.
Spalding have won 12 and drawn four of their 19 away league matches, so with Leiston having split their last two home games with one win and one loss, we’re going for a 2-1 away win for small stakes.
