- Needham Market are undefeated in their last five league games (W4, D1).
- Banbury United have lost their last two away league games without scoring a goal.
- Luke Ingram has scored three in Needham Market’s last five league matches.
Market’s momentum and momentum can help them take a step towards the play-offs
With 70 points from 41 games, Needham Market are well on their way to securing fourth spot in the Southern League Premier Division Central and play-off football next season. Tom Rothery’s 4-2-3-1 side have won back-to-back home league matches, and their recent results include a 1-0 away win over Stourbridge and a 2-2 draw at Quorn. Rothery’s tactical tweaks have had the Market players, particularly his full-backs, pressing selectively, and defending with compactness when out of possession while creating wide overloads.
These are positive traits in a side that has conceded just 1.20 goals per home league match this season and they are clearly the favourites to win this fixture at odds of 9/25. Banbury United are the big outsiders at 34/5, while the draw is priced at 16/5.
Banbury United FC have a solid defence and good mentality to be as high as 13th in the table with 57 points from 41 matches, and Kelvin Langmead has done a good job in instilling the discipline to remain compact and block the channels while looking to counter-attack when possible. But this pragmatic approach has sometimes left them toothless and they have failed to notch in their last two games - a 4-0 away defeat at Stamford AFC and a 0-0 draw with Redditch United.
Back over 2.5 goals on goal-shy Banbury
This season has been a mixed bag for the Purple Army with just one win, one draw and three defeats in their last five. Luke Stokoe, who has two of the last four league goals, is their main threat, but Needham’s Luke Ingram is also in form with three goals in his last five. Needham should get at least a point from this and thus keep pushing for a play-off spot.
Backing over 2.5 goals at 31/50 looks like a strong bet because, despite the low-scoring nature of Banbury’s recent games, the home side should have enough attacking intent to produce a goal feast.
