- In Stratford's last 5 fixtures, the main goal scorer has been winger Lewis Ludford-Ison with 2 goals.
- In Bury's last 5 matches, winger James Mauge has scored 2 of their 5 goals.
Bury’s wide men to break down Stratford’s block
Bury Town FC have hit the ground running in the Southern League Premier Division Central, coming into this Saturday's away game with Bury Town in 3rd position and 6 points, compared to the hosts' 14th position and 2 points from 2 games.
Bury are the in-form team this weekend with 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat in their last 5 matches, while Stratford have won 1, drawn 3 and lost 1 in their most recent 5 fixtures. This fixture could therefore go either way, as has been shown by the last 2 head-to-heads, which were split 1-1.
Bury's 3 most recent matches have been a 0-1 home loss against Kettering Town, a 1-0 home win over Halesowen Town and a 1-0 away win at Stamford. Stratford have played out a 0-0 draw on the road to St Ives Town, a 1-1 draw at home to Worcester City and a 0-0 stalemate at home to Redditch United in their previous 3 fixtures.
Stratford’s defence vs Bury’s flanks
Bury play a more possession-led game, which suits their attacking players down the flanks and has seen them win the ball back in wide areas more often. The visitors are a quick team with their overlapping full backs and combinations out wide, although they will be facing a stubborn home side.
Stratford are a compact, pragmatic side that will set up with a narrow block, press selectively and try to catch their opponents on the break. Their best attacking weapon is winger Lewis Ludford-Ison, who has 2 goals to his name over the past 5 matches, and they'll hope to find some joy with his pace against Bury.
Bury have been in good form away from home, winning their only trip so far and averaging 1.00 goals per away game. We're backing Bury to just edge this contest and have both sides set up for a proper battle, but Stratford have drawn their 2 home games so far so we're going for a cagey affair rather than a runaway.
Bury to nick it at Knights Lane
The bookies have got Stratford as slight favourites at 103/100, ahead of Bury at 54/25 and the draw at 121/50, which makes no sense to us. The market is right about a cagey game, however, as Both Teams To Score: Yes is 59/100 and Under 2.5 Goals is 49/50 at the time of writing, both of which are live options.
Bury won the reverse fixture 2-0 away from home 5 months ago in the Southern League Premier Division Central and Stratford failed to win the home meeting in this fixture last season, so we're opting for a narrow win for the visitors on Saturday.
The most likely outcome is that Bury's better form, and more natural edge on the away days in the Southern League Premier Division Central, will be enough for them to nick the game, but we feel Stratford are capable of holding out for a low scoring draw, so that's our selection.
