- Worcester City’s recent home form has picked up with two wins in the last two.
- St Ives Town have won one, drawn one, and lost three of their last five.
- St Ives Town’s only recent away win came at Royston Town.
Worcester will fancy their chances
Two very different sides will be in action on Saturday when 9th-placed Worcester City, who have 61 points from 40 games, host a St Ives Town side in 19th on just 37 points from 40 games. City have a solid mid-table position in the Southern League Premier Division Central and will be much fancier of their chances of getting the three points on Saturday.
St Ives Town have only won four of their 20 league away games this season, losing 13 of those. The visitors will be desperate to drag themselves out of the relegation places, but will have to be at their best to do so this weekend.
Two different philosophies will meet
Worcester City are a long, direct team who rely on their target-man, experienced centre-backs, and a solid number of midfield runners to do the hard work and grab the goals. St Ives are more of a counter-attacking side, who will aim to keep it compact and look to get men behind their opponents on the break.
St Ives Town have had a poor run of results recently, winning 2-0 away at Royston Town before losing 2-0 at home to Bromsgrove Sporting last weekend. They look to have a real mental battle to drag themselves away from the relegation zone as we approach the end of the season.
Smalley can make the difference
Worcester City are a much better side than their recent results suggest, picking up a 1-1 draw away at Bury Town, a 3-1 win at home to Redditch United, and a 2-1 defeat away at Kettering Town in their last three outings. Brandon Smalley has been their danger-man, notching two of their six goals in this period.
Worcester should win
Cornes has instilled a strong, solid, and direct style of play in the hosts, making them a tough nut to crack on any given weekend. This, coupled with the home form and the fact that St Ives have one win, one draw, and three defeats in their last five, leads me to believe that the hosts will get the points in this one.
St Ives can hurt Worcester on the counter, but I think the home side will make the visitors get out of their comfort zone and allow the wide players of the away side to run into traffic. St Ives have scored 25 goals in 20 away games, which means they’re happy to take the game to their opponents when they travel.
I think the odds of 59/100 on the favourites look a bit short, but there’s value to be had in the over 2.5 goals market at the same price. I believe the goals are there, and both sides will fancy their chances, so I’m going for a Worcester win and over 2.5 goals.
