Form… 7th placed Swindon suffered a first defeat in 16 games last time out at Torquay United, meaning that Town have recorded three victories, two draws and one defeat in the previous six outings in League Two.

Away from the County Ground, Town have won three, drawn two and defeated once in their previous six League Two games.

23rd placed Northampton Town have had a change in manager with Aidy Boothroyd replacing Gary Johnson at the start of December. In Aidy’s opening three games the Cobblers have picked up just 1 point from a 1-1 draw with Crewe.

Northampton are now 11 games without a win, including a run of five defeats in their past six games, conceding 21 goals in the process. At Sixfields, Northampton haven’t won in six games since a 2-1 win against Dagenham in late September, picking up two draws and defeated four times in that time.

Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk Head-to-Head… Elected to the Southern League in 1901, Northampton joined the League as Swindon were at their lowest ebb – after beating the Town 3-1 at the County Ground in the clubs’ first ever encounter, the Cobblers humiliated them further in the return fixture, winning by eight goals to nil, with former Town player Herbert Chapman scoring twice.

After a spell at Tottenham, Chapman returned to Northampton to start his managerial career in 1907 – and he quickly turned them around from finishing bottom in the season before he joined, to champions in 1909, finishing six points ahead of the Town, who had also experienced an upturn in fortunes since the first meetings, to finish in second place. Two seasons later, the roles were reversed – Swindon winning their first championship, five points clear of the Cobblers.

Northampton played a part in the Town’s first ever relegation, in 1964/65 – going into the final day of the season, Swindon and Portsmouth were tied on 33 points at the bottom of the table, and Northampton were already assured of promotion to Division One, though providing other results went their way, they still had a chance of winning the championship.

Pompey had to travel to Northampton on the final day – but bizarrely, the kick-off was scheduled for the evening – Swindon meanwhile had to travel to Southampton to try to save themselves from the drop. When the Town lost 2-1 at the Dell, and with Newcastle sealing the championship earlier in the day, Portsmouth knew they only needed a point to avoid relegation themselves, and Northampton now had nothing to play for. The two sides played out a 1-1 draw, and the Town dropped back down to the third tier, two years after their first promotion.

In total Swindon have met Northampton Town on 131 occasions, winning 57, drawing 26 and defeated 48 times; scoring 200 and conceding 196.

At Northampton’s County Ground and Sixfields, Town have registered 15 victories, 14 draws and 36 defeats from the 65 games played.

What The Stats Say… Northampton are ranked 17th best in League Two according to our latest League Two efficiency rankings.

Our rankings show the Cobblers are marginally more efficient at Sixfields with a home ranking of 18th, compared to 19th away.

As hosts, the key areas where they’ve performed ‘well’ are; restricting their opponents to 10.2 shots per game (ranked 12th) and controlling an average of 52% possession per game (ranked 9th).

Looking at their attack as hosts, Northampton make around 11.3 shots per game, of which 51% (ranked 7th) test the opponent ‘keeper. However, either those shots haven’t been accurate enough or the ‘keepers faced have been too strong as only 8.9% of shots are scored, which is 23rd ranked in League Two for hosts.

The Cobblers have scored more goals on their travels with 11 of their 26 coming at Sixfields. At home Northampton have been most successful in scoring between 16-30 and 46-60 minutes with three in each of those periods. Northampton have yet to score in time added on at home.

In defence, Northampton have conceded 22 at home and 23 away, giving them the worst defence in League Two. At Sixfiekds they’ve conceded the most in the dying moments of matches with 7 let in after 76 minutes.

As I keep saying…..Swindon Town have still yet to concede in time added on home or away this season…

Kickoff.co.uk Prediction… 

Not available this week.

My prediction… After being brought back down to earth with a bump at Torquay, Swindon need at least a win to keep pace with the division frontrunners. In recent years games like this – being away to a team winless in many matches – is usually a recipe for Town going down to defeat, but will that change this New Years Eve? Hopefully yes…so my prediction is for a 2-0 victory to Swindon.