Match Preview: Swindon at Burton Albion
After knocking three past Crawley in our first Football League visit to Broadfield Stadium in midweek, Swindon Town travel to Staffordshire for a first ever meeting between the two sides.
Form… With three successive victories, Paolo Di Canio’s Swindon Town have well and truly silenced the doubters. A move up the League to tenth has seen victories over three of the fancied sides for this division, scoring eight and conceding two goals.
Burton Albion sit 7th after a solid start. Like Crawley at the start of this week, Burton are unbeaten at home, having drawn with Shrewsbury and Port Vale, then beaten Plymouth and Crewe at the Pirelli Stadium. Burton are unbeaten in their last three games.
Swindon Team Speculation… The key question on Swindon supporter’s lips is will Di Canio once again make changes to his starting line up?
After an injury free trip to Crawley there is every chance Paolo will keep faith with the same starting XI, but I somehow doubt that’ll be the case. Still with two successive cleansheets is there any reason to change the central pairing of Joe Devera and Alan McCormack? If Aden Flint returns from injury then that’s one 6’8” reason to do so.
After Ahmed Abdulla replaced Simon Ferry in central midfield midweek, expect to see the rested Scotsman return in what I foresee the only other likely change to the XI.
Recent absentee Lukas Magera is unlikely to be rushed back to the bench so Miles Storey has another chance to stake his claim to more first team action. Perhaps proving Di Canio right in abandoning attempts to sign a replacement for Leon Clarke.
Burton Albion Team Speculation… The Derby Telegraph reports
“With Cleveland Taylor and Jacques Maghoma still ruled out by ankle injuries, captain John McGrath and left-back Aaron Webster were both nursing sore knees after Tuesday night’s game, while Zola has a tight hamstring and Richards was applying ice to a slight groin strain after the game.”
Previous Meetings… There have been no previous meetings between the sides…
From The Archive… Needn’t bother with this section for this match…
Did you Know… Burton Albion F.C. are the fourth side from the Staffordshire town to compete in the Football League.
Burton Swifts were formed in 1871 and were founding members of the Second Division when it merged with the Football Alliance in 1892.
Burton Wanderers were formed in 1871 and lasted just three seasons in the Second Division from 1894/95 to being voted out in 1896/97.
After declining fortunes for both clubs they merged in 1901, while Burton Swifts were still in the Second Division, to form a new club Burton United. The merger didn’t fix the problems and at the end of the 1906/07 season Burton United were voted out and never to return, folding in 1910.
Burton Albion were not formed until 1950 and secured themselves a place in the Football League for the 2009/10 season, over 100 years since a Burton side last played at this level.
What the Stats Tell Us… At home Burton Albion have scored just 5 times in 4 games. Only 1 of those strikes – their second against Plymouth – has been scored after half time. Home and away, Burton have yet to concede in the League in the opening 40 minutes of a game.
Swindon remain goal shy in the opening 15 minutes with none home or away that early this season. Away from home our 4 goals have been scored in minutes 16-30 and 76-90.
Unlike last season when it seemed Swindon had corners coming out of their pockets, we’ve only averaged 4.87 per game this season, the 17th best in the division. Burton seem to have a slight advantage with an average of 5.6 per game.
Burton have the second best record of restricting shots by opponents on target. Only 47.5% of opposition shots are on goal. Swindon are 9th best with a rate of 49.2%.
Decent Bet… Goalless first half.
Prediction… With Swindon on a roll and Burton unbeaten at home, it’s going to be the Robins who come away with a fourth win in four games to dent another unbeaten record. 2-1 to Swindon.
The Washbag 