Preview: Cheltenham Town vs. Harrogate Town - prediction, team news, lineups

2 weeks ago 13

Sports Mole previews Saturday's League Two clash between Cheltenham Town and Harrogate Town, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Aiming to end a run of three consecutive losses in the early stages of the League Two season, Cheltenham Town will welcome Harrogate Town to the EV Charger Points Stadium on Saturday.

The visitors have only managed three points from their first four games following relegation from England's third tier, while their visitors are a single point better off in 16th spot at this early stage.

Match preview

Tom Pett of Cheltenham Town pictured on August 14, 2024 © Imago

Cheltenham Town return to action at the weekend aiming to arrest a slump at the start of their first campaign back in League Two, after succumbing to relegation last time around.

They headed into the term under the new management of Michael Flynn and succeeded in making a winning start, beating Newport County 3-2 on home turf thanks to Joel Colwill's 96th-minute winner after he and Liam Dulson had previously put them 2-0 up in the first half.

The Robins have been unable to build on that triumph so far, though, having lost each of their three league outings since, firstly falling just short against Grimsby Town and AFC Wimbledon.

A tough trip to Walsall then followed last weekend, and Flynn's men again left empty-handed, eventually succumbing to a 2-1 defeat having failed to find a leveller after George Miller halved the deficit in the 85th minute.

Now on the back of another victory over Newport County in midweek to open their account in the EFL Trophy, Cheltenham Town will be keen to bounce back with a league victory to stop the rot on Saturday.

Their visitors will also bid to bounce back to winning ways on Saturday after a tough start to their own League Two campaign.

Heading into their fifth consecutive season in England's fourth tier following a 13th-placed finish last time around, Harrogate Town find themselves on four points from their first four outings, having kicked off with a 2-0 defeat to newly-promoted Bromley and a 3-3 draw with Accrington Stanley thanks to an injury-time leveller.

The Sulphurites' only league win thus far did then come on the road in a trip to Colchester United, having seen out a hard-fought 1-0 victory thanks to Sam Folarin's 68th-minute goal.

Two home defeats have since followed for Simon Weaver's team heading into the weekend, as they met Preston North End in the EFL Cup and dropped out following a 5-0 thrashing before most recently hosting Barrow in League Two last weekend and leaving empty-handed as Neo Eccleston netted the only goal of the game for the visitors 16 minutes from time.

Left disappointed by their tough start, but with positives to take from their early away record having picked up all four of their points on their travels, Harrogate Town will bid to bounce back on Saturday and put another notch in their wins column in their third away trip of the term.

Cheltenham Town League Two form:

Cheltenham Town form (all competitions):

Harrogate Town League Two form:

Harrogate Town form (all competitions):

Team News

Michael Flynn made nine changes to his Cheltenham Town starting XI between Saturday's league defeat to Walsall and their midweek EFL Trophy victory against Newport County, and several of those from Tuesday's contest should keep their places.

Harrison Sohna and Joel Colwill should both continue in the midfield after scoring in the cup win, while 19-year-old Colwill has also managed two league goals since his loan arrival from Cardiff City.

Liam Dulson and Ryan Bowman will compete to return to the attack after Matty Taylor led the line against Newport, while Levi Laing and Tom Bradbury will both hope to continue in the middle of the defence.

Despite their 1-0 home defeat, Simon Weaver may field an unchanged Harrogate Town starting XI from last week's meeting with Barrow in their preferred 3-4-1-2 setup.

Sam Folarin and James Daly will continue to partner up in attack, having netted three and two goals respectively so far this season, while Matty Daly should again offer further support through the centre.

Dean Cornelius will push to come in from the start, but Warren Burrell may instead continue alongside Levi Sutton in the engine room, while Matty Foulds, Anthony O'Connor and Toby Sims should line up in a back three.

Cheltenham Town possible starting lineup:
Evans; Kinsella, Laing, Bradbury, Haynes; Pett, Sohna, Colwill; Dulson, Taylor, Miller

Harrogate Town possible starting lineup:
Belshaw; Sims, O'Connor, Foulds; Asare, Burrell, Sutton, Taylor; M Daly; J Daly, Folarin

SM words green background

We say: Cheltenham Town 2-1 Harrogate Town

We anticipate a hard-fought contest on Saturday with both teams keen to bounce back to winning ways in League Two.

With home advantage on their side and a degree of renewed optimism from a midweek away victory, Cheltenham Town should fancy themselves to take all three points.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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