The new season of League Two kicks off this weekend, with a meeting of two teams who finished in the bottom half last term in the shape of Accrington Stanley and Gillingham.
Stanley finished only two places above the relegation zone, but they’ve kept faith with manager John Doolan who will lead them into the new campaign. They start as one of the relegation favourites again, but an encouraging pre-season suggests they might just surprise a few people.
Accrington held top-flight Everton to a draw in a friendly in July, and they hammered Rotherham of League One by a 4-1 margin in their final game before the start of the competitive action.
There are slightly loftier ambitions for Gillingham who will fancy their chances of pushing for a play-off place. This will be their first full season under the guidance of Gareth Ainsworth, one of the most established managers operating at this level, and he made a bright start to his reign in the spring.
The Gills won two of their five pre-season games, although both of those victories did come against non-league opposition. They head into the new league season after a 2-0 win over Dartford last weekend.
How the bookies view it: Little to choose between the sides
On paper, this is one of the most evenly-matched fixtures on the opening matchday in League One. Gillingham are expected to be the stronger team this term and are priced at 6/4 to win the game with Boylesports, but you can back Accrington with home advantage at 9/5. The draw is on offer at 2/1.
Recent head-to-head: Expect both teams to score?
Four of the last five meetings between these clubs have served up goals at each end. Accrington took four points from the league clashes last season, but they’d lost three on the bounce against this opposition prior to that.
Players to watch: Whalley with a spring in his step
Shaun Whalley was the top scorer for Accrington last season and even at the age of 37 he has looked sharp in pre-season. Whalley has netted three in his last two games and he looks good at 5/2 to score anytime in this match.
Predicted Lineups
After a strong display against opposition from a higher league last weekend, it’s hard to see many changes from the hosts from that lineup.
Gillingham have added Sam Vokes and Seb Palmer-Houlden this summer, and both are likely to feature at some point in this game.
Accrington: Kelly, Love, Sass, Grant, Rawson, Coyle, Whalley, Woods, Sinclair, Matthews, Caton.
Gillingham: Morris, Smith, Masterson, Ogie, Hutton, McKenzie, Little, Clark, Dack, Palmer-Houlden, Gbode.
Anything else catch the eye?
Gillingham impressed at the end of last term following the appointment of Ainsworth, but they’ve not set the world on fire in pre-season, and may just find this a tricky opening test against an Accrington side that has competed well in recent weeks.
You can back Draw no bet – Accrington to win at 1/1 with Boylesports, while the hosts are priced at 7/4 to build on their four-goal display last time out by scoring over 1.5 goals.
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