Northampton barely escaped relegation last season and their recent performances showed zero improvement. Bradford City got promoted and already made a statement in the opening round. How will this Round 2 clash play out?
Northampton started the new campaign by playing the same team they faced in the last round in 2024/25. And their performance was times worse this time – a 3-1 loss, with very few positives to talk about. They scored a goal, but by that time, it was already 3-0. The first half of the match was completely one sided – Wigan shot nine times to one and had 60% possession. The Cobblers need to change everything ahead of the second round.
Meanwhile, Bradford City returned to League One seven years later, and kicked off the new season with an incredible performance against Wycombe, who finished 5th last term. A flawless first half, and a solid defensive performance in the second won them the three points and the Bantams genuinely look like one of the teams in the best form right now. Of course, it is the start of the season but we followed their pre-season preparation and Bradford played some solid matches.
How the bookies view it: Bradford to punish the Cobblers at Sixfields again
Bookmakers don't believe in Northampton and gave Bradford City the betting advantage, despite the away position. You can pick the Cobblers at 2/1 as opposed to 27/20 for the Bantams. Alternatively, the draw is available at 11/5.
Recent head to head: The Bantams with a massive H2H advantage
Northampton and Bradford City first met in 2006. Since then, the teams have played 22 times, with Bradford holding the all-time lead with 11 wins to four. The Bantams won six of the last 10 meetings, with the last one being in April 2023 at the same venue.
Players to watch: Humphrys to score his first goal for Bradford
Both managers will have more options for this match due to the returns of key players who missed the opener. But this early stage makes it difficult to predict which player will step up, especially at a level where few players ever stand out. We'd risk it with Stephen Humphrys, who made his debut for Bradford City last week and immediately made an impact with an assist. The striker was one of Barnsley's best last year and finished the previous campaign on a high with five goals in the last five rounds.
Probable line-ups
Northampton: Burge, Thorniley, McCarthy, Forbes, Burroughs, McGeehan, Fornah, Campbell, List, Wheatley, Hoskins
Bradford City: Walker, Pennington, Tilt, Wright, Power, Leigh, Neufville, Touray, Pointon, Sarcevic, Humphrys
Anything else catch the eye?
Based on the performances in the opening round, we can expect an action-packed fixture. Bradford City already looked phenomenal weeks ago when they beat Middlesbrough in a pre-season friendly and looked even better against Wycombe.
Defensively, there is more work to be done, so Northampton will have their chances. But in the end, we expect Bradford to win a hard-fought victory. We expect goals on both ends, which was the case in four of the last five H2Hs. But we expect Bradford's return to the Sixfields Stadium to be successful again.
GambleAware