Oldham Vs Salford: Big Bet Preview

Oldham Vs Salford
(SAT 26th Sep, 4:30PM UK - Sky Sports)

Its the international break, and you know what that means… It’s the first of the Lower League Specials this weekend in Tipple, and the Big Bet bonus points are more crucial than ever! No Premier League, no Championship, and a heavily reduced League One schedule leaves us with little to pick from in terms of matches this weekend, and that makes it even more dangerous. Will you risk the lottery of picking a non-league side, or are you sticking to your EFL guns and hoping what’s left of the fixture list is enough for you to go the perfect 6/6? With Bruno Fernandes and Erling Haaland on their holidays, some of the locals might come out of the woodwork to pack out Boundary Park for this weekend’s Big Bet! It sees pre-season title favourites Salford make the ~10 mile journey across Greater Manchester to face Oldham, another side fancied by pundits to do something special this season. It’s fair to say that neither side’s start has lived up to expectations, but what better way to turn that around than by smashing one of your local rivals live on the tele? Can Salford finally put together the supersonic performance we’ve all been waiting for, or will Oldham arrest their slide away in form with a statement victory at home to the favourites?

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Disappointment is the word of the day at both of these clubs. Neither have been unforgivably terrible, but both are well off the mark they expected to find themselves at this season.

Oldham finished up in 10th on their return to the Football League last season, and could’ve even snuck into the play-offs had it not been for a late season collapse in form that saw them tail off from the chase. They showed some really encouraging signs over the course of last year and, with some shrewd summer recruitment, many believed that Micky Mellon’s side were a sure pick for the play-offs this time around. It hasn’t quite transpired the way they’d have wanted it to, and they find themselves sat in 16th with 7 points from 7 games coming into this weekend. Peeling back the curtain, however, Oldham were the better side in a lot of their losses, and they might owe their subpar league position to the fact that no club have missed more big chances than them in the entire division so far. Maybe try sticking them away and see how the results look, lads. 

Their visitors have been the story of League Two so far, but it looks like they might finally be starting to get themselves on track to achieve what everyone from professional pundits to casual fans had them pegged for, promotion. They’re only in 12th with 10 points still, but results have improved in recent weeks. My concerns with Salford are the fact they’re yet to blow anyone away. Normally a win is a win, but with a squad of the level of Salford’s in this division you really have to be stringing together some convincing performances. They’re yet to win by more than a solitary goal, and their big summer addition of Macauley Langstaff has just one penalty goal to his name in 8 appearances. Maybe this buying League Two stuff is harder than we thought.

With both teams looking to jump their seasons into life, we could end up with a tasty affair here at Boundary Park. Who are you staking your Big Bet points on? Does the sheer strength of Salford sway you, or do you back Oldham’s finishing to finally improve?

Form

Bad. Their form has been bad. 

Oldham are now four games without a win in the league, despite being the dominant side in at least two of those results. They’ve lost their last three, most recently suffering defeat to another local rival in Rochdale. They created plenty, having 18 shots, but they only managed to hit one on target. It’s hard to win games if you aren’t scoring goals, or so I’ve heard. This weekend’s game is a chance for some Greater Manchester redemption. 

Salford, on the other hand, are four unbeaten. But it still hasn’t been good by any means. Three narrow wins and a draw at Rotherham in which they were 2-0 up and threw it away is hardly the form of runaway champions, but these things sometimes start slowly. If they can start to properly utilise their dominance on the ball then we should start to see teams fall to heavy defeats when Salford come to town. Until then, the jury’s out.

Head-to-head

Salford have won the last four meetings between the two, including doing the double over their close neighbours last season. The match winner on both those occasions, Daniel Udoh, is yet to score so far this season, he could come back to haunt Oldham once again to rediscover his goalscoring form this weekend.

It’s been more than 5 years since Oldham beat Salford in the league, but these streaks are made to be broken. On the other hand, it’s a fantastic opportunity for controversial Salford boss Peter Cklamovski to endear himself to the Ammies faithful. 

Key Matchup

Oliver Norburn vs Joe Powell

Ollie Norburn has had one of the great EFL journeyman careers. He’s turned out for  clubs from the National League all the way to the Championship and back down to League Two again. That’s how you do it. His playing style has changed over the years, but one way that every fanbase that has had the pleasure of watching him would describe him as is combative. That’s putting it nicely. Norburn loves a yellow, and occasionally red, card, but this side of his game often overshadows how good a player he actually is. The reality is, when he’s still on the pitch, he’s an excellent creative asset to his team. He not only produces a high volume of passes, but he passes with intent. None of this sideways for sideways’ sake nonsense, he’s more than adept at receiving the ball in the middle of the park, spinning and playing it through to an attacking teammate. Listen, I know he’s prone to kicking people, but everyone has their vices.

With Norburn likely to play on the right of a two man midfield, someone that will have to content with his violent streak is Salford’s saviour Joe Powell. After bagging two goals in nearly 100 games for his previous club Rotherham, Powell has decided to buy some shooting boots with his big Salford wad, netting 3 in his first 8 outings in orange. They have each come in his last three games, two of them winners and the other coming in the draw to his previous employers. The one thing they all have in common? They’re all from about a mile outside the box. The geeks and boffins will say that scoring from there consistently is impossible and what Powell’s producing is a statistical anomaly. Powell doesn’t listen to the boffins. The goals against Swindon was questionable, and the Port Vale one is definitely a ‘keeper error, but the Rotherham strike is a thing of beauty. Wether he can carry it on, who knows? One thing that is for certain, Oldham will be relying on Norburn to get a foot on the ball, or the ankle, before Powell can let one fly.

Preview

With no Premier League or Championship football, and England not kicking off until after the game, all of England’s football watching eyes will fall on this game. No pressure, lads. Salford have picked their game up in recent weeks but still look miles off their best, while Oldham’s results mask the quality of their performances. Given my poor record over the last couple of Big Bets, there’s a lot of pressure here. I’m backing the sheer strength of Salford’s team to win out in the end for a big away win!

Who have you got? And will you be risking any non-league picks this week to try and get the edge and overtake your mates? 

Manchester la la la.