We would expect a considerable gulf in quality between these sides based on the league table so far, with Salford City in front of Rochdale by 25 points.
The hosts Salford City saw competitive action as recent as four days ago, playing in the League Two. This match was also played here at The Peninsula Stadium. With two consecutive home games the intense schedule is somewhat softened. Still, Rochdale have had more rest.
Salford City form and stats
When playing at home in the League Two, Salford City have managed 6 wins, 4 draws and suffered 4 defeats from 14 games. Salford are on a three game winning streak in their home games.
Salford City's previous game was also played at home, ending 1-0 versus Walsall (placed 14th). The home side are looking to build on that result. Cairns loved the game against Walsall. With a stunning six saves the goalkeeper played a huge part in the 1-0 victory. The goalie Cairns was named most valuable player of the team in that game, scoring 9.05 out of ten. Cairns topped it up with a clean sheet.
A defeat was the result before that one, 2-3 away at Crawley Town.The home team are moderate favourites in this game. How does Salford handle that role? We have found 18 games in our database similar to this one, based on the home odds. The stats for these games are 10 wins, 5 draws and 3 defeats.
Salford City has scored 16 league goals at home this season, in 14 matches. Salford have only conceded 13 from their league home games. For more goal stats, check the Statistics tab above. There's been improvement defensively lately, as only 1 of these goals has been conceded in their last three home matches.
Rochdale form and stats
Rochdale have only collected 12 points from their away games in the League Two, after 3-3-8 (14 played). It's a growing despair in Rochdale as they have recorded three consecutive losses.
Rochdale aren't clicking offensively as they have gone 234 league minutes without a goal. Rodney was the last player to find the net.
Rochdale failed to get anything from their last game, a home match vs Carlisle United (placed 3rd) that ended with defeat 0-1. Defender McNulty was the best team player with a rating of 7.33. McNulty won 6 of 7 duels.
It was a defeat before that one as the away game against Hartlepool United wasn't a success with a 0-2 loss.Rochdale are the outsiders in this one, but not by much. Their performance in similar games (being the away team and moderate outsiders) is 5 wins, 5 draws and 5 defeats. From a total of 15 matches.
Many goals are not expected from the visiting Rochdale as they have only managed to score 11 times from 14 away games in the league. Rochdale have conceded 21 goals in these games. Rochdale has visited these top teams five times, and 4 of 5 has ended with 2 goals or more!
Head 2 Head
Rochdale have avoided defeat in the last 4 matches (1-3-0) against Salford City.Rochdale - Salford City 1-0 was the product when these two contenders previously met, also in this season.
Top Goalscorers
  C. McAleny 7 goals |  M. Smith 6 goals |   D. Rodney 6 goals |
Salford City missing players
Rochdale missing players
| Salford City | Rochdale | ||||||
| Total | Home | vs | Statistics | Stat | vs | Away | Total |
| 28 | 14 | 2 | Played | P | 5 | 14 | 28 |
| 13 | 6 | 0 | Won | W | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 6 | 4 | 2 | Drew | D | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 9 | 4 | 0 | Lost | L | 3 | 8 | 18 |
| 38 | 16 | 3 | Scored | S | 5 | 11 | 22 |
| 28 | 13 | 3 | Conceded | C | 11 | 21 | 42 |
| 93% | 93% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 93% | 96% |
| 64% | 64% | 100% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 80% | 50% | 57% |
| 39% | 29% | 50% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 80% | 36% | 43% |
| 21% | 14% | 50% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 20% | 14% | 11% |
| 18% | 7% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 20% | 14% | 11% |
| 43% | 36% | 100% | BTTS | BTTS | 40% | 29% | 46% |
| 39% | 43% | 0% | Clean Sheets | C S | 0% | 21% | 14% |
| 25% | 29% | 0% | Failed to Score | F T | 60% | 57% | 43% |
| 4.2 | 4.4 | 4.5 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 3.8 | 3.7 | 4.1 |
| 5 | 5.3 | 7.5 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 6 | 6.3 | 5.3 |
| 1.6 | 1.8 | 0.5 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.4 | 2.1 | 2 |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 11.9 | 11.9 | 15.5 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 6.6 | 7.3 | 8.5 |
| 3.8 | 3.6 | 5.5 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 2 | 2.5 | 2.8 |
| 36% | 32% | 27% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 50% | 31% | 28% |
| 12.9 | 12 | 13 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 15.8 | 13.8 | 12.1 |
| 3.1 | 3.1 | 4.5 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 3.4 | 3.2 | 3.3 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Leyton Orient | 28 | 17 | 6 | 5 | 36 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 4 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 13 | 19 | 57 |
| 2 | Stevenage | 26 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 39 | 18 | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 27 | 6 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 21 | 55 |
| 3 | Carlisle United | 28 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 48 | 27 | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 25 | 11 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 23 | 16 | 21 | 51 |
| 4 | Northampton Town | 27 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 42 | 28 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 13 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 22 | 15 | 14 | 49 |
| 5 | Salford City | 28 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 38 | 28 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 13 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 22 | 15 | 10 | 45 |
| 6 | Swindon Town | 27 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 36 | 28 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 22 | 13 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 15 | 8 | 42 |
| 7 | Mansfield Town | 27 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 40 | 36 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 25 | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 16 | 4 | 42 |
| 8 | Bradford City | 26 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 31 | 25 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 13 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 12 | 6 | 41 |
| 9 | Barrow | 28 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 33 | 37 | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 19 | 13 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 24 | -4 | 40 |
| 10 | Stockport County | 27 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 36 | 25 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 17 | 10 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 39 |
| 11 | AFC Wimbledon | 27 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 30 | 28 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 17 | 2 | 39 |
| 12 | Sutton United | 28 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 28 | 35 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 12 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 23 | -7 | 39 |
| 13 | Tranmere Rovers | 27 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 29 | 23 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 12 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 38 |
| 14 | Walsall | 25 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 30 | 23 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 11 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 37 |
| 15 | Doncaster Rovers | 26 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 31 | 39 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 23 | -8 | 37 |
| 16 | Crewe Alexandra | 25 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 21 | 29 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 15 | -8 | 31 |
| 17 | Grimsby Town | 24 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 26 | 32 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 15 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 17 | -6 | 30 |
| 18 | Colchester United | 29 | 8 | 6 | 15 | 29 | 37 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 14 | 21 | -8 | 30 |
| 19 | Newport County | 26 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 24 | 30 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 14 | -6 | 26 |
| 20 | Crawley Town | 25 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 29 | 41 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 18 | 19 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 22 | -12 | 25 |
| 21 | Harrogate Town | 26 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 32 | 41 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 18 | 21 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 14 | 20 | -9 | 24 |
| 22 | Hartlepool United | 28 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 28 | 52 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 23 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 14 | 29 | -24 | 22 |
| 23 | Gillingham | 26 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 31 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 19 | -17 | 21 |
| 24 | Rochdale | 28 | 5 | 5 | 18 | 22 | 42 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 21 | -20 | 20 |
