National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Bristol Rovers or AFC Wimbledon that keep their silverware dream alive.
There haven't been much time to rest for the hosts, as they played a FA Cup match only three days ago. This match was also played here at Memorial Stadium. With two consecutive home games the intense schedule is somewhat softened. Still, AFC Wimbledon have had more rest.
Bristol Rovers form and stats
Action has already taken place for Bristol in EFL Trophy as they have defeated Oxford United, Leyton Orient, Chelsea U21 and Walsall to reach the 3rd Round. Last season, Bristol Rovers's EFL Trophy journey ended in the 3rd round.3 victories, 1 draw and 5 defeats. That’s what Bristol Rovers have to build on here at Memorial Stadium in the League One. On the other hand, in the EFL Trophy, Bristol Rovers has performed like this (both home and away): 2 wins, 2 draws and 0 losses. Two home wins in a row for Bristol Rovers bring valid hopes of a third.
The Bristol fans got no joy from their last match, a FA Cup game also here at Memorial Stadium: A 2-3 defeat against Sheffield United. Before that game, the 2-1 home victory against Blackpool.
Bristol's goalkeeper Joe Day was extremely busy against Sheffield United, saving the team from a uglier defeat with a stunning six saves.
Another home game is coming up fairly shortly for the hosts, as Charlton Athletic are coming to town in four days.
The Bristol fans would probably like to see some more goals scored at their own stadium in the league, the tally being 10 in 9 matches. With more than 1,5 conceded goals on average, the Bristol defense is not exactly impregnable. 15 goals conceded from 9 games. You can find more goal stats on the Statistics tab above. There's been improvement defensively lately, as only -1 of these goals has been conceded in their last 3 home matches.
AFC Wimbledon form and stats
The traveling awayteam has defeated Charlton Athletic, Arsenal U21, Leyton Orient and Brighton U21 in order to reach 3rd Round of EFL Trophy. They also participated in EFL Trophy last season. This ended in the group stage.3 wins, 4 draws and 4 losses. That’s the product of AFC Wimbledon playing as the away team in the League One this season. The mentioned statistics is only from the league, looking at the EFL Trophy stats, they have 3 wins, 0 draws and 1 loss both home and away. Three has not been a lucky number for Wimbledon as they have been defeated three times in a row since the Sunderland match.
AFC Wimbledon might have something to prove in this game as they lost at home in their previous match. Lincoln City proved too strong as Wimbledon slumped to a 1-2 defeat in front of their own fans at Cherry Red Records Fans' Stadium. A 0-2 defeat away at Oxford United before that.
After this away game Wimbledon return home for a League One game against Sunderland. That game is only four sleeps after this.
AFC Wimbledon have scored 11 goals on their travels this season, from 11 away games in the league. 15 goals have been conceded by Wimbledon in these games. There's been improvement defensively lately, as only -1 of these goals has been conceded in their last 3 away matches.
Head 2 Head
H2H stats regardless of arena (last ten matches): Bristol Rovers six wins, one draw and AFC Wimbledon three victories. As for goals, five matches ended with three or more goals (over 2,5), five games had two or less.Top Goalscorers
  J. Pigott 10 goals |   B. Hanlan 6 goals |  R. Longman 5 goals |
Bristol Rovers missing players
AFC Wimbledon missing players
| Bristol Rovers | AFC Wimbledon | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 13 | 25 | ||
| 10 | 5 | Won | W | 3 | 7 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Drew | D | 5 | 7 | ||
| 9 | 6 | Lost | L | 5 | 11 | ||
| 39 | 24 | Scored | S | 11 | 31 | ||
| 38 | 23 | Conceded | C | 17 | 37 | ||
| 96% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 92% | 96% | ||
| 88% | 100% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 62% | 72% | ||
| 52% | 62% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 23% | 48% | ||
| 32% | 46% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 15% | 20% | ||
| 24% | 31% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 8% | 12% | ||
| 60% | 54% | BTTS | BTTS | 46% | 56% | ||
| 20% | 23% | Clean Sheets | C S | 31% | 28% | ||
| 24% | 23% | Failed to Score | F T | 31% | 20% | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1.8 | 1.6 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.5 | 1.3 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | ||
| 10.5 | 10.4 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 10.6 | 10.7 | ||
| 3.6 | 4.1 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.7 | 3.8 | ||
| 43% | 45% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 23% | 33% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Lincoln City | 21 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 32 | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 5 | 14 | 42 |
| 2 | Hull City | 19 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 31 | 18 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 37 |
| 3 | Portsmouth | 19 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 32 | 15 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 7 | 17 | 35 |
| 4 | Doncaster Rovers | 18 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 32 | 20 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 33 |
| 5 | Peterborough United | 19 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 30 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 33 |
| 6 | Accrington Stanley | 17 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 11 | 8 | 33 |
| 7 | Charlton Athletic | 20 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 29 | 24 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 12 | 5 | 32 |
| 8 | Ipswich Town | 18 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 23 | 19 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 32 |
| 9 | Crewe Alexandra | 20 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 25 | 21 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 30 |
| 10 | Fleetwood Town | 20 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 28 | 18 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 29 |
| 11 | Sunderland | 18 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 9 | 29 |
| 12 | Oxford United | 20 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 30 | 27 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 10 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 17 | 3 | 28 |
| 13 | Blackpool | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 20 | 23 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 13 | -3 | 27 |
| 14 | Gillingham | 20 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 23 | 26 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 13 | -3 | 26 |
| 15 | Plymouth Argyle | 21 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 28 | 37 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 16 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 21 | -9 | 26 |
| 16 | Milton Keynes Dons | 21 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 26 | 25 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 14 | 1 | 25 |
| 17 | Shrewsbury Town | 20 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 21 | 25 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 12 | -4 | 24 |
| 18 | Bristol Rovers | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 20 | 27 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 12 | -7 | 22 |
| 19 | Northampton Town | 21 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 19 | 36 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 17 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 19 | -17 | 22 |
| 20 | AFC Wimbledon | 20 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 25 | 33 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 15 | -8 | 21 |
| 21 | Rochdale | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 23 | 30 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 15 | -7 | 19 |
| 22 | Wigan Athletic | 20 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 21 | 35 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 19 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 16 | -14 | 19 |
| 23 | Swindon Town | 20 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 25 | 41 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 18 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 23 | -16 | 17 |
| 24 | Burton Albion | 22 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 28 | 50 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 17 | 27 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 23 | -22 | 13 |