Perhaps a welcome break from league football as Forest Green Rovers & Cheltenham Town face off to decide who makes it to next stage of the EFL Trophy. All the pre-match information is available here!
It's no vacation for neither Rovers nor Cheltenham Town as both were in action only a few days ago. Expect some tired legs on the pitch and/or possibly some changes to the lineups.
Forest Green Rovers form and stats
Action has already taken place for Forest Green Rovers in EFL Trophy as they have defeated Exeter City, Newport County and Southampton U21 to reach the 2nd Round. Rovers was eliminated in the 2nd round last season in the EFL Trophy.The home fans haven’t been spoiled with victories in the League One this season. Forest Green Rovers have only managed 2 wins, 0 draws and 7 losses from their games here at The New Lawn.
Forest Green Rovers drew their last game, 1-1 away at Oxford United. Rovers's goalie McGee played a big part in securing a draw after 90 minutes against Oxford United with a stunning nine saves.
Ahead of that match, Forest Green Rovers lost 0-2 at home to Wycombe Wanderers.This is expected to be a close game, with Forest Green Rovers perhaps considered small favourites due to their home advantage. Looking back at earlier matches similar to this one (expected to be close with Forest Green Rovers as a small favourite), we find 5 games. Forest Green Rovers has won 3 of these, drawn 1 and lost 1.
There's a new fixture coming up fairly quickly for Rovers, as the FA Cup home game vs Alvechurch is only four days away.
The goals haven't exactly been flowing for Forest Green Rovers here at The New Lawn in the league, with less than one goal per game on average (5 from 9 games). With more than 1,5 conceded goals on average, the Rovers defense is not exactly impregnable. 17 goals conceded from 9 games. You can find more goal stats on the Statistics tab above.
Cheltenham Town form and stats
The traveling awayteam has defeated West Ham United U21, Walsall and Milton Keynes Dons in order to reach 2nd round of EFL Trophy. Cheltenham Town was sent out of EFL Trophy in the group stage last season.Cheltenham Town have only collected 6 points from their away games in the League One, after 1-3-4 (8 played).
Cheltenham Town go into this game after a win, the home game against Wycombe Wanderers that ended 1-0. Southwood was the team player of the game with the player rating of 8.12. The agile goalkeeper Southwood topped it up with a clean sheet.
Before that, Cheltenham travelled to Ipswich Town and returned home with a draw after the League One game finished 1-1.So, this is expected to be a close game, an even contest. Looking at earlier matches with Cheltenham Town playing away and similar expectations, we found 7 relevant matches. Results were 0 Cheltenham Town wins, 2 draws and 5 defeats.
Cheltenham Town are seemingly not capable of scoring regularly on their travels in the league. They have only managed {4 goals} from 8 away games. As opposed to that, Cheltenham have seen the ball go into their own net 9 times on the road.
Head 2 Head
Head-2-head stats last ten meetings: four - five - one (Forest Green Rovers wins - draws - Cheltenham Town wins). As for goals, five matches ended with three or more goals (over 2,5), five had two or less.
Top Goalscorers
  C. Wickham 5 goals |   A. May 4 goals | J. March 3 goals |
Forest Green Rovers missing players
Cheltenham Town missing players
| Forest Green Rovers | Cheltenham Town | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 9 | 25 | ||
| 8 | 5 | Won | W | 2 | 10 | ||
| 5 | 0 | Drew | D | 3 | 4 | ||
| 12 | 8 | Lost | L | 4 | 11 | ||
| 29 | 14 | Scored | S | 6 | 24 | ||
| 44 | 22 | Conceded | C | 10 | 34 | ||
| 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 89% | 92% | ||
| 92% | 85% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 44% | 60% | ||
| 56% | 62% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 33% | 44% | ||
| 28% | 23% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 11% | 16% | ||
| 16% | 8% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 0% | 12% | ||
| 56% | 38% | BTTS | BTTS | 33% | 40% | ||
| 12% | 15% | Clean Sheets | C S | 22% | 36% | ||
| 32% | 46% | Failed to Score | F T | 56% | 32% | ||
| 4.4 | 4.5 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 1.6 | 3.5 | ||
| 6.1 | 5.8 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 7 | 5.4 | ||
| 2.7 | 2.8 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.8 | 2.2 | ||
| 1 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 1 | ||
| 10.3 | 11.5 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 7 | 9.6 | ||
| 4 | 4.9 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 2 | 3.2 | ||
| 29% | 22% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 33% | 29% | ||
| 13.5 | 11.6 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 16 | 13.2 | ||
| 4.2 | 4.3 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4.7 | 3.9 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Plymouth Argyle | 19 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 39 | 22 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 20 | 17 | 17 | 43 |
| 2 | Ipswich Town | 19 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 38 | 19 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 22 | 12 | 19 | 41 |
| 3 | Sheffield Wednesday | 19 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 35 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 5 | 19 | 40 |
| 4 | Peterborough United | 19 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 34 | 23 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 19 | 11 | 31 |
| 5 | Bolton Wanderers | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 21 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 31 |
| 6 | Barnsley | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 23 | 15 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 30 |
| 7 | Portsmouth | 17 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 26 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 29 |
| 8 | Derby County | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 29 |
| 9 | Lincoln City | 18 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 21 | 21 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 0 | 26 |
| 10 | Port Vale | 19 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 21 | 28 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 17 | -7 | 26 |
| 11 | Exeter City | 19 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 31 | 29 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 14 | 2 | 25 |
| 12 | Wycombe Wanderers | 19 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 25 | 24 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 13 | 1 | 25 |
| 13 | Oxford United | 19 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 25 | 21 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 24 |
| 14 | Charlton Athletic | 19 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 30 | 27 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 3 | 24 |
| 15 | Bristol Rovers | 19 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 30 | 33 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 17 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 16 | -3 | 24 |
| 16 | Shrewsbury Town | 19 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 21 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 10 | -4 | 23 |
| 17 | Fleetwood Town | 19 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 20 | 19 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 22 |
| 18 | Cheltenham Town | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 15 | 21 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 9 | -6 | 22 |
| 19 | Accrington Stanley | 19 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 19 | 30 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 14 | -11 | 20 |
| 20 | Cambridge United | 19 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 18 | 30 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 17 | -12 | 20 |
| 21 | Milton Keynes Dons | 18 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 17 | 28 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 11 | -11 | 14 |
| 22 | Burton Albion | 19 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 25 | 40 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 22 | -15 | 14 |
| 23 | Morecambe | 19 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 30 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 16 | -15 | 14 |
| 24 | Forest Green Rovers | 19 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 38 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 17 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 21 | -22 | 14 |
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