National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Oldham Athletic or Salford City that keep their silverware dream alive.
There’s little time for restitution or working hard at the training pitch these days, with both teams having played their last game less than four days ago.
Oldham Athletic form and stats
Last season, Oldham's EFL Trophy journey ended in the 2nd round.Oldham Athletic have less points than they have played home games in the League Two so far. Their two previous attempts here have produced 0 points. The home stadium (Boundary Park) is supposed to be a fortress, but for Oldham Athletic it's been a house of straw as the last four games here have all been lost. Can they turn things around?
It's back home for Oldham, who return with a good feeling about themselves after beating Sutton United away with the result 2-1. Carl Piergianni and Junior Luamba found the net in that victory. Defender Carl Piergianni got the top score of the team in the match with a rating of 8.0/10. Piergianni scored one goal and won 13 of 16 duels. Some amazing scenes last match, when Junior Luamba scored the winning goal six minutes into stoppage time.
Before that, Oldham Athletic drew at home versus Accrington Stanley (after extra-time, 5-4 on penalties).The match schedule is unforgiving for Oldham as they have a new game in only four days, a League Two match thankfully also at home. Barrow are visiting.
At Boundary Park, Oldham Athletic has the goal stats of 1-3 (for/against) from 2 league fixtures.
Salford City form and stats
They also participated in EFL Trophy last season. This ended in the 2nd round.The story so far for the visiting team on their League Two travels is 0 wins, 0 draws and 1 defeat. Salford seem to be suffering from homesickness with two consecutive losses away. Third time lucky?
Impressive finishing from Tyreik Wright, Conor McAleny and Ian Henderson secured the home win 3-0 against Newport County in their previous game. Ian Henderson, attacking player, was the top performer on the team in that game, scoring a match rating of 8.15. Henderson scored one goal, served one assist, hit four key passes and dribled passed the opponent 1 of 1 times. It was a convincing performance from Salford when Newport County were beaten. The team "killed" the match in the first half leading 3-0 and the second half was comfortable. Tyreik Wright, Conor McAleny and Ian Henderson scored their goals.
A loss against Swindon Town was the result prior to that, in a League Two home game.The visitors will be packing their bags again in only four days as another away game awaits: The League Two trip to Carlisle United.
Salford City have the goal stats of 1-2 (for/against) from 1 business trip in the league at this early stage of the season.
Head 2 Head
As for the last four games between these two teams, there's one Oldham Athletic victory, one draw and two Salford City wins. Over/under statistics; two of these games ended with three goals or more, two matches with two goals or less.Top Goalscorers
  D. Bahamboula 2 goals |   I. Henderson 2 goals | C. Piergianni 1 goals |
Oldham Athletic missing players
Salford City missing players
| Oldham Athletic | Salford City | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 13 | 25 | ||
| 8 | 3 | Won | W | 5 | 10 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Drew | D | 2 | 6 | ||
| 13 | 8 | Lost | L | 6 | 9 | ||
| 36 | 16 | Scored | S | 13 | 27 | ||
| 40 | 23 | Conceded | C | 14 | 22 | ||
| 92% | 92% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 92% | 88% | ||
| 80% | 77% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 54% | 60% | ||
| 68% | 69% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 31% | 32% | ||
| 24% | 23% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 15% | 8% | ||
| 20% | 15% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 8% | 4% | ||
| 64% | 62% | BTTS | BTTS | 15% | 24% | ||
| 16% | 8% | Clean Sheets | C S | 46% | 44% | ||
| 28% | 38% | Failed to Score | F T | 46% | 44% | ||
| 5.5 | 5.7 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 5.2 | 4.8 | ||
| 5.4 | 5.2 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 3.9 | 3.6 | ||
| 1.4 | 1.5 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.4 | 1.5 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 2 | 3 | ||
| 12.4 | 11.6 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 10 | 10.9 | ||
| 3.6 | 2.8 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.8 | 3.8 | ||
| 40% | 44% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 29% | 29% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Leeds United U21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Oldham Athletic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Salford City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Tranmere Rovers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Forest Green Rovers | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 12 |
| 2 | Harrogate Town | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| 3 | Bradford City | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
| 4 | Swindon Town | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| 5 | Hartlepool United | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 6 | Leyton Orient | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| 7 | Mansfield Town | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| 8 | Northampton Town | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 9 | Stevenage | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -1 | 7 |
| 10 | Port Vale | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 11 | Exeter City | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| 12 | Carlisle United | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 13 | Colchester United | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 14 | Scunthorpe United | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 6 |
| 15 | Newport County | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 6 |
| 16 | Salford City | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 17 | Rochdale | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| 18 | Barrow | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -1 | 5 |
| 19 | Tranmere Rovers | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 5 |
| 20 | Crawley Town | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | -3 | 4 |
| 21 | Walsall | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | -4 | 4 |
| 22 | Bristol Rovers | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | -5 | 4 |
| 23 | Oldham Athletic | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -3 | 3 |
| 24 | Sutton United | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -2 | 2 |
- Oldham Athletic
- Oldham Chronicle - (local newspaper)
- Salford City FC
- Salford City News - (local newspaper)