Perhaps a welcome break from league football as Salford City & Leicester U21 face off to decide who makes it to next stage of the EFL Trophy. All the pre-match information is available here!
There haven't been much time to rest for the hosts, as they played a League Two match only three days ago. At least it's nice to return home after that away game at Barrow.
Salford City form and stats
This is not the first game this season in the EFL Trophy for Salford, as the manager G. Alexander led his troops to eliminate Rochdale, Morecambe and Manchester United U21, and reach the 2nd Round. Salford City was eliminated in the semi-finals last season in the EFL Trophy.Salford City are steadily winning League Two games and points here at The Peninsula Stadium. 4 wins, 4 draws and 0 defeats is the summary from 8 games. 2W-0D-1L is the hard facts regardless of venue in the EFL Trophy for Salford City. Nine out of nine points from the last three home games for Salford, and the home supporters are ready to scream their lungs out to keep the winning streak alive.
Happy days for Salford in their previous game, a League Two match away at Barrow that ended with a 1-0 victory. Prior to that, an away loss at Carlisle United in the League Two.
The hosts are modest favourites in this match, with the bookmakers estimating the chance of a home win at about 50% +- five percent. It's interesting to look at how Salford City have performed under similar circumstances, so here are some numbers: When modest favourites like this (we found 13 games) they have won seven times, drawn four and lost two.
There's a new fixture coming up fairly quickly for Salford, as the League Two home game vs Cheltenham Town is only four days away.
Salford have proved capable of finding the net in their games here at The Peninsula Stadium with 15 goals in 8 league matches. Salford are not conceding a lot of goals here at The Peninsula Stadium in the league, averaging less than one per game. The total is 6 from 8 matches. There's been improvement defensively lately, as only -1 of these goals has been conceded in their last 3 home matches.
Leicester U21 form and stats
The traveling awayteam has defeated Harrogate Town, Hull City and Grimsby Town in order to reach 2nd Round of EFL Trophy. Leicester U21 was sent out of EFL Trophy in the quarter-finals last season.Leicester U21 have only collected 6 points from their away games in the Premier League U21, after 2-0-9 (11 played). Total EFL Trophy statistics for Leicester U21: 2 wins, 0 draws and 1 loss. Leicester U21 has lost their two previous away games and are eager to kill a negative trend in its infancy.
It's the second away game in a row for Leicester, but there's smiles all around after the 3-1 victory versus Grimsby Town in the EFL Trophy last time out. Preceding that game, the 1-3 loss visiting Harrogate Town's place.
Leicester are the outsiders in this one, but not by much. Their performance in similar games (being the away team and moderate outsiders) is zero wins, one draw and zero defeats. From a total of one match.
Leicester U21 are scoring more than one goal per away game on average, having accumulated 13 away goals from 11 games (in the league). The opposition has been scoring high and low on Leicester U21's goalkeeper in away games this season, as they have let in 31 goals in 11 travels.
Head 2 Head
Top Goalscorers
  I. Henderson 7 goals | A. Hunter 6 goals |  J. Wilson 4 goals |
Salford City missing players
Leicester U21 missing players
| Salford City | Leicester U21 | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 14 | Played | P | 20 | 25 | ||
| 11 | 7 | Won | W | 9 | 11 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Drew | D | 4 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 2 | Lost | L | 7 | 10 | ||
| 33 | 23 | Scored | S | 31 | 36 | ||
| 31 | 16 | Conceded | C | 31 | 38 | ||
| 96% | 93% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | ||
| 80% | 93% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 85% | 84% | ||
| 52% | 50% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 80% | 76% | ||
| 20% | 29% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 35% | 28% | ||
| 4% | 7% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 5% | 4% | ||
| 36% | 43% | BTTS | BTTS | 75% | 64% | ||
| 40% | 50% | Clean Sheets | C S | 15% | 16% | ||
| 28% | 14% | Failed to Score | F T | 10% | 20% | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1.9 | 1.9 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 0.7 | 0.7 | ||
| 1 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | ||
| 11.6 | 11.8 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 9.5 | 9.5 | ||
| 4.5 | 4.6 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.7 | 3.7 | ||
| 31% | 37% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 44% | 44% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Newport County | 15 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 24 | 13 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 11 | 33 |
| 2 | Cheltenham Town | 16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 29 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 32 |
| 3 | Forest Green Rovers | 16 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 29 |
| 4 | Carlisle United | 16 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 22 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 29 |
| 5 | Exeter City | 16 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 33 | 23 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 18 | 16 | 10 | 27 |
| 6 | Cambridge United | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 27 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 5 | 14 | 25 |
| 7 | Salford City | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 23 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 25 |
| 8 | Leyton Orient | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 24 | 19 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 5 | 24 |
| 9 | Tranmere Rovers | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 19 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 24 |
| 10 | Port Vale | 16 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 24 | 21 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 22 |
| 11 | Bolton Wanderers | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 24 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 12 | -4 | 22 |
| 12 | Morecambe | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 19 | 27 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 16 | -8 | 22 |
| 13 | Colchester United | 14 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 21 | 21 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| 14 | Walsall | 16 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 17 | 18 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 12 | -1 | 21 |
| 15 | Crawley Town | 16 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 23 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 1 | 20 |
| 16 | Oldham Athletic | 16 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 23 | 29 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 15 | -6 | 20 |
| 17 | Harrogate Town | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 17 | 20 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 8 | -3 | 19 |
| 18 | Scunthorpe United | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 21 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 9 | -6 | 17 |
| 19 | Mansfield Town | 16 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 7 | -5 | 15 |
| 20 | Grimsby Town | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 22 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 11 | -10 | 15 |
| 21 | Barrow | 16 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 24 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 9 | -4 | 13 |
| 22 | Stevenage | 16 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 9 | -5 | 13 |
| 23 | Bradford City | 15 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 20 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | -6 | 13 |
| 24 | Southend United | 15 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 29 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 14 | -23 | 6 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Manchester United U21 | 22 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 44 | 19 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 13 | 25 | 48 |
| 2 | Sunderland U21 | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 38 | 20 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 10 | 18 | 43 |
| 3 | Everton U21 | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 35 | 27 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 15 | 8 | 37 |
| 4 | Manchester City U21 | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 35 | 26 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 14 | 9 | 34 |
| 5 | Chelsea U21 | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 34 | 30 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 18 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 14 | 4 | 33 |
| 6 | Southampton U21 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 39 | 40 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 25 | 25 | -1 | 30 |
| 7 | Liverpool U21 | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 26 | 37 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 18 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 19 | -11 | 28 |
| 8 | Tottenham U21 | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 44 | 43 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 26 | 27 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 16 | 1 | 27 |
| 9 | Reading U21 | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 34 | 40 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 18 | 20 | -6 | 27 |
| 10 | Leicester U21 | 22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 25 | 48 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 17 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 13 | 31 | -23 | 21 |
| 11 | Middlesbrough U21 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 33 | 37 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 16 | 17 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 20 | -4 | 20 |
| 12 | Norwich City U21 | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 30 | 50 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 21 | 22 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 28 | -20 | 19 |