National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Carrick Rangers or Ballymena United that keep their silverware dream alive.
We should expect both teams to be fresh and ready for this match, as there is some time since both teams last played. Let's have a look at how the teams are doing!
Carrick Rangers form and stats
6 victories, 0 draws and 5 defeats. That’s what Carrick Rangers have to build on here at Belfast Loughshore Hotel Arena in the Premiership.
Carrick Rangers haven't scored a league goal since they found the net 220 minutes ago. Anderson scored that one.
Carrick Rangers suffered a surprising defeat 0-3 against Crusaders in their previous outing, also played at home.
0-0 away at Larne before that.A decent goal production from Carrick in their home games so far, with 17 goals from 11 league matches. On the other hand, Carrick Rangers have conceded 16 goals.
Ballymena United form and stats
There's been little loot from Ballymena United's travels as they have only collected 10 points from 10 away games in the Premiership. Ballymena United only have 3 wins to counter their 6 defeats and 1 draw.
The followers enjoyed Ballymena United's previous game versus Glentoran, a 2-0 win played at home.
It was a Premiership defeat before that one as the away game against Coleraine wasn't a success with a 0-2 loss.The schedule is very tough for Ballymena United now as they have to travel again shortly after this match. A Premiership game at Glentoran is waiting in only three days.
Ballymena's defence is not exactly unbeatable as they have conceded 16 goals from these trips.
Head 2 Head
Head to head totals (for the preceeding ten meetings): Carrick Rangers won four games, zero matches ended in a draw and Ballymena United have six wins. Over 2,5 goals / under 2,5 goals: four / six.
Top Goalscorers
  D. McDaid 6 goals |
Carrick Rangers missing players
Ballymena United missing players
| Carrick Rangers | Ballymena United | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 14 | 25 | ||
| 9 | 7 | Won | W | 6 | 12 | ||
| 2 | 0 | Drew | D | 1 | 2 | ||
| 14 | 6 | Lost | L | 7 | 11 | ||
| 31 | 20 | Scored | S | 17 | 35 | ||
| 47 | 20 | Conceded | C | 19 | 32 | ||
| 96% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | ||
| 72% | 85% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 79% | 84% | ||
| 56% | 54% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 50% | 52% | ||
| 40% | 23% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 14% | 20% | ||
| 32% | 23% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 14% | 12% | ||
| 44% | 38% | BTTS | BTTS | 36% | 36% | ||
| 28% | 31% | Clean Sheets | C S | 29% | 32% | ||
| 32% | 31% | Failed to Score | F T | 36% | 32% | ||
| 3.6 | 4.1 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4 | 4.2 | ||
| 4.8 | 4.2 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 5 | 6.5 | ||
| 2.6 | 2.1 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.2 | 1.6 | ||
| 2 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 1 | ||
| 7.5 | 7.8 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 6.2 | 6.5 | ||
| 3.5 | 3.9 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.1 | 3.3 | ||
| 40% | 40% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 36% | 42% | ||
| 9.4 | 8.2 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 12.1 | 10.8 | ||
| 5 | 4 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 5.7 | 4.9 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Larne | 21 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 39 | 15 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 4 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 11 | 24 | 45 |
| 2 | Cliftonville | 21 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 37 | 26 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 8 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 11 | 45 |
| 3 | Linfield | 21 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 38 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 19 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 6 | 21 | 43 |
| 4 | Crusaders | 21 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 44 | 24 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 9 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 15 | 20 | 42 |
| 5 | Coleraine | 21 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 34 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 7 | 17 | 37 |
| 6 | Glentoran | 19 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 33 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 8 | 20 | 35 |
| 7 | Ballymena United | 20 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 26 | 29 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 16 | -3 | 26 |
| 8 | Glenavon | 19 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 33 | 32 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 20 | 17 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 15 | 1 | 23 |
| 9 | Carrick Rangers | 21 | 7 | 2 | 12 | 27 | 42 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 17 | 16 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 26 | -15 | 23 |
| 10 | Newry City AFC | 20 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 22 | 39 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 26 | -17 | 18 |
| 11 | Dungannon Swifts | 22 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 15 | 48 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 33 | -33 | 14 |
| 12 | Portadown | 22 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 7 | 53 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 22 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 31 | -46 | 5 |
