Perhaps a welcome break from league football as Ards & Cliftonville face off to decide who makes it to next stage of the Irish League Cup. All the pre-match information is available here!
It's no vacation for neither Ards nor Cliftonville 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.
Ards's stadium, Bangor Fuels Arena, has a grass surface. Cliftonville have artifical turf on their own stadium. This might or might not make a difference, and to help evaluate that we give you the recent performance numbers for Cliftonville when playing on grass; 15 wins, 12 draws and 15 losses from 42 matches. They have scored 52 goals in these games and conceded 45.
Ards form and stats
Ards have not come this way in the Irish League Cup without some hard work on the way, more precisely defeating Dollingstown. Ards was eliminated in the 2nd round last season in the Irish League Cup.Ards have been very solid at home in the Championship so far, with 21 points collected from 7 matches (7-0-0). This has contributed greatly to their 1st position in the table. In general it's been a long time since Ards tasted defeat here at Bangor Fuels Arena, as they have taken at least one point from their last ten home games in the league.
No payout for Ards in their previous match, an away game at Loughgall that ended in defeat 0-1.
Ahead of that match, Ards won a home game hosting Queen's University (2-0).Some members of the home team might already be thinking of their next match, the Championship game versus Newry City AFC in only three days. This game is also played here at Bangor Fuels Arena.
The Ards manager J. Bailie has got the team scoring with 17 from 7 home games in the league. As for guarding their own goal, Ards have only let in 2 goals at home.
Cliftonville form and stats
The traveling awayteam has defeated H&W Welders in order to reach 3rd round of Irish League Cup. They also participated in Irish League Cup last season. This ended in the quarter-finals.1 win, 2 draws and 1 loss. That’s the product of Cliftonville playing as the away team in the Premiership this season.
Cliftonville lost away at Ballymena United (0-1) in their previous game and are perhaps starting to feel homesick.
That result followed a home victory 2-1 versus Larne in the Premiership.A new game in only four days for Cliftonville, the Premiership home match versus Glenavon. Busy days.
Cliftonville have a decent goal production going in their away games, although not fantastic. In 4 league away games 5 goals have been scored. Cliftonville have conceded 4 goals in these away matches.
Head 2 Head
Ards-Cliftonville H2H statistics last ten meetings regardless of arena: Ards zero wins, Cliftonville nine wins, one draw. eight of these ten matches had three or more goals (over 2,5).Top Goalscorers
  J. Gormley 4 goals | J. Harney 2 goals | R. Hale 2 goals |
Ards missing players
Cliftonville missing players
| Ards | Cliftonville | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 9 | 25 | ||
| 16 | 10 | Won | W | 4 | 15 | ||
| 3 | 1 | Drew | D | 2 | 4 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Lost | L | 3 | 6 | ||
| 55 | 31 | Scored | S | 14 | 41 | ||
| 28 | 9 | Conceded | C | 10 | 22 | ||
| 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 96% | ||
| 88% | 85% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 89% | 80% | ||
| 72% | 62% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 44% | 48% | ||
| 40% | 38% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 33% | 20% | ||
| 20% | 8% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 0% | 8% | ||
| 68% | 46% | BTTS | BTTS | 56% | 48% | ||
| 24% | 46% | Clean Sheets | C S | 22% | 40% | ||
| 8% | 8% | Failed to Score | F T | 22% | 16% | ||
| 2.8 | 3.2 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 5.8 | 6.1 | ||
| 2.8 | 2.2 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.8 | 4 | ||
| 1.8 | 2 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1 | 1.1 | ||
| 4 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 1 | ||
| 7.7 | 10.1 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 9 | 10 | ||
| 2.9 | 3.9 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.4 | 4.3 | ||
| 80% | 71% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 41% | 35% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Ards | 13 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 28 |
| 2 | Newry City AFC | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 25 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 12 | 26 |
| 3 | Ballyclare Comrades | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 23 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 12 | 6 | 26 |
| 4 | H&W Welders | 13 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 17 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 22 |
| 5 | Loughgall | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 20 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 21 |
| 6 | Ballinamallard United | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 21 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 21 |
| 7 | Annagh United | 13 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 24 | 22 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 19 |
| 8 | Dergview | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 21 | 19 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 2 | 17 |
| 9 | Knockbreda | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 25 | 31 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 19 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 12 | -6 | 16 |
| 10 | Institute | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 23 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 10 | -12 | 13 |
| 11 | Dundela | 13 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 18 | 28 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 14 | -10 | 6 |
| 12 | Queen's University | 13 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 29 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 12 | -23 | 4 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Cliftonville | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 20 |
| 2 | Linfield | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 13 | 18 |
| 3 | Coleraine | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 9 | 12 | 18 |
| 4 | Larne | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 16 |
| 5 | Glentoran | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 14 |
| 6 | Crusaders | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 13 |
| 7 | Carrick Rangers | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 13 |
| 8 | Glenavon | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
| 9 | Ballymena United | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 11 | -6 | 10 |
| 10 | Dungannon Swifts | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 24 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 9 | -8 | 6 |
| 11 | Portadown | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | -10 | 5 |
| 12 | Warrenpoint Town | 9 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 23 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | -18 | 3 |