The managers D. Healy and P. McLaughlin are both dreading and looking forward to this decisive game in the upper regions of the Premiership league table.
The hosts Linfield saw competitive action as recent as four days ago, playing in the Irish League Cup. Thankfully the previous game, versus Coleraine, was also a home game here at Windsor Park. The away team is better rested.
One slightly interesting match fact is that this game is played on grass and that the visiting Cliftonville have a different surface at their stadium (artificial turf). The impact of this is hard to measure exactly, but the visitors stats on grass is 16-6-18 (win-draw-loss) from 40 matches.
This is a local derby, usually meaning added tension and importance.
Linfield form and stats
Linfield, who have the most scored goals (25) at home in Premiership, have been very solid at home in the Premiership so far, with 21 points collected from 8 matches (7-0-1). This has contributed greatly to their 4th position in the table. Linfield has won so many consecutive home games (six in a row) that they struggle to remember the last time points were lost here at Windsor Park. We remember; it was Coleraine.
Linfield's previous game was also a home match, the defeat 0-3 versus Coleraine (placed 2nd). Before that, Linfield had a Premiership home game versus Larne which ended with a victory 1-0.
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 Linfield have performed under similar circumstances, so here are some numbers: When modest favourites like this (we found nine games) they have won 4 times, drawn 1 and lost 4.
It's goals goals goals for Linfield who have scored 25 goals from 8 league home games. From these home matches, Linfield have conceded only 6 goals.
Cliftonville form and stats
Cliftonville's travelling support has been rewarded for their time and money so far this season, having witnessed Cliftonville, who have the most points (20) away in Premiership, collect 20 points from their 9 away matches in the Premiership. 6 victories and 2 draws have created these points (and only 1 defeat).
Cliftonville failed to get anything from their last game, a Premiership home match vs Glentoran (placed 5th) that ended with defeat 0-2. Before that, Cliftonville travelled to Larne and returned home with a draw after the game finished 1-1.
We have checked recent matches where Cliftonville have had similar odds to win. Win-draw-lose statistics from those seven games were W1-D0-L6.
The Cliftonville manager P. McLaughlin has got the team scoring on the road, with 19 away goals in 9 league matches. Cliftonville are defending well in their away games, having conceded only 6 times in 9 matches. For more goal statistics, check out the Statistics tab above.
Head 2 Head
This is not the first time this season these parties meet, as the history books show this recent fixture: Cliftonville - Linfield 0-1. Head-to-head totals (for the last ten meetings): Linfield won 7 games, 1 match ended with a draw and Cliftonville has 2 wins. Over 2,5 goals / under 2,5 goals: 5 / 5Top Goalscorers
  J. Gormley 14 goals |   J. Cooper 8 goals |  S. Lavery 7 goals |
Linfield missing players
Cliftonville missing players
| Linfield | Cliftonville | ||||||
| Total | Home | vs | Statistics | Stat | vs | Away | Total |
| 16 | 8 | 1 | Played | P | 1 | 9 | 18 |
| 12 | 7 | 0 | Won | W | 0 | 6 | 12 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Drew | D | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | 1 | 1 | Lost | L | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 38 | 25 | 2 | Scored | S | 1 | 19 | 34 |
| 11 | 6 | 4 | Conceded | C | 1 | 6 | 12 |
| 100% | 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 62% | 75% | 100% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 100% | 78% | 67% |
| 56% | 62% | 100% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 0% | 56% | 44% |
| 31% | 50% | 100% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 0% | 22% | 28% |
| 25% | 38% | 100% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 0% | 11% | 11% |
| 31% | 38% | 100% | BTTS | BTTS | 100% | 56% | 33% |
| 50% | 62% | 0% | Clean Sheets | C S | 0% | 44% | 50% |
| 19% | 0% | 0% | Failed to Score | F T | 0% | 0% | 17% |
| 6.9 | 8.4 | 8 | Corners For (avg) | C F | 2 | 4.9 | 5.2 |
| 3.2 | 3.1 | 2 | Corners Against (avg) | C A | 5 | 3.9 | 2.8 |
| 1.2 | 0.9 | 2 | Yellow Cards (avg) | Y C | 3 | 1.7 | 1.2 |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | Red Cards | R C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 134 | 84 | 6 | Total Shots | T S | 7 | 92 | 157 |
| 50 | 33 | 4 | Shots on Target | S O | 2 | 48 | 82 |
| 58% | 55% | 50% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 50% | 40% | 41% |
- Cliftonville has the fewest conceded goals in the first half (3)
- Cliftonville has the most matches under the total-line (11)
- Cliftonville has the most points (20) away
- Cliftonville have played more matches over 2,5 goals away than home.
- Cliftonville have scored at least twice as many goals as they have conceded.
- Cliftonville have scored in all their away matches so far.
- Cliftonville haven’t played a single 0-0 game.
- Linfield has the fewest conceded goals (11)
- Linfield has the fewest conceded goals in the second half (6)
- Linfield has the fewest matches over the total-line (5)
- Linfield has the most scored goals (25) at home
- Linfield has the most scored goals in the first half (21)
- Linfield has the the best goal difference (+19) at home
- Linfield have played more matches over 2,5 goals home than away.
- Linfield have scored at least twice as many goals as they have conceded.
- Linfield have scored in all their home matches so far.
- Linfield have won at least twice as many corners as they have conceded.
- Linfield have won significantly more corners at home than away.
- Linfield haven’t played a single 0-0 game.
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Crusaders | 18 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 45 | 18 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 22 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 9 | 27 | 38 |
| 2 | Coleraine | 18 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 41 | 16 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 11 | 25 | 38 |
| 3 | Cliftonville | 18 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 34 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 6 | 22 | 38 |
| 4 | Linfield | 16 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 38 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 5 | 27 | 36 |
| 5 | Glentoran | 17 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 38 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 33 |
| 6 | Larne | 17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 31 | 17 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 8 | 14 | 24 |
| 7 | Carrick Rangers | 17 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 22 | 30 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 14 | -8 | 18 |
| 8 | Ballymena United | 18 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 24 | 29 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 16 | -5 | 17 |
| 9 | Glenavon | 16 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 22 | 43 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 32 | -21 | 17 |
| 10 | Dungannon Swifts | 17 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 18 | 48 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 22 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 26 | -30 | 14 |
| 11 | Institute | 18 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 38 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 23 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 15 | -23 | 12 |
| 12 | Warrenpoint Town | 18 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 13 | 57 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 24 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 33 | -44 | 9 |