Eastleigh
- Richard Hill’s appointment as interim boss appears to have stemmed the flow of goals for Eastleigh, with Aaron Blair their biggest goal threat.
- Eastleigh have lost three of their last five, losing 3-1 at York City and 1-2 at home to Carlisle United before they beat Truro City 2-1 on their own turf.
Rochdale
- The Rochdale side that Jimmy McNulty has put together is simply not a team for other sides to take on with any expectation of winning and they are top of the National League on 88 points from 36 matches, while Eastleigh are languishing in 19th with 39 points from the same number of games.
- McNulty has constructed a possession-based, control-oriented system in the manner of Manchester City or Real Madrid that is built on patient build-up play, positional rotation, width and pressure from the wing-backs.
- Emmanuel Dieseruvwe has been in blistering form of late with six goals in his last five games and has 22 goals in 30 league matches this term.
- Rochdale have won their last three games in a row, a run that included a 2-0 away win at Aldershot Town and back-to-back home wins.
Head-to-Head
Rochdale have won four of their last five encounters with Eastleigh, who have won once during that run.
Key Players
- Aaron Blair
- The Jamaican striker has 13 goals in 29 league games this term and two of Eastleigh’s last six.
- Emmanuel Dieseruvwe
- Emmanuel Dieseruvwe has been in blistering form of late with six goals in his last five games and has 22 goals in 30 league matches this term.
- His clinical finishing has been a big reason why Rochdale have surged up the table and they beat Eastleigh 2-0 in their last head-to-head.
Betting Insights
- We think the stats make a strong case for both teams to score, but at 1.8 it is too short a price to make our pick.
- Eastleigh have conceded an average of 1.82 goals per home game in the league, letting in 31 of them.
Prediction
We are taking the 1.47 odds available on a Rochdale away win because the visitors are just a cut above their hosts in every area of the field.
