• Blackpool (9th) finished five places and 10 points above Stevenage (14th) last term

• Blackpool’s goal difference was +20 better than Stevenage’s over the course of the 2024/25 League One season

• Steve Bruce has won 40% of his matches in charge of Blackpool in League One, and Alex Revell managed a 33% win percentage last season

Blackpool and Stevenage will each be hoping to get their seasons off to flying starts in this meeting at Bloomfield Road.

🟠 Blackpool Aiming to Continue Creative Attacking Ways

Blackpool were a force in attack last season, with the joint second highest number of goals behind Birmingham City, level with Leyton Orient.

They did slightly overperform their expected goals (xG) data over that time, scoring 72 goals from an expected 65, but this is within the realms of realistic variation and not an overperformance to be concerned about.

That xG value stood the Seasiders in good company, as the third best in the league; it was clearly the defensive side of the game that prevented Blackpool from challenging more seriously for promotion.

⚪ Stevenage Aiming for Third-Tier History

Stevenage are making a good fist of establishing themselves as a third-tier club. For much of their history, this would’ve seemed a massive overreach of their size, but canny recruitment, a suitable game style, and good coaching have stabilised them in League One, and this will be their third consecutive campaign at this level.

If they are able to survive this season, it would be a record for the longest third-tier stay in the club’s history.

📊 Blackpool v Stevenage H2H

Blackpool have won two of the last four meetings, which have occurred in the last two League One seasons. The teams were two divisions apart as recently as 2022/23 as Blackpool competed in the Championship whilst Stevenage were a League Two club.

There has been no real pattern to establish in how the four recent meetings have panned out. Blackpool’s wins have been quite heavy, 3-0 at home in 2023 and 3-1 away last time out in April this year, but there have also been two tight encounters in between, a 0-0 and a 1-0 Stevenage win.

One thing to note is that the 3-1 win last time was inspired by a Rob Apter hat-trick, Apter has since moved into the Championship with Charlton, so he is not available to be the scourge of Stevenage on this occasion.

Football Predictions at Andy's Bet Club

You can find all of our Expert Football Predictions here, and keep up with all of Andy’s Tips and EFL Betting Tips throughout the week. We also have Gem Bets and Accumulator Tips in store.

For Saturday's football, we also have EFL Accumulator Tips, an SPFL Accumulator, and Player Shots Predictions. Look out for our Plymouth v Barnsley Predictions and Cardiff v Peterborough Tips, too.

We’re also keeping tabs on the best welcome offers at this time of year, with this bet365 Sign Up Offer a strong one to add to your roster. We also recommend the Paddy Power Sign Up Offer as one of the best on the market. You can find a full list of New Bookmaker Offers here.

* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.