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Bradford v Rotherham
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Kick Off: Tuesday 19th November at 19:30
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Competition: EFL Trophy
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Watch Live: Sky Sports+
Bradford and Rotherham return to EFL Trophy action with the prospect of winning their respective group being the prize on offer. Finishing top would ensure being seeded when the Round of 32 draw is made. However, both at least have the comfort of knowing that no matter what happens they’ll be in the draw regardless.
The situation is simple for Rotherham in that merely avoiding defeat will secure their place as group winners. This is also taking into account any potential penalty shootout as even losing in that and not securing the additional one point couldn’t see Bradford bypass them into first position.
It is also pretty obvious what Bradford have to do as only victory inside 90 minutes will be enough to overtake their opponents and secure a seeded spot in the next round draw.
Although not a league encounter, there should be an added layer of competitiveness to this battle considering it is West Yorkshire versus South Yorkshire. It is also the first head-to-head meeting since January 2018.
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This game really could be anything and it is not so easy to predict. However, what we can be pretty confident on is that both teams will make changes for this game. Competition rules dictate who they can select from the start but the fact Bradford and Rotherham are already through does slightly devalue the importance of this. How important is being seeded in the next round to them?
The Rotherham manager is under some pressure on a count of their form across the season. Losing against a lower-lower side would not help his case. That being said, he could take on the mentality of putting everything into the league campaign, as that is what their season will be defined by.
Four of Rotherham’s last five in all competitions went under 2.5 goals and without both teams scoring, so they have form in being involved in tight matches recently. Tuesday’s home team have also seen three of their previous four league encounters contain two goals or fewer. This means they too have been a part of close clashes of late, so the theme for this EFL Trophy tie could be set before it has even begun.
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Although multiple changes are expected within each eleven, Bradford are the ones that need to win this game to try and win the group. They’ve also named relatively strong teams in the competition so far, whereas the feeling is Rotherham could do without this game to a degree.
The away side did not have a match at the weekend but the manager still had them in for training as they try to recover from their poor recent run. Therefore, they may be a little rusty on a count of not playing for ten days. The Bantams are also at home, where they’ve lost only once inside 90 minutes all season in league and cup.
It is also difficult to ignore Rotherham’s major issues away from home, which have lasted for some years. Victory at Cambridge last month at the time ended a 693-day run to win on the road, and they’ve not backed it up with another away success since.
👕 Bradford v Rotherham Predicted XI
🔍 Bradford v Rotherham Key Players
🔴 Jordan Hugill
The Rotherham striker is the joint-highest top scorer in this competition with four goals. He clearly thrives on being handed an opportunity in this tournament having had limited league game time over the campaign. Despite coming under criticism from fans, they can never say he lets them down in this competition. His four goals came in the form of two braces in their last two EFL Trophy encounters.
📂 Bradford v Rotherham Cheat Sheet
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💻 Bradford v Rotherham Form and Tactics
Bradford extended their League Two winless run to three with Saturday’s 1-1 away draw at Colchester, having conceded in the 99th minute. That was only the third goal all season in league action that they’ve conceded beyond the 75th minute. They do though remain unbeaten in the league when opening the scoring; winning five and drawing two.
The Bantams have at least discovered a love for the cup competitions. This team have not lost inside 90 minutes in all four cup ties this season across FA Cup, League Cup and EFL Trophy. Two of those were lost on penalties, which suggests they’d rather get the job done before that point on Tuesday.
City are ranked sixth in their league in terms of average corners earned by game with 5.15. Partly utilising this, they’ve scored a total of six goals from set pieces in League Two action, with only Chesterfield, Port Vale, Grimsby and Carlisle netting more via these routes. On the negative side, collecting the fifth-most yellow cards in the league proves they struggle to keep their cool. Bradford need to be wary of that in this Yorkshire derby.
Rotherham’s return of just one victory in their last six in all competitions has heaped the pressure on manager Steve Evans. There were no real hard luck stories within this as they lost the xG battle in four of those six, and even the two they won were very tight with the opposition. Despite this, they only averaged 1.50 cards per game in this period, proving that United can keep their emotions under control.
Although struggling in the league, The Millers will have taken solace from their displays in the EFL Trophy. They’ve won two from two this season, which has taken their club record in this competition to ten unbeaten after they lifted the trophy in 2021/22. Striker Jordan Hugill especially enjoys this tournament having scored four across both EFL Trophy encounters this season. These account for 80% of his overall goals for the season in all competitions.
Manager Evans will point towards a lack of cutting edge in front of goal as the main reason for their under-performance so far. They are actually ranked seventh in League One in terms of xG, yet they are heavily under-achieving as this figure suggests they should’ve recorded roughly six more goals than they have done.
Rotherham are also the fifth-most fouled side at their level as well with 11.07 per match, meaning they perhaps struggle to build up momentum.
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🏁 Bradford v Rotherham Ref Watch
- Referee: Jacob Miles
- Miles will officiate his 14th game of the season in this Tuesday night encounter, where he may potentially issue his first red card of the season having yet to do so in 2024/25 so far.
- This official is averaging 4.31 cards per fixture in the current campaign. This is slightly up on his average from the previous season, which was 4.05 cards per contest.
- Although only refereeing 13 matches, Miles has still awarded a total of four penalties in that period. This translates as a penalty given every 3.25 games and he hasn’t pointed to the spot in any of his last three.
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* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.
* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.
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