Preview
Right, so we've got Edinburgh City hosting Spartans in League Two on 10 October, and there's a bit of a story here that's worth a quick chat about.
The headline number that jumps out is this: Spartans have won both of their last two visits to Edinburgh City's ground. 0–3 in April, 1–3 in December. That's a pattern, and it's one that Edinburgh City's fans will be dreading as they look at the fixture list. Two clean away wins, both by a goal or more, and the home side managed just one goal between them.
Now, Edinburgh City will point to their recent form and say "look, we've won three of our last five." And fair enough — they beat Kelty Hearts 3–1 away three weeks ago and put seven past Stirling Albion at home four weeks ago. That 7–3 scoreline shows they've got the firepower when it clicks. But the last game was a 0–0 draw at Stranraer, and before that a 0–2 loss to Formartine United in the Challenge Cup. So the form isn't as clean as it first looks — two games without a goal in the last two outings.
Spartans, for their part, are in a bit of a tussle. They lost 0–2 at home to Kelty Hearts just seven days ago, and in their last five games they've failed to score in three of them. But they did beat Dundee II 1–0 at home two weeks ago and put five past Forfar Athletic at home four weeks ago, so they're capable of scoring when the conditions are right. Their away record over 20 games is 7 wins, 5 draws, 8 losses, and they average 1.65 goals per game on the road.
The head-to-head over the last 12 months tells a story of a tight, low-scoring affair. Four meetings: two draws (2–2 and 0–0), two Spartans wins (0–3 and 1–3). Two of those four had at least one team failing to score. The 0–0 in February and the 0–3 in April both had a blank sheet for Edinburgh City. That's the pattern that keeps nagging at me.
Looking at the broader numbers: Edinburgh City at home over 20 games have seen both teams score in just 8 of those 20. Spartans away over 20 games have had both teams score in 9 of 20. In their last five games, Spartans failed to score in three of them, and Edinburgh City failed to score in two. The last 10 for both sides show a similar lean — Edinburgh City had 5 games where at least one team scored zero, Spartans had 7.
The counter-argument is that the 7–3 win at home and the 3–1 away win show Edinburgh City can open up, and the 2–2 draw in August at Spartans's ground suggests these two can produce goals when the game gets loose. The market has the over 2.5 at 1.57, which tells you the bookies see a decent chance of three-plus goals. But I'm looking at the last five for both sides and the head-to-head, and the low-scoring pattern is the one that keeps coming back.
Key Points:
- Spartans won both recent visits to Edinburgh City's ground (0–3, 1–3)
- Two of the last four head-to-head meetings saw at least one team fail to score
- Spartans failed to score in 3 of their last 5; Edinburgh City in 2 of 5
- Edinburgh City's home record: 12 of 20 games saw at least one team score zero
- Both teams' last 10 games lean towards under 2.5 (7/10 and 4/10 respectively)
My tip: Both teams not to score.
