The Saddlers are in League Two Friday night action as we travel to South Wales to face Newport County
Form
Newport County : LLWLL
Walsall : LWDLW
Previous meetings
The last meeting between the two sides was in February this year where it finished 1-1 at the Bescot. Isaac Hutchinson took the lead in the first half with a tidy finish from outside the box.
Ex Walsall right back Cameron Norman header from a corner in the second half gave the Exiles a point.
The New Year’s Day clash in 2022 is the most memorable game between the two sides in recent history.
A blockbuster of a game which was ended with a 95th minute rocket from Conor Wilkinson to secure a point.
Fan Insight – 1912 Exiles
Are you happy with your start to the season?
It’s been a mixed bag. We had a blistering start, admittedly against some of the league’s weaker teams, but October has heralded a much tougher set of fixtures and a sense of grim reality. We knew this season would be a struggle, and survival was always the aim. We just need to hang in until January when we can hopefully boost the squad with the little bit of quality we’re currently missing. Extensive injuries haven’t helped.
What have you been pleased with and what things do you need to improve going forward?
We’ve scored a lot more goals than we thought we would – but we’ve let in a lot at the other end too! We’ve got a lot more strings to our bow in terms of attacking threat and creativity, which has been a big bonus. But it’s seen us sacrifice our tight defensive unit that was the foundation of the team when we pulled ourselves out of the mire last season, and that needs to be the priority. Extensive injuries haven’t helped.
You sit 20th in the League, do you think Graham Coughlan is doing a good job?
We love a bit of Cocko! He gets the DNA of the club, and is an honest broker bringing much-needed stability. He’s worked wonders in the last twelve months to keep us up and then build a squad with the smaller budget in the entire Football League. Our recent run is a reflection of what he’s having to work with, but no other manager could do a better job given the budgetary constraints. Extensive injuries haven’t helped.
Which player should we look out for?
Will Evans, the Llangedwyn Eusebio. Having signed last season from the Cymru Prem, he’s made the step up really well and is the current top scorer. Industrious, strong, quick and with an eye for goal, he won’t stay here for long. Mad that two years ago he was playing part-time football and working on his family’s dairy farm.
What formation and style of football do you play?
We’ve generally played with four at the back and a midfield diamond in front of them this season, which has proved effective in providing the defence with a bit of extra support from uber-experienced holding midfielder Scott Bennett and allowing Aaron Wildig to support the front two (usually Evans and Omar Bogle), but it can mean we look vulnerable down the wings. We’ve occasionally experimented with three centre-halves and wing-backs, but it does require us to have the personnel to cover it. Extensive injuries haven’t helped.
Which Walsall player do you see as a threat?
Gone are the days when Walsall was the retirement home for elderly, crocked Newport players as part of Michael Flynn’s resettlement project. Instead, we can guarantee that Priestley Farquharson will play out of his skin and score against us on Friday night.
Score prediction?
We’ve not drawn many this season, so let’s say 1-1 in a result that both sides would probably take.
Team News and Predicted Line-Ups
Aramide Oteh has suffered a lengthy injury and will be out for the next 4-6 weeks.
David Okagbue and Priestly Farquharson are back in training. Okagbue is set to miss the clash on Friday and Sadler say Farquharson selection hopes are “touch and go”
Regarding Newport, the selections of Matthew Baker, Aaron Wildig and Will Evans are still uncertain for the game.
Predicted lineup Newport County (4-1-2-1-2) – Maxted; Bondswell, Delaney, Baker, McLoughlin; Bennett; Morris, Waite; Wildig; Bogle, Evans
Predicted lineup Walsall (4-2-3-1) – Evans; Riley, Williams, Daniels, Gordon; McEntee, Stirk; Knowles, Tierney, Hutchinson; Draper
My Thoughts
Walsall will be looking to carry on there impressive performance and result from Saturday against Gillingham on Friday night against Newport.
Newport have some good players going forward with a good attacking duo of Will Evans and Omar Bogle, who have scored a combined 14 goals. However they are quite weak defensively conceding 26 goals so far this season.
Both sides have leaked goals in so far this season so this one could be a higher scoring one.
I’m expecting Walsall to play on the front foot again. We have to build some consistency now and I’m hoping for a similar performance levels. If our attacking players such as Hutchinson, Draper and Tierney are on their game again, I can’t see anything but a Walsall win.
Theses are types of games we need to be winning if we want to compete towards the top of the division. But we’ve been here before many times saying this. Hopefully we can get a positive result.
Score prediction: Newport County 1-3 Walsall
UTS!
