Burton Albion vs Port Vale - 23/03/24 | Fast live stats

Burton Albion vs Port Vale Prediction & Preview

Preview

This Saturday, the Pirelli Stadium gears up for what promises to be a crucial encounter in the England League One as Burton Albion host Port Vale in their 40th round of the season. With both teams desperately needing points for different reasons, this match is more than just about pride; it's a fight for survival.

Burton Albion, under the guidance of Martin Paterson, find themselves perched at 19th in the league with 39 points. Their recent form hasn't been encouraging, having secured only 1 point from their last five games - a record mirrored by their opponents. The last time these two sides met at Pirelli Stadium on November 14th, Port Vale emerged victorious with a comfortable 2-0 win. A result Burton will be eager to overturn this time around.

Port Vale sits uncomfortably at 23rd place with just 33 points and also comes off from a string of disappointing performances identical to Burton's recent run. Managed by Darren Moore, they'll see this match as an opportunity to claw back some hope and possibly escape relegation zones.

Both teams have struggled upfront but have shown vulnerabilities at the back; Burton scores an average of only 0.6 goals per game while conceding an average of 1.2 goals. Port Vale slightly edges them out on scoring with an average of 0.7 goals per game but concedes almost two goals away from home on average.

The head-to-head record between these two is evenly split over their last five encounters - each has won twice along with one draw which indicates how evenly matched they are despite their positions on the table.

Bet

Considering both team's recent form and struggle to score combined with their defensive woes – especially when considering that both teams have scored less than one goal on average per game recently – it seems wise to focus on goal totals rather than outright winners here.

The odds suggest that Burton Albion are slight favorites given they're playing at home where historically results have been mixed for them against Port Vale who've managed two wins out of five previous meetings including winning last time they visited Pirelli Stadium.

However, bearing all factors in mind including how tight and potentially cautious this game could turn out given what’s at stake for both sides - Under 2.5 goals appears as a solid bet here especially considering it aligns well with both teams' low scoring nature and defensive frailties which could lead them to focus more not conceding rather than pushing aggressively forward making chances scarce.