Sports Mole previews Sunday’s League Two clash between Fleetwood Town and Harrogate Town, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Fleetwood Town can win consecutive League Two home fixtures for the first time all season as they end 2024 by hosting Harrogate Town on Sunday from Highbury Stadium.
On Boxing Day, the Cod Army jumped to 16th in the table thanks to a 2-0 victory over Chesterfield, while Harrogate are 20th, following a narrow 2-1 defeat at Grimsby Town.
Match preview
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With Pete Wild watching from the stands, his new Fleetwood players made a solid first impression on their new boss, winning for the sixth time domestically in 2024-25.
That ended the club’s six-match losing run across all competitions, with 15 of their 26 points this season coming at Highbury Stadium.
After 20 league games, the Fishermen have accumulated nine points fewer than they had at this stage of their previous League Two campaign in 2013-14.
Finding the back of the net at Highbury Stadium has been a tall task for them domestically thus far, with this side scoring fewer goals than anyone in League Two at home this season (11 in 11 matches).
They have lost their final football league fixture in a calendar year on three consecutive occasions, which is as many defeats as they suffered in their first such nine games to end a year.
Seven of their last nine football league meetings against sides from Yorkshire have ended in defeat for the club from Lancashire, including their previous one versus Doncaster Rovers earlier this month (4-2).
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A miserable month at Harrogate Town will end this weekend, with this side losing all five of their domestic encounters in December.
That poor form has seen them inch closer to the bottom of the table, currently just four points above the relegation line.
Their 18 goals scored are the second-fewest among sides in the fourth tier of English football this season, nine of which came away from home.
Simon Weaver‘s men have suffered three successive away defeats in League Two, and another one on Sunday would mark their longest losing run as the visitors in this competition since the 2022-23 season (four).
Since a 2-1 victory versus Oldham in 2020, the Yorkshire-based club have lost their final league game in a calendar year on three successive occasions, failing to score in each of those instances.
Sunday will be the first time they face Fleetwood in the football league, with Harrogate losing their three previous matches against them when they both featured in the Conference North.
Fleetwood Town League Two form:
Harrogate Town League Two form:
Harrogate Town form (all competitions):
Team News
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This weekend, the Cod Army could be without Zech Medley, who is recovering from an Achilles tendon injury, while Brendan Wiredu, Elliot Bonds and Carl Johnston were the three newcomers to their starting 11 on Boxing Day and Jay Lynch played the final 15 minutes in place of fellow goalkeeper David Harrington.
Matty Virtue netted the winner against Chesterfield, with Huddersfield Town loanee Kian Harratt adding an insurance marker three minutes from the end.
On Wednesday, Harrogate were missing Josh March through suspension, and Toby Sims was dropped to the bench, with James Daly and Stephen Duke-McKenna taking their places in the starting 11.
Duke-McKenna, meanwhile, had a consolation goal for his team late in the second half, his first of the 2024-25 League Two season.
Fleetwood Town possible starting lineup:
Lynch; Bennett, Bolton, Potter; Shaw; Broom, Patterson, Virtue, Mayor; Harratt, Graydon
Harrogate Town possible starting lineup:
Belshaw; Sims, O’Connor, Moon, Foulds; Sutton, Dooley; Folarin, M. Daly, Muldoon; J. Daly
We say: Fleetwood Town 1-0 Harrogate Town
Fleetwood are coming off a strong defensive showing and will be keen to impress their new boss once again, which is why we expect they will end the year positively.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
