MATCH PREVIEW | Swindon Town vs Grimsby Town

Swindon host Grimsby Town this Saturday. The hosts remain unbeaten in League Two but suffered a disappointing draw away to ten-man Morecambe last week. Swindon will be looking to bounce back and close the gap down to League Two leaders Notts County.

Town will be without Benn Ward who missed the game against Morecambe because of a minor injury but aside from Ward, Swindon will have their strongest eleven available for Grimsby. 

The Mariners have lost their last two games and Swindon will be hoping to inflict another loss on Grimsby. 

Swindon scoring for fun

Swindon are the top scorers in the league, finding the net 24 times. 15 of these goals have come at home with only Wrexham having more home goals. When we last looked at the spread of goals within the team Jake Young had a large gap to the second-highest scorer. 

This gap has begun to close with Dan Kemp having now scored six goals. Kemp is having an incredible start to the season, having already provided 10 goals and assists putting him just one goal contribution away from matching last season's record in just 8 games.

Charlie Austin refound his shooting boots ending a short dry spell with goals in back-to-back games. Rushian Hepburn-Murphy has been instrumental in killing games off, scoring twice off of the bench in impressive displays. 

The remaining goals have been spread throughout the team with Frazer Blake-Tracy, Jake Cain, Tyrese Shade and Udoka Godwin-Malife all scoring. 

Swindon have shown how ruthless their strike partnership of Young and Austin is but looking at the spread of goals shows Swindon are dangerous from all over the pitch, with defenders and midfielders getting in on the goals too.

Opposition analysis

Grimsby have had a very inconsistent start to the season, they have yet to get a win away from home and have really struggled to hold onto leads. The Mariners have held a lead and not won on five occasions already this season. 

Both Swindon and Grimsby come flying out of the gates with both sides having a trend of scoring goals early. The opening 30 minutes will promise to be a high-intensity game as both sides look to get control of the game. 

Grimsby have been relying heavily on summer signing Abo Eisa, the forward has scored five of Grimsby’s eleven goals so far this season. 

The game plan for Swindon should be to weather the storm, Grimsby have scored nine of their eleven league goals in the first half; only being able to find the net on two occasions in the second half. 

Grimsby’s lack of second-half goals should play into Swindon's hands who have goals from the bench that can punish Grimsby late on if needs be.  

Head-to-head

The head-to-head record makes for good reading from a Swindon perspective. Town are unbeaten against Grimbsy in the last five games between the two. The last time out saw Swindon annihilate the Mariners 5-0. 

The last Grimsby win over Swindon came in 2018, and since their 1-1 draw in February 2019, Swindon have come out on top in every meeting since. Town will be looking to make it a fifth win in a row and current form would put Swindon as heavy favourites. 

Swindon League Form:
W D W D W

Grimsby League Form: 
D W D L L

Match Prediction:

We predict that Swindon will cruise past Grimsby, the first half may be a challenge due to how often Grimsby have scored in the opening 45 minutes. If Swindon weathers this storm or even flexes their muscles and takes a lead in at the halftime break, then they should comfortably win. 

Swindon Town 4-1 Grimsby Town