Altrincham vs Rochdale Prediction: Home side to win close encounter

The live National League game this Tuesday night on TNT Sports, comes from the J Davidson Stadium as two of the play-off chasing sides meet in what on paper, looks to be potentially, a thoroughly entertaining encounter. Neil Monnery gives us his thoughts ahead of this one…

It would be pretty fair to say that the national interest in this division has waned somewhat from a year ago, when Hollywood-owned Wrexham were battling to win promotion. With their celebrity supporters and documentary series, it gave the National League a real sense of interest from the not-so-die-hards.

This year, Chesterfield are doing just as, if not better than, what Wrexham (and Notts County) did a year ago. Sadly though, the column inches just haven’t been there but for fans at this level, the dream of making it to League 2, where both the teams who went up in the summer are fighting for promotion, is still very much on.

Both Altrincham and Rochdale are in that gaggle of teams towards the bottom of the play-off positions. If the season ended today, both would make it. Only three points separate fifth spot and tenth though, so it is all to play for, even with the best part of 20 games remaining for all the contenders.

The home side have been very hit or miss in recent weeks. Last time out, they were taken down by top-of-the-table Chesterfield, thanks to an 83rd minute winner for Paul Cook’s side. In their previous league game, they came out on the right-side of a five-goal thriller with another promotion chasing side in Barnet.

Dropping five points though in the back-to-back games with Halifax between Christmas and New Year was another sign that they are a step below the top sides in the division.

For Rochdale, Tuesday’s game should be their first match in over a fortnight, having already been dumped out of the FA Trophy and seeing their game with Wealdstone at the weekend postponed.

They split the points in their back-to-back over Christmas and New Year with Fylde, with the home side winning 2-0 on both occasions. Last time out, they beat a Kidderminster team thanks to two second-half goals from Tyrese Sinclair and Ian Henderson.

Team News:

Lewis Barnes and Eddy Jones are set to play their first-games since the club announced that the defensive duo have signed contract extensions.

Club record signing Chris Conn-Clarke scored a delightful team goal in that defeat at Chesterfield and the 22-year-old is expected to lead the line again. He’s already bagged 14 so far this campaign, with only Paul McCallum, Nicke Kabamba and Will Grigg having scored more in the National League so far in the 23/24 season.

Rochdale will have full-back Finlay Armstrong available after the youngster extended his loan from Fleetwood by a further month. The 20-year-old has started in every game since joining the club.

Unlike their opponents on Tuesday night, the Dale have a plethora of attacking options, with both Ian Henderson and Kairo Mitchell having scored on ten occasions. Tyrese Sinclair has also bagged nine. Mitchell has missed the past seven weeks due to ankle-ligament damage and there seems to be no news about his potential return.

Match Odds:

The home side are available to back at 5/6 to come away with the three points. The draw has been priced-up at 5/2 and the away win has odds of 13/5.

Goals are very much expected, with both the Over 2.5 (4/6) and Both Teams to Score (4/7) very much at odds-on with us at Betfred.

Bet 1 - Over 2.5 Goals @ 4/6

I’m not going to be fancy with the first selection of the match. Altrincham's games have seen Over 2.5 come in for 70% of their National League games so far this season. Only Oxford City at 71% are higher.

It has been a winner in eight of their past nine and with the Live TV cameras rolling, you can bet that nerves will play an even higher factor than normal for defenders.

Bet 2 - Handicap Tie on the Handicap +1 Market @ 13/5

I think Altrincham win either 2-1 or 3-2 in a thoroughly entertaining game. Therefore, I can pick the home side to get the victory by just the solitary goal via this market, at what I think is a pretty-decent price.

Two of their previous three games at the J Davidson Stadium have resulted in a one-goal win for the home side and seven of their 11 victories in league-play have been by this margin. A bit of value deep in the market.

You can check out all the Football Betting Tips from the Betfred Insights team on our dedicated Football page...