Harrogate Town vs Wrexham Prediction: Red Dragons can exact revenge

Harrogate Town and Wrexham have good recent records at this stage of the FA Cup, but something will have to give when the two square off in the first round at Wetherby Road on Sunday (15:30, live on ITVX).

Read on for my Harrogate Town vs Wrexham predictions, including the latest match odds and team news.

Harrogate Town vs Wrexham Odds

Hosts Harrogate Town are not expected to repeat their FA Cup first-round win of 2021 as they are on offer at 9/2, with the draw at 11/4, while Wrexham are strong 4/7 favourites to exact their revenge.

Goals are expected with over 2.5 priced at 8/11 and over 3.5 at 7/4, while both teams to score is 8/11.

Team News

The hosts will be without defender Liam Gibson and midfielder George Thomson, while right-back Toby Sims has returned to training and could be available again after missing last weekend's defeat at Notts County.

Jack Marriott and Steven Fletcher have been sidelined for the last two matches for Wrexham and could miss out again, although whether either would have displaced Ollie Palmer or Paul Mullin is open to question.

Still, Phil Parkinson may opt to rotate his squad as he looks to keep his promotion-chasing squad fresh, with recent signing Matty James, Andy Cannon, Sebastian Revan and Eoghan O'Connell hopeful of a start.

Wrexham to win to nil @ 13/8

It was not so long ago that these two sides were locking horns in the National League, although there has been a contrast in both clubs' rise up the footballing pyramid and Wrexham's might not be done just yet.

After well-documented back-to-back promotions to reach League One, the Red Dragons have a third realistically in their sights, lying third in the table after 13 games - admittedly one game more than the two sides above them.

While some may see the FA Cup as something of a distraction to their chief target of reaching the Championship, the last two seasons have shown that Wrexham welcome the challenge, having reached the fourth round in both.

Harrogate find themselves in 17th place after 14 games and, while there is a degree of ruggedness about their play that means they are hard to beat, a distinct lack of goals means that one is often enough.

Since beating Bradford 2-1 at the end of September, Simon Weaver's men have scored just three goals in their next seven games, losing three of those games 1-0 including each of their last two, and winning just once.

The last two defeats have been to top-three sides Port Vale and Notts County, but they are losses all the same, and the step up that Wrexham represent looks to be a bridge too far for a side that has scored the second fewest goals in League Two with a mere 11.

Wrexham have lost only twice in League One, scoring 21 goals and conceding just 10 so far, and they have the quality to get the job done with not too many concerns.

Under 2.5 goals @ 1/1

Harrogate's struggles in front of goal play into a low-scoring game, particularly as they have made up for that deficiency by being a tough nut to crack.

Although Wrexham have greater quality, the Sulphurites' home advantage lends itself to the under mark as Wrexham have not been as strong on the road as at home, scoring only six of their 21 league goals away from the Racecourse Ground.

They have only conceded six also, so they can be expected to book their place with a solid if unspectacular win, particularly at odds of 1/1, while a 2-0 correct score is also appealing at 7/1.