Our prediction for this League 2 match:
Rochdale
Match Time & Date:
18/12/2021
16:00
Prediction: 0-2
Newport County
Saturday’s football game at Spotland Stadium pits together Rochdale and Newport, the two teams with entirely different ambitions in the 2021/2022 League Two season. The Dale are eager to secure yet another League Two survival, while the Exiles are eyeing promotion to the League One. The hosts suffered a dip in form, and seeing that they failed to win the previous six league fixtures, home win should not be considered.
Newport, on the other hand, aim to build on back-to-back wins over Sutton and Port Vale. The Exiles have been in a much better form of late than Rochdale, and we predict that the promotion-chasing visitors are going to pick up all three points from the match. A man to watch in the away team will be Dominic Telford, who has been scoring goals for fun of late.
Highlighted Player (Ryan McLaughlin):
Ryan McLaughlin is a Northern Ireland international who plays for Rochdale in the League One as a right-back. McLaughlin started his youth career at Glenavon back in 2009 and two years later he was spotted by Liverpool scouts, who persuaded him to join the Reds youth academy.
However, instead of playing for Liverpool at senior level, the Northern Ireland defender spent two seasons on loan at Barnsley and Aberdeen before moving to Oldham Athletic. After scoring three goals in 52 league appearances for the club, Ryan McLaughlin joined Rochdale in 2019 for an undisclosed fee.
McLaughlin made his League One debut with the Dale on January 26, 2019 in a 2-1 loss at Barnsley. Speaking of his international career, the pacey right-back made his Northern Ireland debut on May 31, 2014 in a friendly against Uruguay. It has to be noted that the Rochdale defender can be used as both left-back and right midfielder as well.
Highlighted Team (Newport County):
Nicknamed the Exiles, Newport County are a Welsh club that welcome their rivals at Rodney Parade. Despite being based in Wales, the club compete in the English League Two. Newport County’s home ground was built in 1904, and it has a capacity of 7,850 people. The club’s home colours are amber shirts and black shorts, with the team wearing black, gray and amber kit when playing on the travels.
Newport County did well to win Welsh Cup in 1980, with the team making it to the FA Trophy in 2012. In 2008 the Latics managed to win the FAW Premier Cup, with the team beating fellow Welsh club Llanelli 1-0 in the title game.
Newport County recorded their biggest league win against Merthyr Town (10-0) on April 10, 1930, with the team suffering their heaviest defeat to Newcastle United (0-13) on October 5, 1946. The club’s record league attendance is 24,268. The record was set on October 16, 1937, when Newport County hosted Cardiff City in a Football League Third Division South game.
