Preview: Wycombe Wanderers v Macclesfield Town

Wycombe Wanderers entertain Macclesfield Town on Saturday in their 6th league game of the season.

The table currently shows Wycombe in 9th place with 7 points, while Macclesfield occupy 23rd spot with 2 points, both teams having played 5 games.

Wycombe Home Record.........Won 1...Drawn 1...Lost 0

Macclesfield Away Record.......Won 0...Drawn 1...Lost 1

Wycombe Wanderers will be looking to give their season a shot in the arm with a win against Macclesfield Town at Adams Park on Saturday.

The Chairboys have recorded just one victory so far this season, a 2-0 win over Morecambe at Adams Park on the opening day of the season. The following four games have all ended in draws which leaves the Wanderers unbeaten but down in 9th place in the early League Two table.

Macclesfield Town meanwhile are still searching for their first league win of the season and are currently second from bottom of the table with two points.

Silkmen boss Gary Simpson has said that he is considering a change to a more defensive formation, utilising a 4-2-3-1 system favoured by the Netherlands, Germany and Brazil in South Africa. The new formation was trialled in a 1-0 reserve victory over Bury in midweek.

Simpson said: "I`m not going to say we`re not worried that we`ve got two points from five games because we are worried. At the end of the day we`ve tried to play a bit open and we haven`t got the goals, or the points that we think we should have got. We might have to go now to blocking it up a bit."

His opposite number meanwhile has problems at the other end of the pitch with only four league goals scored in five games and first choice strikers Scott Rendell and Ben Strevens struggling to find the net. They are being put under pressure by Jon-Paul Pittman and Stuart Beavon who changed the game when they were introduced from the bench at Accrington last weekend.

Both players followed that performance with goals in a 4-0 reserve friendly win over Bristol Rovers in midweek. Youngster Matt McClure also bagged a brace in the match and will champing at the bit to get his first taste of first team football and show everyone what he can do. Central defender Alan Bennett has returned to training after recovering from a hamstring injury and will be in the squad to face the Silkmen. Midfielder Ian Westlake is doubtful with an ankle injury.

Expectations at Adams Park are high this season and none more so than on Saturday afternoon when the majority of the home crowd will be expecting a victory. Anything less will be considered a disappointment and the pressure will increase ahead of the much anticipated visit to Aldershot Town.

Failure to win might also tempt Gary Waddock to venture into the loan market with persistent rumours that he is looking to bring Reading midfielder Scott Davies back for a second spell at Adams Park.

Macclesfield's season so far

LG2: Stevenage (A)...........Drew 2-2

Lcp: Leicester (A)..............Lost 3-4

LG2: Shrewsbury (H)..........Lost 0-1

LG2: Accrington (A)...........Lost 0-3

LG2: Chesterfield (H).........Drew 1-1

JPT:: Morecambe (H).........Won 1-0

LG2: Stockport (H).............Lost 0-2



Wycombe's season so far

LG2: Morecambe (H).......Won 2-0

Lcp: Millwall (H)..............Lost 1-2 (AET)

LG2: Stockport (A).........Drew 0-0

LG2: Oxford (H).............Drew 0-0

LG2: Northampton (A)....Drew 1-1

LG2: Accrington (A).......Drew 1-1



Macclesfield Goal Stats (7 games in all Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total).........7

Goals Conceded (Total).....13

Goals Scored (Away)........5

Goals Conceded (Away)....9

Clean Sheets....1



Wycombe Goal Stats (6 games in all Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total).........5

Goals Conceded (Total).....4

Goals Scored (Home)........3

Goals Conceded (Home)....2

Clean Sheets....3



Macclesfield Top Goal Scorers - (All Competitions)

Nathaniel Brown.......2

Vinny Mukendi.........2

Tyrone Barnett.........1

Emile Sinclair..........1

Colin Daniel.............1



Wycombe's Top Goal Scorers - (All Competitions)

Jon-Paul Pittman........1

Ben Strevens.............1

Andy Sandell.............1

Matt Bloomfield..........1

Scott Rendell.............1 (inc 1 pen)



Macclesfield Shooting (Top-3) - All Competitions

Tyrone Barnett......5 on-target...15 off-target...0 against woodwork

Vinny Mukendi.......3 on-target....4 off-target...0 against woodwork

Emile Sinclair.........2 on-target....5 off-target...0 against woodwork



Wycombe Shooting (Top-3) - All Competitions

Kevin Betsy...........2 on-target...9 off-target...0 against woodwork

Gareth Ainsworth...2 on-target...5 off-target...0 against woodwork

Ben Strevens.........4 on-target...1 off-target...1 against woodwork



Shooting (Club) - All Competitions

Macclesfield...24 on target...34 off target...0 against w'work (Rank-19)

Wycombe......18 on target...27 off target...3 against w'work (Rank-24)



League Form Guide

All Season

Macclesfield..Pld: 5...W: 0...D: 2...L: 3...Pts: 2...Pts per game: 0.4

Wycombe.....Pld: 5...W: 1...D: 4...L: 0...Pts: 7...Pts per game: 1.4



Last Five league Games

Macclesfield........DLLDL - 2 points

Wycombe.........WDDDD - 7 points



Previous Meetings

In 12 previous meetings there have been 7 wins for Wycombe, 3 for Macclesfield and 2 draws.

At Adams Park there have been 4 wins for Wycombe, 1 for Macclesfield and 1 draw.

1998/99 LG1: Wycombe 3 Macclesfield 0

2004/05 LG2: Wycombe 1 Macclesfield 1

2005/06 LG2: Wycombe 4 Macclesfield 5

2006/07 LG2: Wycombe 3 Macclesfield 0

2007/08 LG2: Wycombe 2 Macclesfield 1

2008/09 LG2: Wycombe 4 Macclesfield 0



The Man In The Middle

Saturday's referee is Pat Miller from Bedfordshire who was promoted to the National List of Referees in 2005. His most recent Wycombe game was last season's 1-0 defeat at home to Norwich. During the current campaign he's issued 11 yellow and 0 red cards in 4 games.


On this day in history - 11th September

Macclesfield.......Played 4 - Won 2 - Drawn 0 - Lost 2

Wycombe..........Played 4 - Won 4 - Drawn 0 - Lost 0



Prediction

Wycombe Wanderers 2 Macclesfield Town 0

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