Preview: Gillingham v Wycombe

Wycombe Wanderers travel to Gillingham on Tuesday for their 15th league game of the season


The league table currently shows Wycombe in 6th place with 22 points and Gillingham in 18th spot with 15 points.

Gillingham's Home Record is.......Won 3 - Drawn 3 - Lost 1 (Rank-10)

Wycombe's Away Record is........Won 3 - Drawn 4 - Lost 0 (Rank-3)


In the wake of Saturday's disappointing 2-2 draw at home to Lincoln City, the Chairboys are off on their travels again hoping to continue the superb away form which has kept them in contention while their home results have sucked.

Lying in wait are a Gillingham side with the opposite problem. If the Wycombe fans think their home form leaves a lot to be desired, they should take a look at the Gills' away record.

The Kent side are without a win in their last 34 away games in all competitions - and that's got to hurt.

Sadly, they're pretty good on their home turf at Priestfield Stadium where they only lost 3 league games last season despite being relegated along with the Blues.

The Gills' home form this season is equally strong, and they've banked 11 points from 3 wins and 2 draws in their last five home games.

One encouraging statistic is that the Gills have only scored 7 goals in their last 7 home games, but then again Lincoln's previous inability to score in a brothel didn't stop them whacking two past the Blues on Saturday.

Travelling Wycombe fans obsessed enough to brave the M25 during rush hour and pay over the odds to sit on rickety scaffolding without a roof, will watch Gills' top scorer Chris Palmer and midfielder Danny Spiller with interest, both players having donned the famous blue quarters in recent years.

Wycombe's former Gillingham defender Leon Johnson would no doubt relish the prospect of facing his former club, but that looks unlikely with manager Gary Waddock apparently seeing him as fourth-choice centre-half much to the Blues' fans' bewilderment. There may however be one change made to a defence that failed to impress in Saturday's game.

It would be no surprise to see big Dave Winfield drafted in to take care of Gills' man-mountain Adebayo Akinfenwa - the Medway pie eating champ who looks almost as wide as he is tall. If those two crash to the ground at the same time, let's hope it's nowhere near the scaffolding.

Other than that, change is unlikely. Waddock has said Matt Bloomfield won't be risked, which almost certainly means Scott Davies keeping his place in midfield alongside Lewis Montrose, Kevin Betsy and Gareth Ainsworth.

Ben Strevens and Stuart Beavon were among the few players to emerge from Saturday's game with any credit and both are likely to keep their place against the Gills.

This is another tough trip for Wycombe as they attempt to stay within touch of the early leaders, and although Waddock says he doesn't mind where the points come from, life would be a whole lot easier if they started winning their home games instead of having to rely on victory at difficult places like Gillingham.


Gillingham's last five games (All Competitions)

LG2: Accrington (A).........Lost 4-7

LG2: Stockport (H)..........Won 2-1

LG2: Port Vale (A)..........Drew 0-0

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

LG2: Northampton (A)......Lost 1-2



Wycombe's last five games (All Competitions)

JPT: Colchester (A)..........Won 2-0

LG2: Burton (A)...............Won 2-1

LG2: Chesterfield (H)........Lost 1-2

LG2: Rotherham (A).........Won 4-3

LG2: Lincoln (H)..............Drew 2-2



Gillingham Goal Stats (16 games in all Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total)..........Lg: 17...Cups: 1...Total: 18

Goals Conceded (Total)......Lg: 20...Cups: 4...Total: 24

Goals Scored (Home).........Lg: 7.....Cups: 0...Total: 7

Goals Conceded (Home).....Lg: 4.....Cups: 0...Total: 4

Clean Sheets.....................Lg: 5.....Cups: 1...Total: 6



Wycombe Goal Stats (16 games in all Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total)..........Lg: 22...Cups: 3...Total: 25

Goals Conceded (Total)......Lg: 16...Cups: 2...Total: 18

Goals Scored (Away).........Lg: 10...Cups: 2...Total: 12

Goals Conceded (Away).....Lg: 6.....Cups: 0...Total: 6

Clean Sheets.....................Lg: 5.....Cups: 1...Total: 6



Gillingham's Top Goal Scorers - (All Competitions)

Chris Palmer.............5 (inc 1 pen)

Cody McDonald.........4

Adebayo Akinfenwa...4 (inc 1 pen)

Danny Spiller............2

Mark Bentley.............2

Jack Payne................1



Wycombe's Top Goal Scorers - (All Competitions)

Andy Sandell............5

Kevin Betsy..............4

Matt Bloomfield.........3

Ben Strevens............3

Scott Rendell............3 (inc 3 pens)

Lewis Montrose.........2

Scott Davies.............2

Three other players have each scored one goal.



Gillingham Shooting (Top-3) - All Competitions

Cody McDonald......12 on-target....13 off-target....0 against woodwork

Adeb'o Akinfenwa...10 on-target....15 off-target....3 against woodwork

Danny Spiller.........13 on-target....10 off-target....0 against woodwork



Wycombe Shooting (Top-3) - All Competitions

Kevin Betsy...........10 on-target...18 off-target....1 against woodwork

Andy Sandell.........10 on-target.....7 off-target....1 against woodwork

Ben Strevens...........9 on-target.....8 off-target....1 against woodwork



Shooting (Club) - League Games Only

Gillingham.....70 on target...79 off target...4 against w'work (Rank-8)

Wycombe......55 on target...79 off target...7 against w'work (Rank-17)



League Form Guide

All Season

Gillingham......Pld: 14...W: 3...D: 6...L: 5...Pts: 15...Pts per game: 1.07

Wycombe.......Pld: 14...W: 5...D: 7...L: 2...Pts: 22...Pts per game: 1.57



Last Five league Games

Gillingham........LWDDL - 5 points (Rank-21)

Wycombe......WWLWD - 10 points (Rank-3)



Last Five League Games (Home)

Gillingham......WWDWD - 11 points (Rank-5)



Last Five League Games (Away)

Wycombe.......DDWWW - 11 points (Rank-2)



Against Top Half Opposition

Gillingham.....Pld: 5....Pts: 6....Pts per game: 1.20....(Rank-10)

Wycombe......Pld: 6....Pts: 8....Pts per game: 1.33....(Rank-6)



Against Bottom Half Opposition

Gillingham....Pld: 9....Pts: 9......Pts per game: 1.00....(Rank-22)

Wycombe.....Pld: 8....Pts: 14....Pts per game: 1.75....(Rank-10)



Previous Meetings

In 19 previous meetings there have been 7 wins for Gillingham. 5 for Wycombe and 7 draws.

At Priestfield Stadium there have been 5 wins for Gillingham, 1 for Wycombe and 4 draws.


1932/33 FAC: Gillingham 1 Wycombe 1

1993/94 LG2: Gillingham 0 Wycombe 1

1995/96 FAC: Gillingham 1 Wycombe 0

1996/97 LG1: Gillingham 1 Wycombe 0

1997/98 LG1: Gillingham 1 Wycombe 0

1998/99 LG1: Gillingham 3 Wycombe 0

1999/00 LG1: Gillingham 2 Wycombe 2

2005/06 FLT:: Gillingham 2 Wycombe 2

2008/09 LG2: Gillingham 1 Wycombe 1

2009/10 LG1: Gillingham 3 Wycombe 2



The Man In The Middle

Tuesday's referee is James Linington from the Isle of Wight who was promoted to the National List of Referees in 2008. He's previously taken charge of two Wycombe games, the 1-1 draw at home to Morecambe in August 2008 and the 1-1 draw at home to Southend United in August 2009. During the current campaign he's issued 3 red and 36 yellow cards in 12 games.



On this day in history - 2nd November

Gillingham.......Played 15...Won 5 - Drawn 8 - Lost 2

Wycombe........Played 6.....Won 3 - Drawn 1 - Lost 2



Prediction

Gillingham 1 Wycombe 1

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