Preview: Wycombe Wanderers v Hereford United

Wycombe Wanderers entertain Hereford United on Boxing day in their 20th league game of the season.


The league table currently shows Wycombe in 6th place with 31 points and Hereford in 24th spot with 15 points.

Wycombe's Home Record....Won 4 - Drawn 3 - Lost 3 - Pts 15 (Rank 11)

Hereford's Away Record......Won 3 - Drawn 1 - Lost 6 - Pts 10 (Rank 17)


Hereford have had a lean time of it so far this season with only 4 wins to their name after 23 games in all competitions.

The Edgar Street faithful have watched 13 home games, but their only success story is a 5-1 win over Hythe Town in the first-round of the FA Cup.

The Bulls' 3 league victories have all come away from home, but following a 1-0 win over Crewe at Gresty Road on the opening day of the season, they endured 12 games without success before a mini-revival at the end of October saw them win 4-3 at Northampton and thrash Stockport County 5-0 at Edgeley Park - something Wycombe fans can only dream about!

The mini-revival consisted of 7 games without defeat in all competitions, but recent results have been poor and they've lost their last three league games, all away from home.

In the second-round of the FA Cup, the Bulls drew 2-2 at home to Lincoln City, but all three attempts to stage the replay have failed due to the arctic weather conditions. When the tie is finally settled, the winners will travel to Adams Park in the next round.

Wycombe will be aiming to record their third consecutive home win and climb a couple of places in the table with several of their rivals out of action due to the big freeze.

We all know from bitter experience that there's no such thing as a gimme in league two, but a home game against the bottom team is one that a serious promotion contender should expect to win, and anything less than three points will be a bit of a festive disappointment for the Blues.

Lewis Montrose is suspended so Stuart Lewis is likely to continue in central midfield alongside Matt Bloomfield in what will probably be an unchanged line-up from the one that started the fine victory over Bury last time out.

Merry Christmas


Hereford's last five games (All Competitions)

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

LG2: Lincoln (A)...............Lost 1-3

LG2: Shrewsbury (A)........Lost 0-4

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

LG2: Bradford (A)............Lost 0-1


Wycombe's last five games (All Competitions)

LG2: Bradford City (H).....Won 1-0

LG2: Port Vale (A)............Lost 1-2

LG2: Torquay (H).............Lost 1-3

FAC: Chelmsford (H)........Won 3-1

LG2: Bury (H)..................Won 1-0



Hereford Goal Stats (23 games in all Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total)..........Lg: 19...Cups: 7...Total: 26

Goals Conceded (Total)......Lg: 36...Cups: 9...Total: 45

Goals Scored (Away).........Lg: 12...Cups: 0...Total: 12

Goals Conceded (Away).....Lg: 21...Cups: 0...Total: 21

Clean Sheets.....................Lg: 3....Cups: 0...Total: 3



Wycombe Goal Stats (24 games in all Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total)..........Lg: 28...Cups: 11...Total: 39

Goals Conceded (Total)......Lg: 21...Cups: 10...Total: 31

Goals Scored (Home).........Lg: 15...Cups: 7....Total: 22

Goals Conceded (Home).....Lg: 13...Cups: 9....Total: 22

Clean Sheets.....................Lg: 8.....Cups: 1....Total: 9



Hereford's Top Goal Scorers - (All Competitions)

Mathieu Manset.........7 (inc 1 pen)

Stuart Fleetwood.......5

Robert Purdie...........4

Three other player have each scored two goals.

Three other players have each scored one goal.



Wycombe's Top Goal Scorers - (All Competitions)

Scott Rendell............9 (inc 4 pens)

Kevin Betsy..............6

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

Stuart Beavon..........4

Gareth Ainsworth......3

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

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

Two other players have each scored two goals.

Two other players have each scored one goal.



Hereford Shooting (Top-3) - All Competitions

Mathieu Manset......19 on-target...25 off-target...0 against woodwork

Joe Colbeck...........18 on-target...15 off-target...0 against woodwork

Stuart Fleetwood....16 on-target...13 off-target...2 against woodwork



Wycombe Shooting (Top-3) - All Competitions

Kevin Betsy............13 on-target...25 off-target...1 against woodwork

Gareth Ainsworth....10 on-target...18 off-target...2 against woodwork

Andy Sandell..........12 on-target...10 off-target...1 against woodwork



Shooting (Club) - League Games Only

Hereford.........88 on target....87 off target...3 against w'work (Rank-21)

Wycombe.......74 on target...104 off target...8 against w'work (Rank-20)



League Form Guide

All Season

Hereford......Pld: 19...W: 3....D: 6...L: 10....Pts: 15...Pts per game: 0.79

Wycombe.....Pld: 19...W: 8....D: 7...L: 4.....Pts: 31...Pts per game: 1.63



Last Five league Games

Hereford...........DDLLL - 2 points (Rank-24)

Wycombe.......WWLLW - 9 points (Rank-5)



Last Five League Games (Away)

Hereford........WWLLL - 6 points (Rank-14)



Last Five League Games (Home)

Wycombe.....LDWLW - 7 points (Rank-13)



Against Top Half Opposition

Hereford......Pld: 9....Pts: 6......Pts per game: 0.66....(Rank-23)

Wycombe.....Pld: 9....Pts: 13....Pts per game: 1.44....(Rank-6)



Against Bottom Half Opposition

Hereford......Pld: 10....Pts: 9......Pts per game: 0.90...(Rank-24)

Wycombe.....Pld: 10....Pts: 18....Pts per game: 1.80....(Rank-9)



Previous Meetings

In 6 previous meetings there have been 3 wins for Wycombe, 1 for Hereford and 2 draws.

At Adams Park there have been 2 draws and 1 win for Wycombe.

1993/94 Lg2: Hereford 3 Wycombe 4

1993/94 Lg2: Wycombe 3 Hereford 2

2006/07 Lg2: Hereford 1 Wycombe 2

2006/07 Lg2: Wycombe 0 Hereford 0

2007/08 Lg2: Wycombe 2 Hereford 2

2007/08 Lg2: Hereford 1 Wycombe 0



The Man In The Middle

Sunday's referee is Dean Whitestone from Northamptonshire who was promoted to the National List of Referees in 2005. Last season he took charge of two Wycombe games - the 1-0 defeat at Southampton and the 1-1 draw at Southend. During the current campaign he's issued 6 red and 54 yellow cards in 19 games.



On this day in history - 26th December

Hereford.........Played 33.....Won 9 - Drawn 12 - Lost 12

Wycombe........Played 20.....Won 6 - Drawn 6 - Lost 8



Prediction

Wycombe 2 Hereford 1

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