Blues head north in search of a goal

Wycombe Wanderers travel to Tranmere Rovers on Saturday for their 8th league game of the season.

The league table currently shows Wycombe in 22nd place with 5 points from 7 games and Tranmere in 12th spot with 11 points from 8 games.

Tranmere's Home Record....Won 1 - Drawn 2 - Lost 1 - Pts 5 (Rank-14)

Wycombe's Away Record.....Won 1 - Drawn 1 - Lost 2 - Pts 4 (Rank-15)


Last Five league Games

Tranmere.......DWDLL - 5 points (Rank-17)

Wycombe........WLLLL - 3 points (Rank-21)


Wycombe currently have an identical record to the last time they started a season in League One under former manager Peter Taylor.

Yes, it's that bad. Two years ago the Blues had collected 5 points from their opening 7 games and were 22nd in the table - just like they are today.

In fact, it's worse. Taylor's supposedly negative team had scored 8 league goals by now, whereas the current crop have only made the net bulge on 5 occasions (and two of those were penalties).

In case you're unsure, league goals are what happens when a team puts the ball between the posts and under the crossbar of a rival from the same division. Joel Grant might remember - he scored Wycombe's last league goal 6 hours and 40 minutes ago (not including stoppage times).

That's the bad news. The good news is that Platinum members are entitled to "buy one get one free" on all lunches at Scores Sports bar in September (non matchdays only mind).

Other fairly encouraging news is that Stuart Beavon (who scores goals in cups) will be back, as will veteran skipper Gareth Ainsworth who might at least inject a bit of fighting spirit.

Any further attempt to predict Gary Waddock's team selection would be futile. If the Blues' boss can drop Marvin McCoy on Tuesday despite his consistently excellent performances, anything is possible.

Rovers have lost twice in a row prompting their manager Les Parry to say: "I don't like consecutive defeats, it doesn't happen to us that often so we need to make sure that it doesn't continue."

Those travelling to Prenton Park on Saturday should be aware that their ticket will facilitate immediate entry to the stadium, as oppose to Adams Park where it's common practise to queue to purchase an invalid ticket, queue again to be refused entry at the turnstile, and finally queue for a third time to sort the problem out.

Here are some stats.......


Tranmere's last five games (All Competitions)

Lg1: Brentford (A).........Won 2-0

JPT: Port Vale (H)..........Won 1-1 (aet 4-2 on pens)

Lg1: Yeovil (H).............Drew 0-0

Lg1: Huddersfield (A)......Lost 0-2

Lg1: Carlisle (H).............Lost 1-2



Wycombe's last five games (All Competitions)

Ccp: Nottingham Forest (H)....Lost 1-4

Lg1: Huddersfield (A).............Lost 0-3

JPT: Bristol Rovers (H)...........Won 3-1

Lg1: Brentford (H)..................Lost 0-1

Lg1: Yeovil (A).......................Lost 0-1



Tranmere Goal Stats (10 games in all Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total)..........Lg: 8...Cups: 1...Total: 9

Goals Conceded (Total)......Lg: 8...Cups: 4...Total: 12

Goals Scored (Home).........Lg: 3...Cups: 1...Total: 4

Goals Conceded (Home).....Lg: 3...Cups: 1...Total: 4

Clean Sheets.....................Lg: 4...Cups: 0...Total: 4



Wycombe Goal Stats (10 games in all Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total)..........Lg: 5.....Cups: 7...Total: 12

Goals Conceded (Total)......Lg: 10...Cups: 8...Total: 18

Goals Scored (Away).........Lg: 4.....Cups: 0...Total: 4

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

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



Tranmere's Goal Scorers - (All Competitions)

Joss Labadie...........2

Robbie Weir............2

Lucas Akins.............1

John Welsh..............1

Ash Taylor...............1

Andy Robinson.........1

David Buchanan.......1



Wycombe's Goal Scorers - (All Competitions)

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

Joel Grant................2

Scott Donnelly..........2 (inc 1 pen)

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

James Tunnicliffe......1

Elliot Benyon............1 (inc 1 pen)

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



Tranmere Shooting (Top-3) - All Competitions

Joss Labadie............8 on-target...8 off-target...1 against woodwork

Adam McGurk..........6 on-target...6 off-target...1 against woodwork

Lucas Akins.............4 on-target....8 off-target...0 against woodwork



Wycombe Shooting (Top-3) - All Competitions

Scott Donnelly.........6 on-target...8 off-target...0 against woodwork

Joel Grant...............6 on-target...7 off-target...0 against woodwork

Andy Sandell...........3 on-target...6 off-target...0 against woodwork



Shooting (Club) - League Games Only

Tranmere.......41 on target...46 off target...1 against w'work (Rank-9)

Wycombe.......21 on target...30 off target...1 against w'work (Rank-24)



Previous Meetings

In 8 previous meetings there have been 5 wins for Tranmere, 2 for Wycombe and 1 draw.

At Prenton Park there have been 2 wins for Tranmere, 1 for Wycombe and 1 draw.

2001/02: LG1 Tranmere 1 Wycombe 1

2001/02: LG1 Wycombe 2 Tranmere 1

2002/03: LG1 Wycombe 1 Tranmere 3

2002/03: LG1 Tranmere 1 Wycombe 0

2003/04: LG1 Tranmere 2 Wycombe 1

2003/04: LG1 Wycombe 1 Tranmere 2

2009/10: LG1 Wycombe 0 Tranmere 1

2009/10: LG1 Tranmere 0 Wycombe 3



The Man In The Middle

Saturday's referee is Robert Madley from West Yorkshire who was promoted to the National List of Referees in 2010. Last season he took charge of Wycombe's 1-1 draw at Accrington Stanley. So far this season he's issued 0 red and 5 yellow cards in 5 games.



Prediction

Tranmere 1 Wycombe 0

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