In the League of Ireland on Friday night, Drogheda United take on St Patricks in what is a very important game in the relegation fight. Drogheda are currently bottom of the league, five points away from safety and the team who occupies the last safe spot is St Patricks.
A win for Drogheda would really tighten things up at the bottom of the league, while a victory for St Patricks would make life very tough for Drogheda to escape. We are not quite at the stage where this is a must win game, but we are edging closer in what looks like being a great finish to the Irish season. Drogheda need to find some form if they are to be involved at the finish and they will try and do that in this very important game.
The bookmakers have priced up the away team St Patricks as the favourites, but with a lot of the line for Drogheda, they are sure to push them hard.
Drogheda Form
Drogheda are on a huge downward spiral and last week’s loss made it fourteen games without a win for them. They started the season amazingly with six wins, although the 21 games since that have seen them pick up just two victories.
Drogheda are in a position where they can recover from, despite this record but they have to turn things around sooner rather than later, otherwise it will all be too late. This game offers them the chance to do that, St Patricks have only just recently climbed out of the relegation positions themselves and I really hope we see Drogheda put everything on the line in this one.
Drogheda have drawn four of their last seven home games, which gives me hope they can get something from this important clash.
St Patricks Form
As I have mentioned, St Patricks have just managed to pull themselves out of the relegation zone and they will be looking to build on that going forward. They have won their last two games, their first back to back wins since March and they will see this game as a great opportunity to make it three in a row. Their away form has been disappointing this season, winning just one away game all year and they are currently on a seven game streak without an away win.
Although they are on that streak, St Patricks do keep picking up points and they have drawn five of their last seven away games.
Team News
St Patricks have found their scoring touch recently, scoring five goals in their last two games. Those five goals have come from five different players, but it does show that they are finding a way to create opportunities going forward and because of that, I don’t expect to see any changes.
With such poor form in recent weeks, it has been no surprise to see Drogheda try and change things up a little in their games. I expect them to continue to do this until they find the winning formula they are looking for.
Top Betting Tips
This game is a very important game for the rest of the season and while a win would really help Drogheda, a loss would be a big blow to their survival chances. They have struggled in recent week, but the start of the season has shown that they do know how to win games in this league.
The one stat that really interests me about this game is this:
- Drgoheda have drawn four of their last seven home games
- St Patricks have drawn five of their last seven away games
With the stats pointing towards a draw, and with the game being a potentially tight affair due to the importance of it, I am happy to back the draw in this one and go with the stats. The draw is available at 3/1 with Betfred, which offers very good value, especially for those of you who really like to follow the stats when betting. The one thing about this game is that due to the importance of it, neither team will want to lose. That may lead to a very tight game, with not many chances and that also makes me lean towards the draw and back that.
With a lot at stake, I am going to follow the stats and hope for a tight game here, I will be backing the draw in this game, which is available at 3/1 with Betfred.