Rochdale v Macclesfield Town
Football : England : Coca Cola League Two
Saturday 5th December 2009 – Kickoff 15:00

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Rochdale (1st)

Rochdale have now moved one point clear of previous leaders AFC Bournemouth and, perhaps more importantly, have a far superior goal difference (+18) which could be a determining factor later on in the season.

For now though, they will need to remain focused in the job in hand and that’s another three points at home when they take on a Macclesfield outfit who are currently sat in the lower reaches of League Two.

Dale have recovered from their slight blip a few matches ago which saw them eliminated from the FA Cup after a replay against Luton Town and then slip up at home losing 2-3 to Chesterfield.

Since then though, they have bounced back in fine fashion winning their last three league games on the trot – 2-1 at Dagenham, 2-1 home win over Notts County and then a 3-0 demolition away at Bradford City.

Rochdale's home record stands at 6-0-3 17:10 which is by no means excellent, and if they want to retain top spot they will need to improve these stats with a win against Macclesfield.

A return to form of striker Chris Dagnall( 12 goals and 7 assists) has been the catalyst for their immediate recovery, and players like striker Chris O`Grady (8 goals) and midfielder Will Buckley (3 goals) have also made an impact on their recent performances.

Macclesfield Town (19th)

Macclesfield Town are a team on the slide and boss Keith Alexander will be keen to halt a run of five matches without a win when they make the trip to Spotland Stadium.

However, it should be noted that four of the last five Macclesfield matches were drawn, but they’ve only managed one goal in their last three matches.

Town’s saving grace so far is that they have beaten the sides around them, such as 1-0 win at Darlington & 2-1 at Cheltenham Town, while they earned a valuable point at Aldershot Town 0-0 recently.

However, Macclesfield were sent packing at Chesterfield earlier in the season, getting beaten 4-1 and I believe Chesterfield & Rochdale are pretty similar in strength.

Macclesfield’s away record isn’t bad; 2-4-2 and an 8:!0 goal difference and the main threats are likely to come from strikers Reneil Sappleton (4 goals), Matthew Tipton(4 goals) & defender Hamza Bencherif (5 goals) from set-pieces.

THe Betting Verdict

This match is very similar to the Charlton/Southend match in that if Rochdale want to prove their automatic promotion credentials, then they should win games like this.

I raised an eyebrow or two when I saw the odds for a Rochdale win, but they can get unstuck occasionally as fans of Cheltenham Town, Accrington Stanley and Chesterfield will testify, which is probably the reason for their value.

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Rochdale to win at around 1.60