Cambridge United host 17th place Tranmere Rovers

The U's are looking to add to their dominant run of form with a victory against Tranmere Rovers. Their 11 league game unbeaten streak has led to many tipping those in amber to be promoted but with a lot of football left to be played nothing is a certainty as we have seen many times in League Two.

Last time out

The U's were on the road last Saturday and following a sublime Kaikai freekick and a thrashing Gibbons goal, took all 3 points from Fleetwood. A fantastic resilient performance on the road saw Harris & Co 2 points away from 2nd place Swindon and 8 points behind league leaders Bromley.

Tranmere weren't as successful last weekend as they hosted Walsall. The travelling side took all 3 points in a 3-1 win which usually suggests they dominated the game but the stats tell a completely different story. Tranmere registered 11 shots with just 2 on target and converted 1 into a goal whilst Walsall converted 75% of their shots on target into goals with 100% in the 2nd half. Tranmere were unable to create any chances despite having 65% possession.

Head 2 Head

The last time Cambridge United beat Tranmere Rovers was on the 13th April 2002 in a Division 2 clash which saw a 2nd half turnaround courtesy of goals from David Bridges and the late great Tom Youngs in a 2-1 win at home. Since that fixture there have been 4 draws and 2 Tranmere wins. The latest fixture resulted in a 0-0 draw earlier in the season.

Keys to Victory

The U's will need to break down what can be a very defensive 3-5-2 which can become a 5-3-2 out of possession. The keys for United will be to overload the channels. This will be done by playing with a 4 at the back and having wingers. Most commonly this can be done in a 4-2-3-1 which the U's have set up many times this season. Liam Bennett would be the perfect right back for this as he adventures down the right forcing either a 2v1 in the favour of the U's or dragging a Tranmere player out of position. Once Harris and the players notice which of the 2 it is there will be plenty of space available for the U's to attack in whether it is out wide or by playing across the backline efficiently to punish the out of position Tranmere shape.

Taken from 1-1 draw 5th April 2021 (Credit Cambridgeunited.com)