Oldham V Macclesfield
This is probably not a game for the purist or one to get the pulse racing of the neutral. Oldham have been dire all season, and a relegation battle looks likely for the Latics despite a change of manager before the leaves seriously started falling from the trees.
New boss Dino Maamria has already suggested the squad he inherited from Laurent Banide is not good enough and this was brutally confirmed when his side capitulated at Mansfield last time out after suffering the rarity of having two men sent off in the same first-half passage of play. The 6-1 defeat was a massive blow to confidence after earning a much-needed point against high-flying Cheltenham in their last appearance at Boundary Park.
The Latics sit twenty-first in League Two, having conceded at least one goal in each of their last nine matches while only fourteen goals in thirteen games mean they have huge problems at both ends of the pitch.
Macclesfield have proven to be a better proposition this season than last. Despite continuing off-field problems, the Silkmen sit a healthy twelfth in the table and head into the game having previously beaten Port Vale 2-1 at Moss Rose, backing up a decent point on their travels two weeks ago when only a late Cambridge goal denied them a rare away win.
Daryl McMahon is doing a decent job under very trying circumstances at Moss Rose and although they’ve conceded at least once in each of their last eight games, they are unbeaten in three and have won three of their four Football League games against Oldham, including a 2-1 victory the last time the two sides met in January.
With Tomas Egert and Filipe Morais both missing for Oldham following last week’s red cards, the lack of quality in Maamria’s squad will once again be exposed, and we take Macclesfield to win by the odd-goal and heap more misery on the Latics.
