Relegation-threatened Rochdale welcome Newport County to the Crown Oil Arena on Saturday afternoon in the fourth tier of English football.
Jim Bentley's side are languishing in the relegation zone, three points from safety, while The Exiles are only faring slightly better courtesy of a mini-revival in recent weeks.
Match preview
© Reuters
On a crash course to be relegated from The Football League for the first time in the club's 115-year history, Rochdale have experienced a demoralising 2022-23 campaign after only registering four victories from 23 matches.
In pursuit of their first league victory since October 15, The Dale suffered a disheartening defeat to fellow relegation rivals Hartlepool United on Boxing Day, as Callum Cooke's goal 10 minutes from the full-time whistle condemned Rochdale to another defeat.
Hoping to finally pick up a much-needed three points, Rochdale were on the losing end of a seven-goal thriller against Doncaster Rovers on December 29, as Tom Anderson scored the winning goal for Rovers in the 81st minute.
With a lack of festivities present around the Crown Oil Arena, Bentley's side restored some Christmas spirit with a hard-earned 0-0 draw against Barrow on January 2.
After registering the fewest points at home this season (7), Rochdale will hope that they can build on their share of the spoils at Holker Street on Monday.
Languishing in the fourth tier of English football for the last nine seasons, Newport County have experienced a mixed bag of results this season.
The Exiles opened their season with only two victories in their first nine matches but have drastically improved in recent months, losing only two of the following same number of games.
Graham Coughlan's side began their Christmas schedule with a 1-1 draw away against 10-man AFC Wimbledon at the Cherry Red Records Stadium as Offrande Zanzala's second-half penalty salvaged a hard-fought away point.
Newport then registered another draw four days later, holding current league leaders Leyton Orient to a notable 0-0 stalemate at Rodney Parade.
The Exiles concluded their productive festivities with a third successive draw when the Congolese forward fired in a penalty deep into second-half stoppage time to salvage a share of the spoils in a highly entertaining 2-2 draw with Crawley Town.
Without a victory in their last three head-to-heads dating back to May 2014, Newport will still feel confident about taking advantage of the fact that Rochdale have only registered two wins at the Crown Oil Arena this season.
Team News
After scoring the second-lowest number of goals in the division this season (18), with only basement boys Gillingham scoring fewer, Rochdale manager Jim Bentley could decide to bring Josh Gordon into his starting XI.
With Bentley implementing a 4-2-3-1 formation in recent matches, a more attacking formation could be in sight for supporters at the Crown Oil Arena, with Bentley joining Scott Quigley up front and Devante Rodney providing support from midfield.
Newport County striker Omar Bogle has found the back of the net on seven occasions in 23 matches this season and will be expected to lead The Exiles' line alongside either Will Evans or Offrande Zanzala, barring any unforeseen injuries.
After coming off the bench to earn a last-gasp point against Crawley Town, it could be Zanzala who Graham Coughlan hands a starting place alongside top scorer Bogle.
With the visitors' defence looking like a more improved unit in recent times, Declan Drysdale, Priestley Farquharson and Mickey Demetriou should again form a back three on Saturday afternoon.
Rochdale possible starting lineup:
O'Donnell, Seriki, Graham, Ebanks-Landell, White; Keohane, Kelly, Lloyd, Rodney; Quigley, Gordon
Newport County possible starting lineup:
Day; Drysdale, Farquharson, Demetriou; Norman, Waite, Bennett, Lewis, Lewis; Bogle, Zanzala
We say: Rochdale 1-2 Newport County
With Gillingham currently on a worse run of form than Rochdale, we predict Newport County to condemn Jim Bentley's side to a fifth defeat in their last six matches.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
