Newport County will be looking to bounce back after their Boxing Day defeat as they travel to Walsall on Sunday (3pm).
It will be a tough test for the Exiles as they are hosted by the League leaders at the Poundland Bescot Stadium.
Opposition Form
It is fair to say Walsall have been one of the best sides in the division this season as they look to gain promotion to League One through the automatic spots. The Saddlers are currently 9 points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand over Port Vale. With 46 points so far, Walsall have won 14, drawn four and only lost three times so far this season.
Walsall’s stats so far this season are representative of where they sit in the table after 21 games. Just to name a few, the most clean sheets (10), most goals per match (1.9), most expected goals (37.5) and the second most big chances created (50).
One player who has helped to propel Walsall up the table this season is loanee Nathan Lowe. The nineteen year old joined the Saddlers in the summer on a season long loan from Stoke City and has set the league alight. Lowe is in the race for top scorer this season and is currently third in the race with 11 goals so far this season and has the most combined goals and assists (15) so far. Walsall fans will be ecstatic with the youngsters output this season and they will be hoping that they could see more of Lowe after this season.
Last Time Out
Newport County fans will have fond memories of an away trip to Walsall at the start of this year. In February the Exiles hit the Saddlers for three on the road. Three first half goals from the Amber Army stunned their opposition with Bryn Morris opening the scoring in the 4th minute with an outside of the box strike.
Just ten minutes after Will Evans doubled the lead as he did brilliantly to work his way into the box before he curled a finish into the top left corner. Harry Charsley finished the scoring with a headed effort finding the top left corner of the goal. The Exiles saw out the rest of the game and Owen Evans saw red late on in the game to make things worse for the Saddlers.
Head-to-Head
Newport County and Walsall have a long history that dates back almost 100 years with the teams first playing in October of 1927. The Amber Army went on to win that away game 3-0 and would be the start of a favourable fixture for Newport County.
As things stand, the Exiles have a favourable record over Walsall with 28 wins, 20 draws and 24 losses. In fact, Newport County have only lost once in the last eleven games between these sides (4 wins and 6 draws).
Shared Shirts
One player who has played for both the Saddlers and the Exiles is Jamille Matt.
On June 20, 2018, Newport County signed Jamaican striker Jamille Matt to a two-year contract.He quickly became a fan favourite, scoring 26 goals in 97 appearances.In the 2018-2019 season, Matt was pivotal in the club's impressive FA Cup run, netting 20 goals in all competitions. A standout moment came when he scored a stunning header against Wes Morgan, helping Newport achieve a memorable upset over Leicester City in the third round.
Matt left Rodney Parade in 2020 before spending three years at Forest Green Rovers and joined Walsall in January of 2023. The Jamaican has played a big role this season scoring six times and he has started 19 of their 21 league games as they have topped the table.
Key stats:
- Walsall have won just one of their last 10 Football League games against Newport County (D6 L3), and lost this exact fixture 3-0 last season.
- Newport are unbeaten in each of their last five visits to Walsall in the Football League (W2 D3); they last won on successive such trips in January 1954.
- This will be the eighth successive year that Walsall’s final Football League game of the year will be at home, with the Saddlers losing four of their previous seven (W2 D1), though those two wins have come in the previous three such games.
- Since a 1-0 win over Cheltenham in 2014, Newport are without a win in their final league game of the year in each of the last nine years (D6 L3).
- Newport County haven’t lost an away game against Walsall since the 26th of December 1986.
