Both sides come into this fixture sitting in the National League relegation zone. Morecambe currently sit bottom with 12 points, and Sutton sit two places above them with the same number of points. However, Morecambe have a game in hand over the teams around them, which gives them an opportunity to climb out of the bottom four with a win.
Andy’s Bet Club’s football analyst will break down Morecambe’s recent clash with Hartlepool United to see what the statistics indicate about how they might set up against Sutton United.
Hartlepool United vs Morecambe
The scoreline in this fixture was a fair reflection of how the game was played. Both sides had their fair share of possession and had the same amount of shots. Although the Morecambe’s xG of 2.08 was higher than Hartlepool’s 1.21, Morecambe’s penalty inflates their xG. However, the non-penalty xG (npxG) was a lot closer, with Morecambe having a npxG of 1.38 and Hartlepool’s being 1.21.
Hartlepool United were more accurate when it came to the final third. 36% of their shots were on target and they had a cross accuracy of 30%. Although Morecambe’s crossing accuracy of 29% was similar, their shooting accuracy was only 28%.
Both teams approached the game slightly differently when in possession. Morecambe had a long pass percentage of 10%, whereas Hartlepool were more direct with a long pass percentage of 16%. This will have been a factor in why Morecambe were far more accurate when it came to forward passes (74%), progressive passes (73%) and passes into the final third (65%).
Final Thoughts
This has the potential to be a high-scoring fixture with Morecambe conceding 42 goals so far this season, and Sutton United’s last three fixtures have seen the ball in the back of the net 15 times.
Morecambe’s shape has stayed fairly consistent throughout the season, with a variation of 4-5-1 being used. Whereas Sutton United have altered their formation game-to-game, switching between a back 3 and a back 4. It will be interesting to see how Sutton set up in a game that they will view as a must-win.
One way to approach the game for Sutton United could be playing on the counter-attack. Morecambe have had their fair share of possession in their games so far, but they have left themselves quite open at the back with their opponents converting 64% of their counter-attacks into shots.
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