Notts County make the trip to London to face AFC Wimbledon on Saturday, looking to win their second game in a row after an impressive victory last week against Bradford.
Although 7 places separate the two sides, AFC Wimbledon will look to continue their good home form, with 3 wins in as many games in all competitions. They have conceded the 4th least goals so far this season, which means that Notts will have to ensure that they take their chances when they come. Notts fans will also be familiar with some of the Dons players: Armani Little, who scored two goals against the Magpies in a 5-1 victory when he represented Torquay United; and former Notts County midfielder Jake Reeves, who signed from Stevenage during the summer. As shown by his time at County, Reeves will provide energy in the middle of the park, which Notts must remain prepared for. Finally, Notts will have to ensure that James Tilley does not have any clear cut chances, with the top scorer registering 7 goals in 16 league appearances so far.
As for the visitors, Notts will look to continue their impressive scoring performance for last weekend in front of the Sky cameras, having blasted 4 into the back of Bradford’s goal by half time. However, the Magpies needed to improve upon controlling the lead at such a comfortable margin, giving away as little chances as possible. Wimbledon will look to stop County from playing their high intensity passing football, with joint second top goal scorer Macaulay Langstaff having already scored 13 goals this season, being at the peak of their radar. However, the threat does not stop there. The top assister Jodi Jones from the Left wing back position will be an area of concern and Dan Crowley will look to be particularly hard to handle with the ball at his feet.
With the Magpies having announced that they have sold their allocation of 1200 tickets, Notts will be backed by a vociferous travelling fan base once again this season. This will hopefully spur the players on to get a very important result as County look to cement their position in the automatic promotion spaces. AFC Wimbledon are 8 points behind the Magpies with a game in hand, so getting a win is vital in increasing the gap between the playoffs and narrowly missing out.
It will be the first journey to AFC Wimbledon’s Cherry Red Records Stadium for the Magpies, with the Dons moving into their new stadium in 2020. After the last matchup at Wimbledon’s old stadium Kingsmeadow ending in a 2-1 victory for the Dons in 2015, Notts look to start a new chapter in this matchup with a victory in their favour. It is sure to be a close matchup between two good teams in League Two.
Ollie