Newport vs Cheltenham Prediction 03.09.2024 | EFL Trophy

• Competition: EFL Trophy
• Date: 03.09.2024
• Kickoff: 19:00 UK / 20:00 CEST
• Venue: Rodney Parade (Newport)

Newport and Cheltenham will play their first game in this season's edition of the EFL Cup. In this group are also Reading and West Ham U21 team. Both clubs are members of League Two, with the desire to make an additional step this season.

Newport have started the new season quite well. After four played rounds, they hold the 4th position in the table with 9 points won. After the initial defeat against Cheltenham, they won three big victories. The last of them was achieved at the weekend on the road against Morecambe, with a minimal result. Experienced midfielder Aaron Wildig in the 8th minute of the match scored against his former club, which will eventually turn out to be the final result. Morecambe tried with all its might to get at least one point, but the Newport defense was flawless and up to the task.

On the other side with Cheltenham is a completely different situation. After the victory in the first round, they tied three consecutive defeats, so now it is imperative to win points. This club was unfortunately relegated from League One last season, and for now it does not seem that they are ready for an express return to it. On Sunday, they were defeated on the road against Walsall with a score of 2:1. More worrying than the result is the way they played that match as they were completely outplayed by their opponent. After a scoreless first half, the hosts scored two quick goals at the start of the second half. From that moment on, there was only one team on the field, and until the end of the match Cheltenham only managed to score a consolation goal.

Newport vs Cheltenham pick: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE

It will be interesting to see what kind of lineups the managers will bring to the field for this match and how much attention they will bring it on to this competition. Winning the EFL Cup may not mean too much, but there is always a certain satisfaction when you win any trophy. It doesn't take too much of an expert to see that Newport is in much better shape than Cheltenham at the moment. With that angle, a possible victory would perhaps mean more to the visiting team. Cheltenham has already shown that they know how to play against this rival. That 3:2 victory in the first round of League Two is their only one so far this season, and the absolute hero of his team in that match was the young Joel Colwill with two goals scored, of which the winning one came in the last moments of the match. This should be a fairly open match without much tactics, and in that case there should be no shortage of goals. BTTS is the safest choice.