The72’s writers offer their Port Vale vs Sutton United prediction ahead of the Carabao Cup clash on Tuesday night.
Port Vale come into their midweek cup clash looking to make a return to winning ways. The Valiants still sit in 4th place but after losing to Burton Albion, they were unable to bounce back against Cambridge United at the weekend, drawing 1-1.
It’s still been a great start to life as permanent boss for Andy Crosby though and they’ll be hopeful of extending their Carabao Cup run at home to Sutton United here.
Speaking of the U’s, they haven’t found much success at all this season. They’re rooted to the bottom of the League Two table without a win since their opening day thrashing of Notts County, who are now top of the division.
Matt Gray’s side have found success in this competition though. They’ve beaten Cambridge United and Wycombe Wanderers to progress to this stage.
Here, a handful of our writers make their predictions for the game…
James Ray
“With Sutton struggling as they are, I can’t help but feel the hosts are going to claim a fairly comfortable win here. A draw against MK Dons at the weekend wasn’t a bad result and they’ve overcome League One opposition twice in this competition already, but they’ll be up against it here.
“Vale will be keen to get themselves back to winning ways before a return to league action and with the backing of the home faithful against a struggling team, they should be able to do just that.
“Sutton will be determined to put up a fight but it could be plain sailing. I’ll say 2-0 to the hosts.”
Port Vale vs Sutton United prediction: 2-0
Harry Mail
“I’ve been impressed by Port Vale this season and I like the way they bounced back from their 7-0 loss on the opening day to Barnsley. Many teams would have crumbled after that but Andy Crosby’s side have since enjoyed themselves in the league.
“They will see this clash against League Two side Sutton as a great opportunity to progress into the next round of the cup and potential draw a Premier League side next, which would be a massive financial boost for the club.
“Their upcoming opponents won’t lie down for them and will also see this as a chance to get into the next round. However, Matt Gray’s men haven’t had a good start to the season and are lacking a cutting edge.”
