Looking to stage a comeback this season following relegation during the 2023-24 term, Cheltenham Town will continue their pre-season preparations with a friendly against Plymouth Argyle at the Completely-Suzuki Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Robins will be gunning for promotion from League Two this campaign, whilst the Green Army are aiming to become competitive at the top end of the Championship after their high-profile managerial appointment.
Match preview
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Following their title-winning League Two campaign of 2020-21 - in which they pipped Cambridge United to the fourth-tier crown by two points - Cheltenham Town's three-year stay in League One came to an end during late April, when a 2-1 defeat at Stevenage confirmed a bottom-four finish.
Five months after leaving his position at Swindon Town, Michael Flynn was announced as the new head coach at the Completely-Suzuki Stadium, where Cheltenham will be hoping to secure an immediate return to the third tier under the assured leadership of the 43-year-old.
The Robins will be fighting on in League Two without their leading goalscorer from last season, with 34-year-old Liam Sercombe ending his four-year association with the club in order to seal a move to Forest Green Rovers, who now find themselves playing National League football.
As a result of some high-profile departures, the Robins have signed a raft of players so far during the summer trading point, with Saturday's hosts recently confirming the capture of former Sunderland man Harrison Sohna following a successful trial period with the club.
The 22-year-old has featured in all three of Cheltenham's pre-season matches so far, with Flynn's troops preparing to protect a 100% record when they battle with Championship side Plymouth on the weekend, after convincing wins over Bishop's Cleeve, Bath City and Evesham United on the road.
After undertaking punditry duties for the BBC at this summer's Euro 2024 in Germany, Wayne Rooney was available to link up with his new employers Plymouth Argyle, who are looking to kick on in the Championship after narrowly avoiding the drop during the 2023-24 campaign under a mixture of coaches.
The Green Army's bold ambitions in the second tier were derailed in December when Steven Schumacher was lured to Stoke City, and due to the ill-fated tenure of Ian Foster, an interim team including Neil Dewsnip were tasked with steering the club away from an immediate return to League One.
A final-day success over Hull City secured safety in the second tier at the expense of Birmingham City, who will place a large portion of the blame for their demise on Rooney, whose naive tactics given the quality of Blues' squad sent the Second City club plummeting down the Championship standings.
The Manchester United and England legend watched on as his Green Army played out a 2-2 draw with South African powerhouses Orlando Pirates in Marbella last Friday, when 17-year-old Freddie Issaka and Callum Wright found the net as the English side came from behind to earn a result.
Argyle have made four additions to their ranks so far over the summer, but it is possible outgoings that are stealing the headlines in Devon at the moment, with last campaign's 19-goal saviour Morgan Whittaker attracting serious interest from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brentford.
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Team News
Finding the net on seven occasions last term in League One, Matt Taylor will be looking to gain match sharpness as he aims to be the main man in front of goal for Cheltenham this time around.
A battle is on for the first-choice spot in between the sticks for the Robins, with Luke Southwood set to face competition from summer arrival Owen Evans.
Despite recent links to Sheffield United and Crystal Palace, Michael Cooper remains part of Rooney's plans at Plymouth, and the keeper should start on the weekend.
The Green Army will be excited to see a number of their new recruits on English soil for the first time, including winger Ibrahim Cissoko, who joined from Toulouse earlier in the month.
Rooney used different XIs for each half against Orlando Pirates, but we expect the visitors to field a strong team from the start here, with the likes of Ryan Hardie, Bali Mumba and Whittaker playing together.
Cheltenham Town possible starting lineup:
Evans; Jude-Boyd, Walters, Bennett, Bradbury; Haynes, Pett, Kinsella, Harrop; Dulson, Taylor
Plymouth Argyle possible starting lineup:
Cooper; Edwards, Galloway, Pleguezuelo, Galloway; Houghton, Earley, Randell; Whittaker, Mumba, Hardie
We say: Cheltenham Town 2-4 Plymouth Argyle
With Cheltenham further ahead in their pre-season preparations, Saturday's hosts should not fear the arrival of Championship opposition on Saturday.
That being said, Plymouth possess plenty of familiar and new attacking faces who will want to impress Rooney, so we are predicting plenty of goals for the Green Army.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Cheltenham Town win with a probability of 38.92%. A win for Plymouth Argyle had a probability of 34.04% and a draw had a probability of 27%.
The most likely scoreline for a Cheltenham Town win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.75%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.31%) and 2-0 (6.97%). The likeliest Plymouth Argyle win was 0-1 (9.91%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.83%). The actual scoreline of 1-5 was predicted with a 0.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that Plymouth Argyle would win this match.
