Walsall FC vs Salford City - Match Preview
Both Walsall and Salford have high ambitions for the season, and both have started incredibly. Coming off the back of a dominant 3-0 win over Oldham, will Lee Grant be able to continue his sides unbeaten run?
Grant's Confidence in Strikers Could be the Key.
Lee Grant has not been shy in praising the workrate and excellence in front of goal that has been shown by his forwards, in particular Aaron Pressley and Tai Sodje, who have racked up an impressive 11 goals combined this season.
Sodje himself has been enjoying an impressive purple patch in recent games, scoring 4 in his last 3 games for the Saddlers following a self-admitted "tough conversation" between Grant and the 23 year old.
Grant's confidence in his frontmen will serve as a great motivator heading into what is arguably the Saddlers toughest game of the season so far, a home tie under the lights against Salford City.
The Boss was also quick to praise Salford heading into this game, stating in his pre-match interview that "we know this game is going to be a challenge...they're well-coached, well-managed, with lots of resources..."
It is yet to be seen if those resources Grant speaks of will be enough to end Walsall's unbeaten run as we have seen Walsall perform well in the past against sides with big budgets, such as Wrexham, and Salford themselves, who have only lost 1 of their last 5 at home against the Ammies, and have scored in every league game against them since April 2021 (in a 2-0 loss that former Manager Mat Sadler started in,)
That 2-0 loss would also prove to be the last home loss that the then Manager, Brian Dutton would suffer, as he would be relieved of his duties just 2 games later.
Salford Scare with Skill after Slow Start.
Salford faced a difficult start to their season, losing on penalties in their EFL Cup First Round tie, followed by a run of three consecutive losses to open The Ammies League Two campaign.
Following a 2-1 win at home to Newport, Peter Cklamovski's men haven't looked back, and have gone on to have an unbeaten run of nine games so far, winning 8 of those which has seen them surge to top of the league.
Cklamovski, who was appointed Salford Manager in the summer following the departure of Karl Robinson, was heavily backed by his board, who invested highly in players that are considerably higher quality than League Two such as Dan Scarr, Luke Molyneux and Macauley Langstaff from Wrexham, Doncaster and Milwall respectively.
Walsall will have to put in a performance under the lights at the Bescot that trumps the dazzling display they put on against Oldham if they wish to keep their unbeaten run going, and close the gap on Salford's top spot.
The former Malaysia National Team Manager spoke to SCFC TV ahead of the game and toom the opportunity to praise Grant's work ahead of Monday, while also stating his side "have trained well, have another couple of days to get right, and then we will be ready for Monday.
"It will be a very tough game against a very good opponent", Cklamovski added.
Ahui Suspension Provides Opportunities, But Could Expose Frailties.
The Walsall faithful will be intrigued to see what direction Lee Grant heads in, following the suspension of Elicha Ahui after he received a straight red card against Oldham.
Options are not particularly plentiful for the Saddlers in the right-back position following Rico Browne's loan move to Woking and Roman Dixon's hamstring injury, it appears likely Grant will have to either rely on Declan Skura to fill that role against Salford or move James Furlong to the right hand side.
It does provide an opportunity for either of those to impress in that position, and give the Walsall boss a selection headache for fixtures to come.
Problem Player - Salford City - Kallum Cesay
And here we are, the Problem Players segment of every preview I do, where I pick out one player from each side that I believe will cause issues in this fixture.
First up is the opponent, Salford City, and their starring winger, Kallum Cesay.
Cesay has shown that with all the money and class that Salford have brought in, he can still be relied upon. With 6 assists in his last 6 games for the Ammies, Cesay has proved himself to be hugely influential to his side. While Salford continue to score past anyone they face, the Saddlers defence will need to be incredibly mindful of the 24-year-olds ability, especially considering the suspension issue that will no doubt affect the defence.
An honourable mention must also go to Taylor Allen, who was linked with a move back to the Bescot in the summer window until Salford flexed their financial muscle and brought the centre-back to the AIG Stadium (formerly known as the Peninsula Stadium).
Walsall fans will be strongly familiar with the concept of former players scoring against them, and the cold irony of one of their best former players of recent times scoring to end their unbeaten run is surely not lost on the Bescot faithful.
Problem Player - Walsall FC - Tai Sodje
Following a stunning team performance against Oldham, this was an incredibly tough choice. Honourable mentions must go to Aaron Pressley (for his goal scoring form that has seen him score more after 11 games than Daniel Kanu, Freddie Draper and Nathan Lowe), Reece Smith (for his willingness to take on defenders that hasn't been seen in a Walsall shirt for quite some time), and Charlie Crew, who put on one of his best performances in a Saddlers shirt so far.
However, the former Buxton striker Tai Sodje gets the vote of confidence this week after a star performance against Oldham. He showed he was not shy of taking shots on goal, having the most of any player in the Oldham match (5) and could easily have achieved more than the 1 goal he ended up with. After being substituted for Andrew Dallas in the 79th minute, Sodje would leave the field to a standing ovation.
We will have to see if Tai can keep his strong run of form going.
Match Prediction: Walsall FC 1-0 Salford City.
Ben Smith.
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