Preview: Bradford City vs York City - prediction, team news, lineups

Northern Group C leaders Bradford City welcome bottom-placed York City to Valley Parade on Tuesday night for their third and final EFL Trophy group fixture, with both sides already knowing their fate in the competition.

The Bantams head into the clash on the back of an emphatic 7-0 victory over Marine in the FA Cup, while the Minstermen also enjoyed a convincing win of their own after thrashing Northampton Town 4-0.

Match preview

Following Graham Alexander's departure earlier this season to take charge of Championship side Preston North End, Bradford City turned to Michael Duff as their new head coach, in what was a potential gamble given that he had been relieved of his duties at Wycombe Wanderers just a few weeks earlier.

Duff inherited a side sitting second in the division after eight matches, but the Bantams have since endured an inconsistent spell, with just one win from their last six league games leaving them outside the playoff places.

However, they do have a game in hand on four of the top six and could climb back into fourth with a victory.

Bradford brought October to a disappointing close with a West Yorkshire derby against league leaders Huddersfield Town, suffering a comfortable 3-0 defeat that also saw captain Antoni Sarcevic sent off.

After that Halloween setback, Duff's side turned their attention to the FA Cup, where they faced National League North outfit Marine and ran out emphatic 7-0 winners.

Nick Powell and Adam Phillips both scored twice, while Will Swan, George Lapslie and Matthew Pennington also found the net as the Bantams avoided a potential cup upset and recorded their biggest victory of the season.

As for York City, they enjoyed a dramatic end to last season, securing promotion to League Two in the dying moments of their campaign thanks to a Josh Stones goal in the 13th minute of stoppage time against title rivals Rochdale.

Their promotion ended a 10-year absence from the English Football League and came under the guidance of Stuart Maynard, who was surprisingly replaced by Scott Lindsey over the summer, much to the frustration of York supporters.

Despite the unexpected appointment, the former Crawley boss has made a positive start to life in the fourth tier, with five wins, five draws and four defeats keeping the Minstermen in the playoff places.

However, York have been unable to carry their encouraging league form into the EFL Trophy and sit bottom of the group after successive defeats, knowing that even a victory on Tuesday will not change their fate in the competition.

The Minstermen did enjoy a much better afternoon in the FA Cup on Saturday, though, progressing to the second round with a 4-0 victory over Northampton Town in a match where they took the lead after just 10 seconds.

Bradford City EFL Trophy form:

Bradford City form (all competitions):

York City EFL Trophy form:

York City form (all competitions):

Team News

With league football remaining the main priority and both sides already knowing their fate in the EFL Trophy, the two managers are likely to make several changes to their starting lineups.

Jon McCracken is expected to make way for Cameron Dawson in goal, while Harry Cartwright could also be recalled to the starting XI.

Bobby Pointon is set to miss out after picking up an early injury on Saturday, while Lapslie could come into the side from the start after scoring against Marine. He will be joined on the sidelines by Josh Neufville, however.

Lindsey is expected to bring George Sykes-Kenworthy back into the fold, while Jack Hunt could also return to the back four.

Vice-captain Ollie Pearce is likely to be rested after scoring twice in the FA Cup, with Afolabi Akinyemi among the leading candidates to come into the side up front.

Bradford City possible starting lineup:

Dawson; Welch, Matthews, Gillesphey; Ibbitson, Morgan, Cartwright, O'Keeffe; Lapslie, Humphrys, Swan

York City possible starting lineup:

Sykes-Kenworthy; J. Hunt, Palmer, McArthur; Felix, Stiver, Read, Medley; Malcolm, Akinyemi, Maguire

We say: Bradford City 2-0 York City

Although both sides have enjoyed positive spells in their respective leagues, Bradford are competing a division above York and we expect that difference in quality to be evident on Tuesday night.

We are backing the Bantams to make it two cup victories in the space of four days and ahead into the EFL Trophy knockout stages with a 2-0 win at Valley Parade.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.