Preview: Bristol Rovers vs. Cheltenham Town - prediction, team news, lineups

The opening match in Group P of the EFL Trophy will see Bristol Rovers face off against Cheltenham Town at the Memorial Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Bristol Rovers come into this match following a 1-1 draw at home to Lincoln City, while the visitors suffered a 2-0 loss to Barnsley in League One over the weekend.

Match preview

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The hosts draw against Lincoln City over the weekend extended their recent run to three league games without a win, leaving them in 17th place after six matches, which is also the same position they ended last season.

Joey Barton's side successfully navigated their way through their first season back in League One last term by securing 53 points, with a record of 14 wins, 11 draws and 21 losses in their 46 matches.

Over their first seven in all competitions in the current season, the Pirates have managed just one win, which came over Charlton Athletic a few weeks ago, along with three draws and three losses, including a first-round defeat to Ipswich Town in the EFL Cup.

Bristol Rovers reached the quarter-final in this competition last season before Plymouth Argyle beat them, and they will be relatively confident getting their cup campaign started on a winning note, having beaten this opposition in their last three encounters.

Meanwhile, Cheltenham fell to 16th last season from 15th in the previous campaign, finishing on 54 points after 46 matches, which was two points fewer than the tally they managed in the 2021-22 season.

However, this season has been something of a nightmare so far for the Robins as they come into this fixture off the back of their fifth league loss in six matches and rooted to the bottom of the table.

Wade Elliott's side were also beaten in round one of the EFL Cup by Birmingham City last month and have only managed one draw result to date, which came against Portsmouth a couple of weeks ago.

While there may be several issues that could be pointed out in their first seven matches this season, the undoubted biggest problem for the visitors has been their lack of goals, as they have not found the net in over 600 minutes of football.

Cheltenham are certainly not in a good place at the moment, but Elliot and co will know that if his side can manage to find a win here, it could give them a much-needed boost of confidence with a few winnable fixtures incoming over the next few weeks.

Team News

Barton has made very few changes to his starting 11 in the opening stages of the season, although he may consider switching back to a 4-4-2 formation as opposed to the 4-3-3 they tried in the loss to Lincoln City over the weekend.

Scott Sinclair began the season well, scoring twice in their first four matches, and he could return to the lineup after missing out last week.

While Elliott has tried several changes in personnel and formation over the first two months of the season, the backline trio of Sean Long, Curtis Davies and Lewis Freestone have remained an ever-present.

Robert Street and Aidan Keena are likely to continue in attack, while Will Goodwin could join them up front in search of their first goal of the season.

Bristol Rovers possible starting lineup:

Cox; Hunt, Wilson, Crama, Friend; Thomas, Ward, Finley, Sinclair; Brown, Collins

Cheltenham Town possible starting lineup:

Southwood; Long, Davies, Freestone; Williams, Sercombe, Bonds, Ferry; Goodwin, Keena, Street

We say: Bristol Rovers 1-0 Cheltenham Town

The visitors have been very poor this season, and their lack of attacking strength has been evident up to this point. While the hosts have not been incredible themselves, they have found the net more often than not this season, and we fancy them to edge this one by a single goal.

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