Preview:Northampton Town vs Exeter City - prediction, team news, lineups

Still yet to record a triumph since the start of the 2025-26 League One season, Northampton Town entertain the challenge of Exeter City in matchday five at the Sixfields Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The visitors, on the other hand, will make the trip this weekend in search of consecutive victories after returning to winning ways last time out.

Match preview

Despite a 3-0 win over Birmingham City to wrap up preseason, Northampton were largely underwhelming in their warm-up fixtures for the new season, and it is hardly surprising they have struggled early on.

A 3-1 defeat against Wigan to get things underway was followed by a goalless stalemate against newly promoted Bradford City, after which Kevin Nolan's men were dumped out of the EFL Cup by Southampton.

That was the first of three straight defeats for the Cobblers, who have now been beaten in four of their five matches across all competitions so far following Saturday's 1-0 loss to Lincoln City.

One of six League One teams awaiting their first three points this term, Northampton currently find themselves in the relegation zone ahead of this weekend's involvement.

Given their record in this fixture, Saturday's game provides the hosts a huge chance of kick-starting their season, as they are unbeaten in eight of the last nine meetings against the away side, picking up six wins.

However, Northampton will need to fix up their issues at the top end of the pitch, having scored just one league goal so far, the joint fewest in the division alongside bottom-place Peterborough.

Despite going through their entire pre-season campaign unbeaten, Exeter came away empty-handed from their curtain raiser against Doncaster Rovers, courtesy of a 1-0 defeat on August 2.

However, Gary Caldwell's men wasted no time getting themselves back on track with an emphatic 4-1 thrashing of Blackpool in their sophomore outing.

Any momentum gained from that victory was quickly extinguished as the Grecians bowed out to Cheltenham in the first round of the EFL Cup, after which a 2-0 defeat to Mansfield ensued.

Having not lost three games on the bounce since February, Exeter headed to Adams Park on Saturday for their matchup against Wycombe Wanderers and emerged victorious thanks to a Jack Grimmer own goal seven minutes from time.

A tally of six points from a possible 12 has Saturday's visitors 11th in the standings, and they will now be looking to string together a decent run of results to aid their quest for a promotion playoff place.

Exeter's triumph over Wycombe last time out saw them win a competitive game on the road for the first time in just over four months, but the Devon-based outfit will be confident of capitalising on their hosts' recent struggles to secure maximum points away from home.

Northampton Town League One form:

Northampton Town form (all competitions):

Exeter City League One form:

Exeter City form (all competitions):

Team News

Northampton duo Jon Guthrie and Liam Shaw are unavailable for selection due to knee injuries, while Jordan Thorniley is expected to miss out with a muscle problem.

Michael Jacobs and Kamarai Simon-Swyer are still awaiting their first appearance of the season as they continue to nurse long-term injuries.

After watching his side fail to score in four successive games, Kevin Nolan is expected to make some changes in attack, which could see Ethan Wheatley miss out this weekend.

Twenty-year-old Pedro Borges picked up a knee injury while on loan at Yeovil Town last season and remains sidelined.

Johnly Yfeko's last outing for Exeter came back in early January, after which he has been out of contention with a thigh problem.

Sil Swinkels was forced off with a first-half injury in the away side's most recent encounter, making him a doubt to play any part here.

Northampton Town possible starting lineup:

Fitzsimons; Perkins, Dyche, Willis, McCarthy, Wormleighton; McGeehan, Fornah, Campbell, Hoskins; List

Exeter City possible starting lineup:

Whitworth; Rydel, Fitzwater, Turns; McMillan, Brierley, Doyle-Hayes, Niskanen; Dean, Magennis, Cox

We say: Northampton Town 1-1 Exeter City

As hosts, the onus is more on Northampton to take the initiative here as they look to turn a corner after a poor start to the campaign.

Standing in their way is an Exeter City outfit who will still be buoyed by their most recent victory, and we are backing a share of the spoils at the end of the 90 minutes.

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