Northampton Town vs Bradford City Predictions, Lineups and Betting Tip Predictions

Northampton Town vs Bradford City Predictions, Lineups and Betting Tip

Match Details: August 9th, 2025 | Sixfields Stadium, Northampton | EFL League One

With the League One season now officially underway, Northampton Town and Bradford City meet on matchday two after very contrasting starts to the campaign. Home side Northampton fell to an opening day defeat at the hands of Wigan Athletic, while Bradford edged to a 2-1 win over Wycombe Wanderers, securing a positive start to the season.

Key Betting Tip: Northampton to Win at odds of 2.60 on Kwiff represent excellent value for the tip provided by our in-house tipsters.

Northampton Town vs Bradford City Predicted Lineups

Northampton Town Predicted XI (3-4-3): Lee Burge (GK); Joe Wormleighton, Michael Forbes, Jordan Thorniley; Tyrese Fornah, Jack Perkins, Dean Campbell, Jack Burroughs; Sam Hoskins, Ethan Wheatley, Cameron McGeehan.

Simply outclassed by Wigan last time out, there is no need for Northampton and coach Kevin Nolan to panic yet - the first game of the season is rarely a barometer of how the rest of the season will go. Players are still returning to full match sharpness, and not all sides have concluded their transfer business, so plenty can change before the end of the month.

With no injuries or suspensions occurring in their season opener, Northampton have a full complement of players ahead of this game.

Bradford City Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Sam Walker (GK); Curtis Tilt, Joe Wright, Matthew Pennington; Ibou Touray, Tommy Leigh, Max Power, Josh Neufville; Stephen Humphrys, Antoni Sarcevic; Bobby Pointon.

Starting a season with a win over the previous seasons play-off semi finalists is always a nice way to get out of the blocks, and Bradford were good value for their win - Antoni Sarcevic and Stephen Humphrys were a constant thorn in the side of Wycombe, their double pivot behind striker Pointon proving to be a real threat.

With no injuries or suspensions occurring in their season opener, Bradford have a full complement of players ahead of this game.

Northampton Town vs Bradford City Current League Standings

Home side Northampton currently sit 20th, just one place above the relegation spots, with their two goal losing deficit trumped by just four other sides in the league. Meanwhile, Bradford sit seventh, just outside the play-off spots.

Northampton Town vs Bradford City Head to Head Timeline

Bradford have historically had a stranglehold on this fixture - since 2010, the two clubs have met on 18 occasions, and Bradford have come away with maximum points more than half the time, winning on 10 occasions. A further five meetings have ended in a draw, while Northampton have managed to claim victory just three times.

Recent Head to Head Meetings:

• 29/04/2023: Northampton 1-2 Bradford
• 19/11/2022: Bradford 1-3 Northampton
• 09/04/2022: Northampton 0-0 Bradford
• 20/11/2021: Bradford 1-1 Northampton
• 07/09/2019: Bradford 2-1 Northampton

In recent times, Northampton have become more competitive in this fixture - they have avoided defeat in three of the last four meetings, and even grabbed a comprehensive away win in 2022.

However Bradford boast many more wins in this head to head, including in their most recent clash in 2023 - a 90+4 finish from Romoney Crichlow-Noble proved enough to grab his side all three points.

Northampton Town vs Bradford City Recent Match Analysis

Northampton Town Last Five Games:

• Wigan Athletic 3-1 Northampton (League One)
• Northampton 3-0 Birmingham City (Club Friendly)
• Millwall 3-0 Northampton (Club Friendly)
• Norwich City 3-1 Northampton Town (Club Friendly)
• Northampton 1-1 Wigan Athletic (League One)

Though they did beat newly promoted Championship side Birmingham during pre-season, Northampton showed they are still a way off competing in the Championship, with convincing defeats to both Millwall and Norwich - these results indicate that they are at best a mid-table League One outfit, exemplified by their 19th placed finish last season.

They should improve upon last season's performance - a number of transfers have bulked out the squad a bit, but they are still lacking star quality. Without a star player or two, League One can trap teams for decades.

Bradford City Last Five Games:

• Bradford City 2-1 Wycombe Wanderers (League One)
• Bradford Park Avenue 3-2 Bradford City (Club Friendly)
• Oldham Athletic 0-1 Bradford City (Club Friendly)
• Bradford City 2-0 Middlesbrough (Club Friendly)
• Steyr 1-7 Bradford (Club Friendly)

Bradford City had a hugely successful pre-season campaign - although they played teams of generally smaller stature, they still had football games to win, and they did so with aplomb, even beating Championship outfit Middlesbrough in the process.

A number of quality transfers, including the arrivals of Joe Wright and Josh Neufville, immediately turned heads on the opening day, and if their new players continue to settle in quickly, Bradford could unexpectedly be looking at their second successive promotion campaign.

Northampton Town vs Bradford City Prediction

Our advanced algorithm has analyzed over 200 data points to predict that Northampton will break their duck and grab an important first win of the season here, running out as 2-1 winners. The model factors in current form, head to head records, player availability and tactical matchups.

Northampton Town vs Bradford City Betting Tip

Football Park’s Best Bet: Northampton to Win - Despite the convincing nature of their defeat last time out, Northampton didn't play badly - two of their conceded goals came from a deflection, and a scuffed shot that turned into a cross. If they can bring the same level to their first home game of the season, the misfortune will end at some point.

Players to Watch: Northampton Town vs Bradford City

Josh Neufville (Bradford City): Brought in from Wimbledon over the sumer, right-wing back Neufville immediately endeared himself to Bantam’s fans with a high energy, high quality performance on the flank. Eager to cross whenever possible and capable of picking out the tiniest gaps in a backline, he is a very useful acquisition, and could become their key player if he keeps putting in performances similar to the one against Wycombe.

Dean Campbell (Northampton Town): One of the few players to emerge from the defeat to Wycombe with their head held high, Campbell was typically composed in the heart of the Northampton midfield. Grabbing the assist for Michael Forbes’ consolation goal, and recycling the ball superbly, Campbell is the tempo setter for his side - when he plays well, so do his 10 other team mates.

Stadium Details: Home of Northampton Town, Sixfields Stadium is an 8 ‘200 person capacity all seater ground. Opened in 1994, it is still relatively new when compared to other football league stadiums, with relatively modern facilities. With an expansion completed earlier this year, the ground has been brought effectively into the modern day.