League Two’s Top Spot Teetering on a Tightrope

As the weekend dawns, Walsall will have lorded over League Two for an impressive 112 days. However, the winds of change might be blowing through the football world. For the first time since the early days of yuletide, Walsall’s reign could be knocked off its perch if they don’t triumph over AFC Wimbledon, and second-in-line Bradford City manage to conquer Accrington Stanley. The latter scenario would also denote Bradford City’s first day at the league’s pinnacle in over 16 years, a feat last achieved in League Two on 19 September 2008. Walsall, once commanding a comfortable 12-point lead on top with an extra game to spare and a 15-point safety net in automatic promotion spots, saw their fortunes turn after their top scorer, Nathan Lowe, was called back by his parent club Stoke City. Despite an initial resilience against MK Dons, Lowe’s departure seems to have triggered Walsall’s diminishing results. In the subsequent 13 games, Walsall tasted victory only twice, their lead at the summit whittled down to a single point by Bradford City, and the gap to fourth place now standing at six points. With a noticeable slump in performance at both ends of the pitch, the team has managed to net only 15 goals in the recent period, a sharp contrast to their earlier average of over 2 goals per game.