As 2022 draws to a close, Rochdale host Hartlepool United on Boxing Day in their final match of the year at Crown Oil Arena.
Both teams are narrowly above the relegation zone in League Two, tied at 15 points, just a point above Gillingham and Colchester United.
Match preview
It has been a bumpy ride for Jim Bentley and his side of late, with Rochdale capturing just one of their last seven league contests.
They got off to the perfect start in the previous encounter, taking the lead after seven minutes but fading as the game wore on, falling 4-1 at home to Harrogate Town, the first time they had lost all season when scoring first.
That was the first time that the Dale had netted the opening goal since a 1-0 victory at home to Salford City, while their defeat versus Harrogate was also the first time in 2022-23 that they would go on to lose a game after drawing first blood.
Bentley has praised his team for their creativity but is calling on them to show more quality in the final third, scoring a goal or fewer in eight successive contests in all competitions.
Over the past three domestic campaigns, the club from Lancashire have only captured one encounter at home this month while also losing on four occasions.
Only one of their four victories in 2022-23 have come against sides below them in the table, while they have not lost a domestic affair at home to Hartlepool since the 2011-12 League One campaign.
Fresh off their first road victory over two weeks ago, Pools have a chance to win consecutive games for the first time all season.
Their 2-0 victory over Crawley Town was a vast improvement from what manager Keith Curle saw from his players six days earlier, when they were trounced 5-0 at home to Stockport.
The 59-year-old ex-centre-back was named permanent coach earlier this month, and their triumph on December 9 was the first time that his team had netted multiple times in a domestic road fixture since late September.
While they were solid along the backline versus Crawley Town, Hartlepool have looked poor defensively throughout much of the campaign, conceding more goals than any side in League Two this season (39).
It is believed that some of their struggles may boil down to numerous tactical changes, utilising at least five different systems this year while having a new formation in each of their previous three matches played in all competitions.
Currently, Hartlepool have just three victories domestically, five fewer than they managed at this point in 2021-22 which was their first campaign in League Two in four years.
Team News
James Ball notched the lone strike for Rochdale in the early stages of their match versus Harrogate, his second of the campaign.
Ian Henderson has two of the last three road goals domestically for the Dale, while top goalscorer Scott Quigley is without a strike since putting home the winner in a 2-1 triumph over Barrow in mid-October.
In their previous domestic meeting with Hartlepool last season, the Dale came back from a goal down in the second half as Jimmy Keohane and former centre-back Eoghan O'Connell both found the back of the net as they went on to win 2-1.
Against Harrogate Town, Bentley went with the same starting 11 that began their match at Sutton United as Femi Seriki, Rayhaan Tulloch and Connor Malley all came on as substitutes in their last game in place of Ball, Keohane and Abraham Odoh.
Pools goalkeeper Ben Killip only had to make one stop to collect his first clean sheet of the season since September, Rollin Menayese scored his first of the domestic campaign and they got some help from Crawley Town defender Travis Johnson, whose own goal in the 81st minute provided the visitors with a two-goal cushion late in that contest.
In this exact fixture last season, former midfielder Bryn Morris put them in front after 10 minutes of play, Josh Umerah has seven goals for them domestically this season but has not scored since mid-October, while the only strike for Christopher Missilou this year came away from home last month, when Hartlepool were beaten 3-1 by Barrow.
Euan Murray returned to full fitness last week and started alongside Menayese, Reghan Tumilty, David Ferguson and Jamie Sterry in a back five, while Mark Shelton was on the substitutes bench for the full 90 minutes, having previously sustained a knock.
Rochdale possible starting lineup:
O'Donnell; Keohane, Graham, Ebanks-Landell, John; Malley, Diagouraga; Henderson, Ball, Odoh; Quigley
Hartlepool United possible starting lineup:
Killip; Tumilty, Ferguson, Murray, Menayese, Sterry; Hastie, Featherstone, Sylla; Umerah, Grey
We say: Rochdale 2-1 Hartlepool United
Defensively, the Pools have looked out of sorts and unsure of themselves through much of the campaign, and one solid outing is not enough to suggest they have fixed all of those deficiencies which we have seen this season.
Aside from their previous encounter, most of Rochdale's matches have been right there for the taking, and finding the back of the net against a unit as leaky as Pools should be a little easier for them than it has been in previous encounters.
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