Grimsby v Exeter Tips

Grimsby start their League Two campaign at home against Exeter. The hosts finished last season in 7th place and scored 74 goals, while Exeter were relegated from League One after conceding 61 goals. That makes a Grimsby win the most natural fit here, with current form and circumstances carrying more weight than older head-to-head results.

Two sides on different trajectories here. Grimsby had a positive season last year but just ended up falling short in the play-offs for promotion. Exeter are now at this level, having been relegated, but they have kept faith in Matt Taylor as manager after he came in for the last few weeks of last season. He knows how to get out of League Two, having done so with Exeter two years ago. I expect Grimsby to finish higher than Exeter, but with some new signings settling in I think an opening weekend draw is more likely here. Both sides would probably not be too dissatisfied with it.

Exeter are considered here, they pushed Plymouth all the way in the Cairibao on Monday and can build on that here.

In preseason and the early cup round, both of these two teams have scored in 3 of the last 4 games. They have an 80% strike rate on the BTTS line in previous meetings between these two teams over the last 5 matches.

I think Exeter are good for a goal here. They came back down to League Two; Matt Taylor got them promotion before and would love the same again. It's a slightly tougher ask with a much younger squad, but after watching them against Plymouth they had chances. If they get one today, they should cause Grimsby some problems. The hosts are too good and should win, though.