Our pick Away win Missed
Port Vale’s league momentum meets Scunthorpe’s cup threat
Port Vale have won three of their last five league games, while Scunthorpe arrive after five straight league defeats. But Scunthorpe’s only FA Cup match so far brought a 3-1 win.
📍 Vale Park
Preview written:
Match report
Final result: Port Vale 4-2 Scunthorpe.
Match statistics (home team first). Shots: 13–8; Shots on target: 7–3; Corners: 4–3.
Goals
- 8' Keyrol Alexis Figueroa Norales · Jaheim·Headley · Port Vale
- 58' Onel Hernández · Keyrol Alexis Figueroa Norales · Port Vale
- 61' Max Watters · Jaheim·Headley · Port Vale
- 86' James Norwood · Regan Clayton · Scunthorpe
- 90' Declan Howe · J. Gale · Scunthorpe
- 90+5' Oliver Lynch · George Byers · Port Vale
Cards
- 78' Regan Clayton · Scunthorpe
Match stats
Ratings and statistics: API-Football.
Confirmed lineups
Port Vale · 3-5-2
- 20M. MarošiG
- 25C. HumphreysD
- 4J. MoonD
- 5C. HallD
- 6J. Lawrence-GabrielM
- 38R. WaltersM
- 7G. ByersM
- 33G. HallM
- 3J. HeadleyM
- 11O. HernándezF
- 24K. FigueroaF
Coach: J. Brady
Scunthorpe · 4-2-3-1
- 1L. JonesG
- 2Oliver RoseD
- 4Seri Jéan Leroy-BelehouanD
- 5W. EvansD
- 33T. DentonD
- 21J. StarbuckM
- 17D. BattyM
- 14P. JonesM
- 8A. BeestinM
- 10L. BrennanM
- 9James NorwoodF
Coach: Jacob Butterfield
Match facts
Recent form
Last 5 league games, latest on the right
Goals per game
| · | Scored | Conceded |
|---|---|---|
| Port Vale | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Scunthorpe | 3.0 | 1.0 |
Last meetings
- 2022 Port Vale 1-0 Scunthorpe
- 2021 Scunthorpe 0-1 Port Vale
- 2021 Scunthorpe 2-0 Port Vale
- 2020 Port Vale 0-1 Scunthorpe
- 2020 Scunthorpe 1-2 Port Vale
PreviaXI model
Model confidence: Open game
- Expected goals (model)
- 1.06 – 1.24
- Double chance
- 12 · 70%1X 61% · X2 69%
- Over 2.5 goals
- 40%Over 1.5: 68% · Over 3.5: 20%
- Both teams score
- 47%
- Clean sheet
- 29% – 35%Port Vale–Scunthorpe
- Half-time result
- X · 46%1 24% · 2 30%
- Half-time / full-time
- 2/2 · 23%X/X 19% · 1/1 17%
Statistical model based on expected goals (xG), results and match statistics from the last two seasons. For information only. How our model works →
Different league trajectories
Port Vale have won three of their last five League Two games, while Scunthorpe have lost five in a row in the National League. That contrast gives the FA Cup tie at Vale Park a clear storyline, though the league positions underline that neither side has enjoyed a comfortable campaign: Port Vale are 19th on 15 points after 12 matches, and Scunthorpe are 23rd on 10 points after 15.
The cup offers Scunthorpe a chance to put that losing run behind them, while Port Vale can draw confidence from a more positive recent league sequence. Yet the visitors have already shown they can make an impact in this competition.
League form versus cup momentum
Port Vale’s latest league result was a win, completing a five-game run of three victories, one draw and one defeat. Scunthorpe’s most recent match was a defeat, their fifth consecutive loss in league action.
The cup picture is more encouraging for Scunthorpe: they won their one FA Cup match, scoring three goals and conceding one. Those figures come from one match in this competition only, rather than representing their wider form. Port Vale have not yet played in this FA Cup campaign.
A narrow edge in past meetings
Port Vale have won three of the last five meetings, with Scunthorpe winning the other two and no draws. Four of those five encounters featured two goals or fewer. The most recent meeting, in January 2022 in League Two, ended in a 1-0 Port Vale victory.
That history suggests the rivalry has often been tight, even as Scunthorpe’s cup win gives them a more immediate reason for belief.
The league gap cuts both ways
Port Vale compete in League Two, one division above Scunthorpe’s National League, but the hosts are only 19th in their own competition and the visitors are 23rd in theirs. So while the division gap favours Port Vale on paper, neither arrives with strong league standing. Scunthorpe’s three goals in their sole cup outing offer a counterpoint to their five straight league defeats.
Our prediction
Scunthorpe’s cup performance and Port Vale’s modest league position make this a close contest, despite the contrast in recent league form. PreviaXI’s model leans towards the visitors, whose attacking showing in their cup win gives them a route to edge a likely tight match.
Port Vale 0-1 Scunthorpe

