Colchester vs Peterborough prediction 21.11.2023

• Competition: EFL Trophy
• Date: Tuesday, 21st November 2023
• Kickoff: 19:30 UK / 20:30 CET
• Venue: Colchester Community Stadium (Colchester)

On Tuesday evening, Colchester United will face off against Peterborough United at Colchester Community Stadium in the last game of the group phase of the EFL Trophy. 

We can see a steady decline in Colchester's results in recent years. After being relegated in the 2020/21 season from League One, the U'2 were constantly around the playoffs. But in the last three seasons, they were nowhere near it. Last year, they had one of the worst seasons in a long time, finishing 20th in League Two, only six points away from the danger zone. This season looks slightly better, as they sit in 17th place with 20 points after 18 rounds. In the EFL Trophy, Colchester are in the last place of the group, but they are in a good position to secure the next phase since they played one game fewer than Tottenham U21 and Cambridge United. They need only one point vs Peterborough to advance to the next stage.

In recent seasons, Peterborough have been constantly among the best teams in League One, even securing promotion in the 2020/21 season, but were instantly relegated in the following season. This season looks pretty good for the Posh as they are 5th in League One, just four points away from the desired second place. They also secured the second round of the FA Cup after beating Salford and the second phase of the EFL Trophy after winning the first two games. In this game vs Colchester, they will have no motive and will surely play with a rotated squad.

Colchester vs Peterborough pick: Over 2.5 goals

Generally speaking, Colchester are a team that mostly played high-scoring games throughout the season. In 22 games in all competitions, they had 15 games with three or more goals (68%). In Cup competitions (FA Cup, EFL Trophy, and Carabao Cup), they played four matches and were over 2.5 goals every time, with an incredible 4.25 goals per game.

Peterborough are in excellent goalscoring form, as they scored 18 goals in the last six games - three per game. Still, defensively, they have not been impressive and haven't had a clean sheet during that six-game period. Considering they will surely play with a heavily rotated squad, we do not trust their defense to keep the net intact. Because of that good offense and somewhat poor offensive display in recent games, the Posh were over 2.5 goals in the previous six games. 

In the last two (official) games, we saw three or more goals on both occasions. Considering those h2h games and everything above, we expect an exciting game with three or more goals, possibly with both teams scoring.