Rochdale welcome Chesterfield at Crown Oil Arena, Rochdale, Greater Manchester on Friday, Jan 1 at 4:00 PM in a League 2 fixture that's tighter on paper than the positions suggest — just 2 points split them in the table.

Rochdale come into this fixture in good form (3W 1D 1L recently). Chesterfield travel in mixed form (2W 2D 1L), which may hand the initiative to the hosts. Rochdale won their last outing, while Chesterfield suffered defeat — home advantage backed by momentum.

In 10 previous meetings, Rochdale lead 5–3 with 2 draws. Their last encounter ended in a 2–2 draw. These two tend to produce goals — averaging 3.2 per game in recent meetings.

Verdict: This looks an evenly matched contest. Home advantage gives Rochdale a slight edge, but Chesterfield are capable of causing problems. A draw would be a fair result.