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With two defeats in their opening three league games, Rovers languish only just above the relegation places and although it's early days yet, Ronnie Moore will be keen for his side to pick up three points here as Tranmere look to make Prenton Park a fortress this season.
Northampton Town team profile:
Formed: 1897
Ground: Sixfields
Manager: Stuart Gray
Nickname: The Cobblers
Previous Meetings:
It's not long since Tranmere last faced Northampton Town, with Rovers travelling to Sixfields on the final day of the 2007/08 season as the two teams played out a fairly meaningless game.
Despite being a dead-rubber match, so to speak, the match was still a reasonably exciting one, although there was very little atmosphere inside the ground.
Northampton however didn't take long to open the scoring, as some sloppy defending from Tranmere allowed the ball to come into the box and despite having chances to clear, Rovers didn't, and Akinfenwa eventually nipped in to hit the ball home.
Kay and Stockdale came close for Tranmere before the visitors did eventually equalise just before half-time with Chris Greenacre scoring a spectacular thirteenth goal of the season.
The Cobblers struggled to clear a corner and Chris Shuker headed the ball back into the danger area for Rovers, from where Greenacre scored an over-head kick to level the scores.
The second half saw plenty more action though, not to meantion controversy, with Goodison firstly booked for a tackle he had not made before Poul Hubertz rose unmarked to head home a free-kick that Ben Chorley had needlessly given away just after the hour mark.
Hubertz should then have been sent off for removing his shirt, what would have been his second booking, but it was Ian Goodison who would be taking the early shower, as the Tranmere captain was booked for an incident with Cobblers player Ryan Gilligan, who had been strangling Goodison.
After all that then, you would have thought there was so little to describe of the game at Prenton Park in September, but that is far from the case, as the game finished 2-2 with Tranmere coming from 2-0 down to draw.
The game, in which Steve Davies injured his cruciate knee ligaments which resulted in him missing most of the remainder of the season, saw Northampton take the lead after just twelve minutes as Kirk ran on to a Holt flick-on to score.
With Northampton having had chances to double their lead, they had to wait until the 39-minute mark to make it 2-0, as Chris Greenacre gave the ball away in midfield for Tranmere and Jason Crowe picked up the ball before crossing it to Hubertz who headed home.
Rovers though were to salvage something from this match, thanks to late goals from Chris Shuker and Gareth Taylor.
Shuker and Taylor had both had chances to score for Rovers, as had Mike Jones, before Rovers did eventually score on 69-minutes as Jones crossed and Shuker eventually finished after brilliantly bringing the ball down with his first touch.
Greenacre and substitute Craig Curran put chances wide for Tranmere and it looked as if they were going to finish the losing side, but on 89 minutes, Gareth Taylor netted his first goal for over eight months as the tall target-man, now with Doncaster Rovers, rose highest to expertly head home Chris Shuker's cross.
Vital Stats:
Tranmere are unbeaten in their last six home games against Northampton Town, a run that stretches back to 1986
In 18 home games against the Cobblers, Rovers have picked up eight wins and seven draws
In 36 meetings between the two sides at ay venue, Tranmere have netted an impessive 54 goals, 27 at home and 27 away
Rovers have never before played Northampton in August
On ten occasions when these sides have met, at least one team has scored three or more goals
On This Day:
2004: Mike Jackson scores for Tranmere in a 1-1 draw away at Stockport
1994: John King's Tranmere beat Luton Town 4-2 at Prenton Park in Division One to move up to ninth in the table
1963: Carlisle United are hammered 6-1 at Prenton Park by Tranmere in front of a crowd of ovre 9,000
In total, Tranmere have played seventeen games on August 30th, winning six, losing eight and drawing three. They have scored and conceded the same amount of goals, 28.
The Form Book:
Northampton first five games: WDLWW
Tranmere first four games: LWLL
Northampton Town have had a good start to the season, picking up three wins from five games and only losing once as they have progressed to the third round of the League Cup and lie ninth in League One.
They opened the season with a heavy 4-2 win over Cheltenham, a result that put the Cobblers top of League One, thanks to goals from Doig, Akinfenwa (x2) and Constantine, before Crowe scored the only goal a few days later in a 1-0 win at Millwall in the Carling Cup.
A first defeat of the season followed a few days later at MK Dons, with a Wilbraham second half goal enough to win the game for the Dons, before Northampton played Millwall again, this time in the League and at Sixfields, but a dull game ended 0-0.
On Tuesday though, Northampton lit up their season with an excellent 2-1 win away to an under-strength Bolton in the Carling Cup second half.
Akinfenwa scored both goals for Northampton, putting the visitors 2-0 up, and although substitute Kevin Nolan pulled one back for the Trotters, it wasn't enough as Northampton won 2-1.
Tranmere Rovers have made a less than impressive start to the season, picking up just three points from their opening three league games and being kncoked out of the League Cup in the process.
Rovers started the season on the road at Swindon Town, where defensive lapses cost them dearly as Ronnie Moore's side lost 3-1, with Bas Savage scoring a late concelation goal for the Super Whites.
Three days later Rovers were on the road again at Grimsby, but they continued to struggle to get to grips with their new 4-3-3 formation and once again went down fighting, losing the game 2-0.
This was not for a lack of trying though. Rovers had over double the amount of efforts on goal that their hosts did, but the likes of Sonko and Curran just couldn't find the target, whilst Rovers hit the woodwork three times.
Tranmere did pick up their first win of the season at home to Hartlepool a few days later though, beating the Monkey Hangers 1-0 at Prenton Park thanks to an excellent goal from Craig Curran, with the striker shooting and scoring on the turn from outside the area.
It was back to the losing ways on the road seven days later though, as Tranmere lost 3-1 away to Leicester City in League One.
Once again, defensive errors cost Tranmere dearly as they failed to switch on for two free-kicks and whilst Chris Shuker did briefly have Tranmere back in it at 2-1, Rovers couldn't get the second goal and Leicester caught the away side on the break, with Fryatt eventually scrambling the ball home.
Double Hit:
Well travelled winger Sam Aiston is the most recent player to have represented both clubs, with the former Sunderland player joining
A youngster with Newcastle United, Aiston failed to make it as a first-team professional at St. James' Park, and he committed the deadly sin in his bid to gain first team football, making the short move to the Stadium of Light as he signed for
However, the shaggy-haired winger managed just 24 appearances for the Black Cats in five years at the Stadium of Light, and, following loan spells at
Whilst at
Despite his terrific work rate, Aiston lacked pace and an end product, and he often gave the impression that he was running into dead ends. He did however make an impressive 40 appearances for Rovers, scoring three goals in his only season for Tranmere before being released and joining
A season down the line and 23 appearances later, Aiston found himself at Burton as he joined Nigel Clough's side on a loan deal on the final day of the summer transfer window in 2007 which is where he made five more appearances, before Brian Little snapped up the player, firstly on a loan deal and then permanently, for Wrexham, where has added a further twenty-four games to his career tally.
One To Watch:
Northampton Town are currently Adebayo Akinfenwa's ninth club, despite being only 26, but he has made a blistering start to his Sixfields career and will be hoping to continue that this weekend against Tranmere Rovers.
Starting his career in the League of Wales with Barry Town, Akinfenwa was soon spotted by English scouts and picked up by Boston on a one month contract in October 2003.
Scoring once in four games, he soon moved on to Leyton Orient on a three month deal, playing twice for the O's before joining Rushden and Diamonds, where he lasted just a month before joining Doncaster in February 2004.
Already becoming somewhat of a journey man, Akinfenwa netted four times in nine games for "Donny" before he left them at the end of the 2003/04 season for Torquay United.
The striker stayed on the south coast for a season, netting sixteen times in 41 games for the Seagulls before making the move to Swansea City in time for the start of the 2005/06 season, when Swansea would be playing in League One after promotion and at their brand new Liberty Stadium.
A broken leg however severely hampered Akinfenwa's Swansea career and in nearly two and a half seasons with the club, he managed just 77 appearances, 25 of those as a substitute, and scored 21 goals.
After his injury, Akinfenwa joined Millwall for three months in November 2007 but failed to score in nine games for the club before joining Northampton in January this year.
Following the move, he really couldn't have wished for a much better start to his Northampton career, having netted eleven times in twenty games for the club.
Despite losing some of his pace following his broken leg, the 26-year old, who wears the number ten shirt for Northampton, is looking to be back to some of his best form and is freely scoring goals, with four in five so far this season for the Cobblers.
Around League One:
As ever, there are plenty of interesting fixtures around this weekend in League One, none more so than at Elland Road where following on from their 6-1 thrashing of bottom club Hereford, Bristol Rovers take on Leeds United, who will be looking to improve on an average start to the season that sees them just one point better off than Tranmere.
Table topping Oldham travel to Colchester as they look to continue their 100& record whilst Leicester City, second, have seen their game postponed due to international call ups.
Carlisle United and Brighton who are third and fourth are both at home to Yeovil Town and Leyton Orient whilst Huddersfield and Millwall go looking for their first wins of the season as they take on each other at The New Den.
Team News:
Ian Moore and Godwin Antwi both missed the defeat to Leicester but it is unknown as to whether either will be available this weekend. Chris Shuker on the other hand made a successful come back at Leicester, scoring Tranmere's goal, whilst Charlie Barnett is fit enough to take his place in the 16.
Hopefully, a midweek cup game will have taken a lot out of the Cobblers, and perhaps they will have taken their eye off the league somewhat after their excellent midweek win at Bolton.
After a splendid start to the season, Northampton haven't scored in their last two league games and hopefully that lack of goalscoring will continue this weekend against Ronnie Moore's side.
In the game against Hartlepool, Rovers looked much more comfortable with their 4-3-3 formation than they have on the road, picking up three defeats away from home compared to one played, one won at Prenton Park.
That is not to say that Rovers have looked particularly poor against Leicester and Grimsby, as that is not 100% true. Indeed, it's just been a failure to take the chances that have come their way that has often cost Ronnie Moore's side, with Eddie Sonko and Craig Curran in particular missing opportunities in recent weeks.
Should Tranmere find their scoring boots then, winning would be much easier. This has to be the case against Northampton this Saturday, as Tranmere must win their home games with their away form looking so suspect.
They will have more chances to score on Saturday than they did at Leicester, as the visitors are likely to be more conservative away from home than they would be on home territory, so Rovers will have to exploit their opposition and push hard.