Southend United host Solihull Moors in the National League on Saturday evening, 11 April 2026, with both clubs chasing something meaningful as the season tightens up. Southend sit seventh and still have eyes on the promotion picture, while Solihull are down in 13th and need points to finish with any kind of momentum. One side is trying to stay in touch with the play-off pack. The other is trying to stop this campaign drifting into the background.
For Kevin Maher’s Southend, this is the sort of fixture that can define a run-in. They’re strong enough at Roots Hall, they’ve been winning enough games lately, and they’ve got the kind of home numbers that usually travel well into late-season football. Solihull arrive with a lighter burden, but not much wiggle room in their own quest for respectability. Chris Millington’s team can score, they can make games messy, and they’re rarely a soft touch. That said, their away record tells its own story.
The meeting also comes with a familiar edge. Southend have had the better of this fixture more often than not, and the recent history between the clubs has produced goals. Plenty of them. You don’t need much imagination to see why the market has opened around another lively contest.
Southend United Form & Analysis
Southend come into this one on the back of a sharp little surge. Their last six reads like a side finding its feet at the right moment: a 3-2 home win over Rochdale, a 1-0 defeat at Altrincham, then a 1-1 draw with Woking before they edged past Yeovil Town 2-1 and Braintree Town 3-2 at home. They followed that with a ruthless 3-0 win away at Sutton United on 6 April. Four wins from the last five. That’s proper play-off form.
The nature of those wins matters. Southend aren’t just grinding out 1-0s and hoping for luck. They’ve scored three at Sutton, three against Braintree, and three against Rochdale. Even when they’ve been tested, they’ve found a reply. Gus Scott-Morriss and Slavi Spasov did the damage at Sutton, and that felt like another sign of a side carrying threat from different areas. The only real blot in that run was the narrow loss at Altrincham, and even that came in a tight game. Since then, they’ve been unbeaten for four matches. They’re moving in the right direction.
At home, Southend’s record is exactly why they’re still in the play-off conversation. Twelve wins, six draws and only three defeats at Roots Hall is a serious return, with 39 goals scored and just 18 conceded. That’s the sort of balance managers love. They’re not reckless, but they’re certainly not timid either. The league average for home sides sits well below that kind of output, so Southend are clearly doing something right in front of their own crowd. The one thing that really stands out is how hard they are to keep quiet. Even if they don’t dominate every game, they usually create enough to get on the scoresheet. And once they score first, they tend to control the tone of the match.
There is a small caveat. Southend’s overall defensive record is excellent, but they’re not completely shut-down at the back. They’ve conceded in some of the more open games, and when they’re forced into a scrap, the door can stay open at both ends. That doesn’t frighten them. It probably suits them more than a stale chess match. Still, if they’re going to keep pushing the top end of the table, this is the kind of home game they have to win.
Solihull Moors Form & Analysis
Solihull’s form has been a bit more erratic, and the pattern is easy to read. They beat Boreham Wood 4-1 at home on 6 April, but that came straight after a 1-0 loss at Tamworth. Before that, they beat Altrincham 1-0, drew 1-1 away at Truro City, lost 3-0 at home to FC Halifax Town, and drew 1-1 at Brackley Town. In other words, they’ve mixed a few tidy results with some sharp setbacks. It’s been a stop-start stretch rather than a convincing surge.
That Boreham Wood win was useful, though. Four goals is four goals, and you don’t dismiss that. Joe Sbarra was among the scorers, as were Lewis Baines, Darius Lipsiuc and Josh Landers, and it showed that Solihull can be dangerous when they get on top in a game. They don’t need a huge amount to create chances, either. Across their most recent home outing, they were clinical enough to punish Boreham Wood’s mistakes and turn a fairly modest xG return into a big scoreline. Fine. But away from home, the picture changes.
Their road record is only 5 wins from 20 and just 23 points collected, with 23 scored and 29 conceded. That’s mid-table away form at best, and it’s hard to ignore. Solihull can nick points on the road — the draws at Truro and Brackley prove that — but they don’t often take control. When they do win away, it’s usually by fine margins. When they lose, they often look vulnerable for long stretches. That’s the problem here. Against one of the stronger home sides in the division, they won’t get many free passes.
There’s a slight danger in underestimating them because the table says 13th. They’ve scored 67 league goals overall, which is a healthy return, and they do have enough attacking quality to make a mess of a game if Southend get sloppy. But the defensive side is shaky enough to worry about. Sixty-eight conceded tells you where the pain points are. Against a Southend side that’s winning at home and scoring freely, that’s not a comfortable place to be.
Head-to-Head
This fixture has leaned Southend’s way in recent meetings, and often in fairly convincing fashion. Southend beat Solihull 2-1 away on 30 August 2025, won 4-2 at Solihull last September, and had previously put three past them away in March 2024 and five past them at home in October 2023. There’s been the odd exception — Solihull won 1-0 at Roots Hall in April 2025 — but the broader pattern is clear enough.
Goals tend to follow as well. These games haven’t usually been cagey. Southend have often found a way through early, and that’s a big reason this market keeps leaning towards a busy scoreline. If you’re looking for a historical nudge, that’s the one. Not much room for caution in this matchup.
We Predict: Over 2.5 Goals
We’re backing Over 2.5 Goals at 4/7 for this one. It’s short, yes, but it looks the right side of the line. Southend have hit four wins in five and three of those wins have come with at least three goals in the game. Solihull can contribute too, even if their away form is patchy. One goal from them is enough to keep this moving.
The home side’s record is the big pointer. Southend have scored 39 at Roots Hall and conceded 18, and that balance usually produces matches with a bit of life in them. Solihull’s away numbers aren’t bad enough to rule them out of the scoring picture either, especially with 23 goals on the road and a defence that’s leaked regularly. The xG projection has Southend on 2.3 and Solihull on 0.9, which fits a 2-1 type of game nicely. That’s the angle here. Southend to edge it, but not without a response from the visitors.
A 2-1 home win feels the cleanest scoreline. If you want something a touch more ambitious, Southend to win and both teams to score is the natural alternative. They’ve done enough lately to suggest they can carry the game — and Solihull are rarely blank on every trip.
