Colchester United will be hoping to put further distance between themselves and the relegation zone this Saturday when they welcome Tranmere Rovers to the Colchester Community Stadium.
The visitors find themselves in the playoff positions heading into this match, but even though a victory could take them second, a defeat has the potential to see them slump out of the top six.
Match preview
Colchester United are sitting just above relegation right now, with only two places between them and the drop zone, and just eight points keeping them safe at the moment.
This is place real pressure on each performance that they have, with the club having won just nine games all season, while they also lay claim to the fifth-worst goal difference in the division.
Despite that, the club have improved drastically as of late, losing only two of their previous six matches; however, they were the most recent outings that the squad have had.
Even those defeats were closely fought, as each match ended 1-0, firstly against Bristol Rovers, and then against Forest Green Rovers in midweek, where an early goal from Matthew Stevens proved to be decisive.
However, Colchester will be looking to take the form they had going before that, where they went four games undefeated with two draws and victories taking place in that time.
Unlike their opponents, Tranmere Rovers have thrived so far this season, which is why they find themselves fighting for promotion into League One, but it is tight at the top of the table.
Three teams find themselves on 63 points right now, including Micky Mellon's men, and a victory this weekend could see them climb into one of the automatic spots, potentially as high as second.
However, there are plenty of teams knocking on the playoff door at the moment, and a loss would open up the chance to them as well, which means there is no room for error on Saturday.
Tranmere have only won twice in their previous six matches, which is a type of form they will want to address immediately, especially after being held to a 1-1 draw against Sutton United in their last outing.
The squad will take confidence from the fact they won 2-0 during their previous outing against Colchester, with goals from Josh Hawkes and Peter Clarke proving to be enough on the day.
- D
- D
- W
- W
- L
- L
- D
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- L
- W
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- D
Team News
Colchester United will be missing Tyreik Wright and Armando Dobra this weekend, as both men have been selected for international duty, representing their respective countries.
Luke Hannant (illness) and Owura Edwards (injury) had each missed out on the recent defeat against Forest Green, and that is something that could continue to be a problem again this weekend.
The visitors are also dealing with several fitness issues, with Paul Glatzel being unavailable for the remainder of this season with a hamstring problem, while Kieron Morris also has a hurt shoulder.
Jay Spearing brings a lot of experience to the Tranmere team; however, he has also been injured as of late, although he has been working on recovering, but it is unclear if this game will be too soon for him.
Colchester United possible starting lineup:
George; Coxe, Chambers, Eastman, Kenlock; Skuse, Sarpong-Wiredu; Chilvers, Sears, Andrews; Akinde
Tranmere Rovers possible starting lineup:
Murphy; Cogley, Davies, Clarke, MacDonald; Hawkes, O'Connor, Warrington, McPake; Nevitt, Hemmings
We say: Colchester United 1-2 Tranmere Rovers
Colchester United head into this match much lower in the table, therefore they are automatically the underdogs, but in terms of recent form, they are actually playing better than their opponents.
However, with the visitors having a lot to fight for in terms of a potential promotion, Tranmere Rovers will be battling hard here, and they should have enough to take all three points.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Tranmere Rovers win with a probability of 37.1%. A win for Colchester United had a probability of 34.89% and a draw had a probability of 28%.
The most likely scoreline for a Tranmere Rovers win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.43%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (7.88%) and 0-2 (6.84%). The likeliest Colchester United win was 1-0 (11%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.16%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 11% likelihood.
