Huddersfield Town and Luton Town will square off on Monday evening with just one point separating the promotion-chasing clubs in the Championship standings.
Given the recent inconsistency of both teams, they head into the fixture at the John Smith's Stadium desperately requiring three points to maintain some distance between themselves and seventh position.
Match preview
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When Huddersfield were on their lengthy unbeaten streak, automatic promotion appeared to be a real possibility, but recent successive defeats have derailed those ambitions unless Bournemouth capitulate during the closing weeks of the campaign.
Nevertheless, after losing to Millwall and the Cherries in convincing fashion, the Terriers were able to bounce back with a much-needed 1-0 victory at Hull City last time out.
Playing the second half with a player advantage certainly helped Huddersfield, but it took a late Harry Toffolo goal to end their three-game winless streak in the Championship.
Despite sitting in third position, however, Carlos Corberan will recognise that his club are not necessarily in a strong position with Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough possessing games in hands.
Still, Huddersfield will ultimately dictate their own fate, Monday's fixture representing the first of three in succession against direct rivals for the playoffs.
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With Forest to follow this game, Luton find themselves in a similar position, and it only increases the stakes ahead of one of the biggest games of their season.
Nathan Jones will have mixed feelings about the last two games, Luton coming from behind on two occasions to draw with Millwall before they let slip a lead against bottom-placed Peterborough United in the closing stages last time out.
Overall though, the Hatters have extended an unbeaten streak to four matches and collecting 11 points from a possible 18, a return which Jones and his squad would probably have taken at this stage of the campaign.
Luton have also netted in their last 10 fixtures in the Championship, Elijah Adebayo recently reaching 15 goals for the campaign and the other strikes being shared around the squad.
Back in October, these two clubs played out a goalless draw at Kenilworth Road in a game which did not suggest that either of these clubs would be occupying third and fourth position ahead of the second weekend in April.
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Team News
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Huddersfield will be able to call upon Jonathan Hogg and Danny Ward after they missed the Hull game through illness.
Hogg could return to take the place of either Jonathan Russell or Duane Holmes, while leading marksman Ward should get the nod ahead of Jordan Rhodes.
However, Matty Pearson faces up to two months on the sidelines after suffering a knee injury in training.
With Cameron Jerome being withdrawn during the first half in midweek, Harry Cornick appears in line to return to the Luton attack.
While Fred Onyedinma provided an assist against Peterborough, James Bree may revert to right wing-back to accommodate the return of Sonny Bradley in a back three.
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Turton, Lees, Colwill, Toffolo; Russell, Hogg, O'Brien; Thomas, Ward, Koroma
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Shea; Bradley, Naismith, Kioso; Bree, Lansbury, Mpanzu, Campbell, Bell; Cornick, Adebayo
We say: Huddersfield Town 1-1 Luton Town
Regardless of the result on Monday night, both teams will still have five more games to rectify matters if things do not go their way. Nevertheless, this feels like a potentially-pivotal contest, one which both clubs will look to not lose rather than push for all three points if the game is close.
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 Huddersfield Town win with a probability of 38.01%. A win for Luton Town had a probability of 34.09% and a draw had a probability of 27.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Huddersfield Town win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.51%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.01%) and 2-0 (7.03%). The likeliest Luton Town win was 0-1 (10.75%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.13%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Huddersfield Town would win this match.
