Two sides with nothing but pride left to play for in the 2021-22 National League in Maidenhead United and Aldershot Town lock horns on Monday afternoon at York Road.
The hosts drew 1-1 away at Torquay United over the weekend, while the Shots confirmed their place in the fifth tier for 2022-23 after beating Notts County 3-1.
Match preview
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A five-game unbeaten run is seeing Maidenhead United end the 2021-22 campaign on a relatively strong note, and their second draw on the bounce came at the home of Torquay on Saturday, but they would have been frustrated not to take all three points back to their headquarters.
On the stroke of the hour mark, Sam Barratt drew first blood for Alan Devonshire's side, who were then pegged back in the dying embers by Joe Lewis and forced to settle for just the one point, but that will hardly prove disastrous in the grand scheme of things.
With a top-half finish way out of reach and the fate of the three relegated sides now sealed, Maidenhead occupy 16th spot in the table before their final three games of the season - two of which come versus playoff hopefuls in Grimsby Town and Notts County.
Monday's game may therefore represent the best opportunity for Maidenhead to put another three points on the board before the curtain closes on the season, and they have lost just twice at home in 2022 before the visit of an Aldershot side who breathed a massive sigh of relief at the weekend.
Simply needing to focus on their task at hand while King's Lynn Town played out a pulsating six-goal thriller with Eastleigh, Aldershot confirmed their fifth-tier status in style by putting three past League Two hopefuls Notts County in a bad-tempered affair.
No fewer than 11 yellow cards were brandished by the referee, with Notts County also ending the game with 10 men after Dion Kelly-Evans's sending off in the final moments, but goals from Mikael Ndjoli, Tommy Willard and Sinclair Armstrong propelled Mark Molesley's side to their safety-clinching victory.
Preparations for the 2022-23 season can already begin for Aldershot, who remain 20th in the standings but have now cut the gap to 19th-placed Eastleigh down to just one point, but they travel to Maidenhead having won just once on the road since March.
Aldershot's home clash with Maidenhead just after the New Year ended with the spoils shared in a 1-1 stalemate, and another low-key affair cannot be ruled out with both sides assured of their bottom-half rankings.
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Team News
Maidenhead midfielder Dan Sparkes returned from injury to play 18 minutes as a substitute against Torquay, and the 30-year-old is sure to be considered for a start if fit enough amid the difficult 48-hour turnaround.
Emile Acquah, Bradley Keetch and Shawn McCoulsky are also vying for spots in the first XI, with Devonshire not needing to take any unnecessary fitness risks at this stage of the season.
As for Aldershot, Molesley will also consider a raft of alterations for Monday's game, with Armstrong putting his name in the hat for a start despite being booked a minute after his strike against Notts County.
Alfy Whittingham and Colin Daniel also came on as substitutes at the weekend and are options for change for the visitors, who have Mohamed Bettamer ready and waiting in the wings too.
Maidenhead United possible starting lineup:
Gyollai; Sheckleford, Massey, Wakely, Wells; Sparkes, Keetch, Donnellan, Barratt; McCoulsky, Smith
Aldershot Town possible starting lineup:
Ross; Phillips, Jordan, Lyons-Foster; Saunders, Whittingham, Harris, Sylla, Daniel; Armstrong, Ndloji
We say: Maidenhead United 0-0 Aldershot Town
Spectators should not expect fireworks to fly between these two fatigued sides who are only fighting for pride, but Maidenhead have developed a very resilient streak of late.
Aldershot's recent spate of victories should serve them well too, but wins away from home are a sticky point for the Shots, and we would not be surprised to see this one end without the net rippling.
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 Maidenhead United win with a probability of 50.7%. A win for Aldershot Town had a probability of 25.56% and a draw had a probability of 23.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Maidenhead United win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.65%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (9.64%) and 2-0 (8.33%). The likeliest Aldershot Town win was 1-2 (6.47%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.16%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 5.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a draw in this match.
