Maidenhead United will play their final National League game of the season on Sunday when they welcome Notts County to York Road.
For the visitors, this match provides an opportunity to gain some momentum ahead of the playoffs, where they will be attempting to earn a promotion to League Two.
Match preview
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Maidenhead United may not be fighting for promotion this season, but they do have the chance to move further up the National League table with a victory on Sunday.
The club is currently 16th in the division, but three points has the potential to move them up above Woking if they slip up, while a defeat could lead to them falling down to 18th.
Despite the fact they are in the bottom half of the table, the Magpies head into this match in great form, having put together a seven-match unbeaten run.
Alan Devonshire's men faced a team in the playoff positions the last time they competed, and they secured three points during that game.
Maidenhead defeated Grimsby Town 3-1, with an own goal from Luke Waterfall, while Sam Barratt and Ryan Upward also got themselves on the scoresheet in that match.
The visitors will be hoping not to slip up as the Mariners did this Sunday when they make the journey to York Road for their last league encounter.
Notts County have already secured a place in the playoffs, and the focus now turns to building up confidence and momentum heading into that game.
Ian Burchnall's team have been dominant as of late, and they come into this one on the back of consecutive victories, which also saw them keep two clean sheets.
Goals from Callum Roberts, Kyle Wootton and Ruben Rodrigues helped them win 3-0 against Altrincham in their previous outing, and a repeat of that result would be welcomed by the squad.
Notts County have been very dominant at home this season, yet on the road they have been slightly less consistent, having lost eight times.
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Team News
Emile Acquah will be leading the line for Maidenhead on Sunday, as he looks to fire his team into another positive result to wrap up the season.
Devonshire could go with an unchanged starting lineup from the team that defeated Grimsby, especially with none of those players having any major fitness concerns.
Notts County could use this as an opportunity to rest some legs for the playoffs, but it is more likely that they will go full strength, and then introduce substitutions earlier than usual.
Richard Brindley was able to return for their recent victory, which was welcome news for Burchnall, as he slotted in at the back with Alex Lacey and Adam Chicksen.
Maidenhead United possible starting lineup:
Gyollai; Massey, Wakely, Wells, Clerima; Ferdinand, Donnellan, Sparkes, Barratt; Adams, Acquah
Notts County possible starting lineup:
Slocombe; Chicksen, Lacey, Brindley; Kelly-Evans, Richardson; Palmer, O'Brien, Roberts; Rodrigues, Wootton
We say: Maidenhead United 1-2 Notts County
Even though they do not really have anything to play for, Maidenhead United will be wanting to wrap their season up in style to continue their recent run of form.
That should lead to them providing a stern challenge in this encounter, but the visitors will likely prove to be too strong here.
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 Notts County win with a probability of 45.01%. A win for Maidenhead United had a probability of 30.94% and a draw had a probability of 24%.
The most likely scoreline for a Notts County win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.2%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.37%) and 0-2 (6.91%). The likeliest Maidenhead United win was 2-1 (7.41%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.14%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with an 8.4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Notts County would win this match.
