Oldham Athletic will welcome Sutton United to Boundary Park on Tuesday for a contest of major significance at both ends of the League Two table.
The hosts currently find themselves in the relegation zone while their visitors will aim to return to winning ways in the battle for playoff places.
Match preview
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Oldham Athletic find themselves in concerning form in the battle for League Two survival, having lost their last four matches and failed to win any of their last six.
Following a crucial spell in February, in which they earned three victories and a draw to move away from the bottom two, the Latics played out consecutive stalemates with Colchester United and Crawley Town, but they have been unable to add to their points tally since.
Having firstly suffered defeats to Carlisle United, Swindon Town and Walsall, John Sheridan's side most recently met Exeter City on home turf at the weekend, and they were handed a 2-0 loss as Kyle Taylor opened the scoring before the hour mark and Jevani Brown secured all three points for the visitors in the dying minutes.
While they were helped by every other side in the bottom six also losing last time out, the Latics remain three points adrift of safety and six points behind 21st-placed Barrow, meaning they will be desperate to record a vital win as their chances of survival decrease heading into the final straight of the season.
They welcome a Sutton side in a far different situation, as the visitors will be pushing to climb back into the top seven after a brief blip.
Following a five-game winless run, Sutton United strengthened their claim for a playoff place with back-to-back thrashings of Scunthorpe United and Rochdale, but they have been unable to add another notch to their wins column since.
Those victories, along with an unlikely penalty shootout triumph over Wigan Athletic to reach the EFL Trophy final, were firstly followed by a 1-0 away defeat to Walsall, before Matt Gray's side were beaten 2-1 by Swindon Town, but they were, at least, able to add a creditable point to their tally last time out.
The Us hosted fifth-placed Tranmere Rovers at the weekend, and, while they were held to a 1-1 draw after Ben Goodliffe gave them an early lead, Gray's men should still be relatively pleased with the point.
In their bid for a second straight promotion after reaching England's fourth tier for the first time in their history, Sutton currently sit ninth, but with a game in hand on seventh-placed Swindon Town, who are three points ahead, they will still feel they have a good chance of finishing in the playoffs if they can return to winning ways on Tuesday.
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Team News
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Oldham Athletic were boosted by the return of defender Jordan Clarke from a suspension last time out, and he should again line up in a back three alongside Will Sutton and Sam Hart.
The attacking line will be led by Davis Keillor-Dunn, who has netted 11 league goals this term, while Hallam Hope also plays an important role in the front three.
Sutton have several injury concerns to manage, as Robert Milsom, Isaac Olaofe, Louis John, Harry Beautyman, Donovan Wilson and Alistair Smith were all ruled out of the weekend's clash, although goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis was fit to start after a scare of his own.
Olaofe leads the side's scoring charts this season, leaving plenty of responsibility on Omar Bugiel and Richie Bennett at the top end of the pitch in his absence.
David Ajiboye is also a threat from the wing, having contributed seven goals and three assists in League Two so far this term.
Oldham Athletic possible starting lineup:
Rogers; Clarke, Sutton, Hart; Fage, Hunt, Whelan, Adams; Obadeyi, Keillor-Dunn, Hope
Sutton United possible starting lineup:
Bouzanis; Kizzi, Goodliffe, Rowe, Wyatt; Ajiboye, Lovatt, Eastmond, Boldewijn; Bugiel, Bennett
We say: Oldham Athletic 1-2 Sutton United
While they have been far from their best in recent weeks, we expect Sutton to make a return to winning ways on Tuesday.
They meet an Oldham side lacking any momentum, and Gray's men will hope to get their playoff push back on track with an away victory.
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 Sutton United win with a probability of 48.33%. A win for Oldham Athletic had a probability of 25.86% and a draw had a probability of 25.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sutton United win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.86%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.27%) and 0-2 (8.97%). The likeliest Oldham Athletic win was 1-0 (8.1%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.25%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 4.7% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Sutton United would win this match.
