Sligo Rovers and Bohemians lock horns in the League of Ireland Premier Division on Saturday night, with both sides looking to claim all three points and boost their title hopes.
The hosts are yet to win a league game in June this year, while the visitors are unbeaten in their last five matches.
Match preview
Sligo Rovers have suffered a dip in form recently, losing 2-1 and 2-0 to Drogheda United and St Patrick's Athletic respectively, before drawing 1-1 in their last league match away at Derry City.
Jordan Gibson scored his sixth goal of the campaign to put the Bit O'Red's in front, however they were unable to hold onto their lead, as an 85th-minute strike from Ronan Boyce deflected off the foot of Shane Blaney and rolled into his own net.
Sligo's last three results have seen them slip from the summit down to third in the table, two points behind league leaders St Patrick's Athletic.
The 2012 league champions won the reverse fixture against Bohemians 3-1 in April this year, so Liam Buckley's men will have confidence that they can claim all three points again on Saturday to help get their league campaign back on track.
Bohemians claimed their fourth league win in five matches when they secured a narrow 1-0 home victory in the Dublin derby against title challengers Shamrock Rovers on Monday.
The league's top scorer Georgie Kelly found the net for the 11th time this campaign midway through the second half, to help claim all three points for Keith Long's side for the fifth successive time on home soil.
Bohemians only won two of their opening nine league matches this season, but they have since won six of their last eight games, which has propelled them into a title challenge heading into the halfway point of the campaign.
This good run of form has seen the Gypsies climb to fourth in the league table, five points behind Saturday's opponents Sligo Rovers and seven points adrift of the summit.
Bohemians are unbeaten in their last five visits to Sligo, including a 1-0 victory last season, and although another victory this weekend would see them remain in fourth place, it would keep them in touch with league leaders St Patrick's Athletic, who they are to face in a week's time.
- W
- W
- W
- L
- L
- D
- L
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
Team News
Sligo Rovers boss Buckley has alternated between a back three and a back four in each of his last six league matches, and he will likely change again from last weekend to a four-man defence.
Mark Byrne, Greg Bolger and Niall Morahan are all set to start in midfield, while Gibson could be joined in attack by Ryan De Vries and Walter Figueira.
As for Bohemians, Long may be tempted to name the same starting lineup that beat Shamrock Rovers on Monday.
Kelly is expected to lead the line as the lone striker once again, playing in front of attacking midfield trio Ali Coote, Ross Tierney and Liam Burt, who have all scored four goals so far this campaign.
Sligo Rovers possible starting lineup:
McGinley; Banks, Mahon, Horgan, McCourt; Byrne, Bolger, Morahan; Gibson, De Vries, Figueira
Bohemians possible starting lineup:
Talbot; Feely, Cornwall, C. Kelly, Wilson; Devoy, Buckley; Coote, Tierney, Burt; G. Kelly
We say: Sligo Rovers 1-2 Bohemians
No team have scored more goals so far this campaign than Bohemians (30), while Sligo Rovers have conceded the joint-fewest goals (13) from 17 league matches.
The visitors head into this fixture in better form and we feel that their momentum, as well as the form of star striker Georgie Kelly, can help them secure an away victory on Saturday.
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 Bohemians win with a probability of 40.36%. A win for Sligo Rovers had a probability of 30.22% and a draw had a probability of 29.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bohemians win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.76%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (8.05%) and 1-2 (7.81%). The likeliest Sligo Rovers win was 1-0 (11.41%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.35%). The actual scoreline of 4-0 was predicted with a 0.4% likelihood.
