League Two rivals AFC Wimbledon and Sutton United will vie for a spot in the third round of the EFL Trophy on Tuesday at Cherry Red Records Stadium in London.
The Dons went unbeaten in regulation time at the group stage, losing their last encounter to Portsmouth on penalties, while the Yellows scored a pair of second-half goals to defeat Oxford United 2-0 in their final group game, thus finishing second behind the Chelsea U-21 squad.
Match preview
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After missing out on the second round of this competition a season ago, Wimbledon have a shot at redemption on Tuesday.
They suffered a 1-0 defeat at Sutton United in the group stage in 2021-22, eliminating them from this event.
Following their relegation from League One last season, the club brought in Johnnie Jackson as manager, a former defender with plenty of experience playing in the lower tiers of English football.
As a player, he captured a League Two title with Notts County and won the League One championship at Charlton Athletic.
Since November, Wimbledon have shown more structure and organisation along the backline, allowing a goal or fewer in their six matches played this month.
Wimbledon have only suffered one defeat at home in all competitions since October, though that loss came against Sutton United when they only managed to fire one effort on target in the middle of last month, losing 1-0.
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On Saturday, Matt Gray saw his Sutton side end a five-match winless run in all competitions by defeating Rochdale 1-0.
The Amber and Chocolates have been poor in front of goal in recent outings, failing to find the back of the net in their last three matches in all competitions before their narrow victory over the weekend.
Domestically, they have only managed to collect five points so far this season away from home, conceding multiple goals on four occasions.
Sutton were the darlings of this competition in 2021-22, making it into the final for the first time, producing some memorable finishes in the knockout stage, winning three of their four elimination games on penalties before falling to Rotherham United 4-2 after extra-time.
They have allowed the opening goal in four of their last five matches in all competitions, having been outscored 7-1 in their previous four contests.
Team News
Goals from Ethan Chislett and Ayoub Assal helped Wimbledon to a 2-0 victory on Saturday over Tranmere Rovers as Nik Tzanev picked up his third clean sheet in his last four fixtures, making three stops.
Assal had the equaliser in their final EFL Trophy group stage match at the beginning of November, while Kwaku Frimpong, Courtney Senior and Aron Sasu all missed their spot kicks as they were beaten in a penalty shootout.
Six players who began their FA Cup replay match against Weymouth were in the starting 11 this weekend as Ryley Towler, Isaac Ogundere, Paris Maghoma, Assal, Harry Pell and Josh Davison all played the full 90 minutes on Saturday.
Will Randall scored the only goal for Sutton over the weekend, as Jack Rose made three saves to preserve the shutout, while their captain Craig Eastmond had the lone strike when they defeated Wimbledon in October.
Last season, Donovan Wilson was the hero for Sutton in the group stage against the Wombles with a 47th-minute strike, while Kylian Kouassi had two goals in their previous encounter in this competition.
Over the weekend, Gray went with the same starting 11 that he had versus Bradford City, though Charley Kendall and Kwame Thomas sat out against Rochdale after featuring as substitutes in their previous fixture.
AFC Wimbledon possible starting lineup:
Tzanev; Biler, Towler, Jenkins, Frimpong; Assal, Maghoma, Woodyard, Sasu; Davison, Bartley
Sutton United possible starting lineup:
Rose; Boldewijn, Kizzi, John, Milsom; Neufville, Eastmond, Beautyman, Randall; Kouassi, Wilson
We say: AFC Wimbledon 0-1 Sutton United
Playing Wimbledon seems to bring out the best in Sutton United, who are unbeaten in their last four matches against them in all competitions, and we expect the experience of being in so many close encounters at this tournament last season will give the Us an edge on Tuesday.
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Top tip
Joel Lefevre
