Two sides with contrasting fortunes this season, Boreham Wood will continue their search of a maiden promotion to the Football League when they welcome relegation-threatened King's Lynn Town to Meadow Park on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors are running out of time to steer clear of the drop, with a hefty 14-point gap sitting between King's Lynn and safety, as things stand.
Match preview
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Jubilant to have taken three points away to fellow promotion hopefuls FC Halifax Town in midweek, Boreham Wood now sit two points behind current leaders Stockport County, while boasting two games in hand over the Hatters.
A run of 15 games without defeat across all competitions has propelled Boreham Wood into the promotion picture, with the Hertfordshire side well placed to achieve an unlikely title win.
Having never competed in the Football League before, the work of manager Luke Garrard has not gone unnoticed, with the Wood boss having also taken his side to their first-ever FA Cup Fourth Round tie.
Due to travel to Championship Bournemouth a week on Sunday, Garrard will be keen for his side to head into that game in good form, having dispatched of strugglers King's Lynn.
If it was not for Dover Athletic's 12-point deduction, there is nothing to suggest that King's Lynn would not be propping up the division themselves, with new manager Tommy Widdrington having had little impact on the side's results since arriving in Norfolk.
Losers in each of their previous four matches across all competitions, King's Lynn's only league victory since early October came against castaways Dover.
That means that King's Lynn boast just one win in their last 14 National League outings, with a victory against Boreham Wood a seemingly impossible target.
Yet to beat Boreham Wood since King's Lynn were promoted from the National League North, the Linnets have lost all four league meetings against the Wood.
After triumphing in the reverse fixture earlier this year, Boreham Wood will make it back-to-back league doubles over King's Lynn with a victory on Saturday afternoon.
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Team News
Having lost star man Kabongo Tshimanga to Chesterfield last season, the goals have not flowed as freely for Boreham Wood, with Scott Boden the club's top scorer.
Instead, their promotion push has been built on defensive stability, as no side in the division have conceded fewer than Boreham Wood, with goalkeeper Taye Ashby-Hammond expected to retain his place between the sticks.
David Stephens has shone for Boreham Wood this season, and the defender will keep his place in the backline.
For King's Lynn, they will be hoping that new signing Harry Phipps will make his debut for the Linnets after the midfielder arrived from Dagenham & Redbridge earlier this week.
Phipps joins Zain Walker and Olly Scott as having arrived at King's Lynn in recent weeks, with the trio all likely to feature at some stage.
Boreham Wood possible starting lineup:
Ashby-Hammond; Evans, Stephens, Rees; Marsh, Raymond, Fyfield, Comley, Boden; Mendy, Smith
King's Lynn Town possible starting lineup:
P. Jones; A. Jones, Barrows, Clunan; Phipps, Coleman, McGavin, Barrett, Scott; Omotayo, Widdrington
We say: Boreham Wood 3-0 King's Lynn Town
Boreham Wood are one of the in-form sides in the National League, with the hosts no doubt relishing the visit of King's Lynn.
Expect a comfortable victory for the Wood as they look to keep chase with the sides at the top of the National League.
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 Boreham Wood win with a probability of 64.65%. A draw had a probability of 21.2% and a win for King's Lynn Town had a probability of 14.12%.
The most likely scoreline for a Boreham Wood win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.19%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (12.63%) and 2-1 (9.6%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.03%), while for a King's Lynn Town win it was 0-1 (5.24%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 6.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Boreham Wood would win this match.
