Seeking to end their run of five consecutive League One away games without a win, Charlton Athletic journey to the Pirelli Stadium to take on Burton Albion on Tuesday.
Having failed to win both home and away meetings between the sides last season, the Brewers will be looking to get one over the visitors and kickstart their push from the bottom of the table.
Match preview
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Burton Albion were denied consecutive league victories for the first time since December 2023 as they suffered a 3-0 home thrashing at the hands of Stockport County when the two sides squared off on Saturday.
Lewis Bate opened the scoring on the 30th-minute mark to set Stockport on their way before 21-year-old forward Louie Barry struck twice to cap off a brilliant individual display and hand the visitors a comfortable victory.
Burton had gone unbeaten in their previous four matches across all competitions, picking up one draw and three wins, including victories over Scarborough Athletic and Northampton Town in the FA Cup and EFL Trophy respectively.
Tom Hounsell's men have managed just one win in the League One this season while losing nine and claiming five draws from their 15 matches to collect eight points and sit rock-bottom in the table, eight points away from safety.
Off the back of a 20th-placed finish last season, when they beat the drop by just two points, the Brewers are heavy favourites to go down this term and will need to turn things around sooner rather than later if they are to leave the doldrums.
Breaching opposing defences has not been a worry for Burton, who have made the net ripple 15 times in the league this season, but they have struggled to impose themselves at the back, where they have conceded 28 goals already — only Shrewsbury Town (29) and Blackpool (30) have shipped more.
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Elsewhere, Charlton Athletic failed to move into the top half of the table as they fell to a 2-1 defeat against Huddersfield Town when the two sides squared off at the John Smith's Stadium on Saturday.
With Greg Docherty receiving his marching orders in the first half, Huddersfield took advantage of their numerical upper hand as Matt Pearson and David Kasumu netted either side of Matt Godden's 32nd-minute equaliser to secure all three points.
This followed a 1-0 victory over League Two outfit Bromley on November 12 when Miles Leaburn broke the deadlock in the 70th minute to hand Charlton the desired result in Group C, where they sit top of the table with three wins from three.
With Saturday's defeat, Nathan Jones's men have now failed to taste victory in five back-to-back league matches, losing twice and claiming three draws, and have managed just one win in their most recent nine since September 21.
While the Addicks will be looking to find their feet on Tuesday, they have struggled to grind out results on the road, where they have lost four of their last five league games, with a 2-2 draw against Barnsley on October 22 being the exception.
Charlton have picked up 19 points from their 15 League One matches so far to occupy 14th spot in the standings, level on points with 15th-placed Stevenage, but could move into 12th place with all three points on Tuesday.
Team News
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Burton remain without the services of Swedish forward Julian Larsson, who continues his road to full fitness after coming off injured against Notts County in September.
Ronnie Stutter has been sidelined since picking up an injury against Bristol Rovers on October 15 and the 19-year-old forward is also out of contention for Tuesday's clash.
Charlton have their fair share of injury concerns as Lloyd Jones, Kayne Ramsay, defender Tennai Watson and 31-year-old Tyreece Campbell continue their spells on the sidelines.
William Mannion is set to sit out his fourth straight game, meaning that Ashley Maynard Brewer should start between the sticks once again, while Dan Pott, Daniel Kanu, Chuma Aneke are also recuperating from injuries.
Experienced midfielder Docherty will sit out Tuesday's clash through suspension after picking up a straight red card in the Addicks' defeat against Huddersfield at the weekend.
Burton Albion possible starting lineup:
Crocombe; Bannon, Vancooten, Sweeney, Armer; Watt, Webster; Godwin-Malife, Bennett, Kalinauskas; Orsi
Charlton Athletic possible starting lineup:
Maynard-Brewer; Edmonds-Green, Mitchell, Gillesphey, Small, Edwards; Berry, Coventry, Anderson; Godden, Leaburn
We say: Burton Albion 1-1 Charlton Athletic
With a third of the season gone, Burton Albion find themselves scrambling for points at the foot of the table in what has been an underwhelming campaign. On paper, Charlton are favourites to come away with the desired result, but we predict that the Brewers will hold out for a share of the spoils in front of their home supporters.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
