Bournemouth will be looking to take one step closer to promotion by putting their stuttering run of form behind them when they travel to Coventry City on Monday.
The hosts have retained hope of reaching the Championship playoff places thanks to back-to-back victories though, so it is sure to be an intriguing battle at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Match preview
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Following a run of just one win in eight Championship outings over the past couple of months, Coventry's remarkable season looked to be petering out in the closing stages of the campaign.
However, thrilling wins over Fulham and Birmingham City in their last two games have revived their hopes of an incredible achievement of reaching the playoffs next month.
For the majority of the first half in their short trip across the West Midlands on Friday, the Sky Blues looked to be suffering from a hangover of their fantastic 3-1 triumph at league leaders Fulham five days earlier, before their never-say-die attitude under Mark Robins kicked in once again.
After falling 2-0 behind owing to some dreadful defending from set pieces, Robins' men netted a quickfire double on the stroke of half time from two dead-ball situations of their own to haul themselves back into the contest.
Ben Sheaf netted both of those goals at the end of the opening 45, and Gustavo Hamer's deliveries continued to cause problems for the Birmingham defence into the second half too, as he got his second assist when Michael Rose powered home his corner to provide his side with the lead for the first time in the contest.
The only goal of the game to arrive from open play came in the final minute of normal time, as some neat build up led to Callum O'Hare sealing the three points and a remarkable comeback win.
That victory could well prove crucial for Coventry in the final few weeks, with eight of the nine sides above them in the table dropping points on Friday, meaning they climbed a place to ninth ahead of the action on Easter Monday, with just three points separating them from the playoff places ahead of another huge game against Bournemouth.
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Meanwhile, frustrations and nerves at Bournemouth continued on Good Friday, with the Cherries dropping points once again as they were held to a goalless draw against fellow promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough.
Neither side created many goalscoring opportunities at the Vitality Stadium, so perhaps neither were deserving of all three points, although it was Scott Parker's side who came closest when Jefferson Lerma struck the bar with his headed effort.
Picking up a draw against a stubborn Boro side was hardly a setback for Bournemouth, but it continued the theme of recent weeks, where Monday's visitors have seemed to lack ideas in the final third of the pitch as they struggle to get over the line in their quest for promotion.
In fact, Friday's blank in front of goal was the third successive game that the second-placed side have failed to find the back of the net, with only two points being yielded from the last nine available.
Despite their stutters however, they remain in a commanding position to return to the Premier League thanks to the lack of consistency of the sides around them in the table.
As mentioned above, many of their promotion rivals also struggled on Friday, so the Cherries retained their four-point advantage over Huddersfield Town in third place, and with two games in hand as well, the odds remain heavily in their favour.
Parker and his side will be keen to avoid any drama in the final few weeks though, so they will be eager to silence any doubters and earn a crucial three points on Monday to edge them closer to their goal.
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Team News
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Coventry will have to make do without their valuable striker Matt Godden for the remainder of the season it appears, so much of the goalscoring burden remains on the shoulders of Viktor Gyokeres.
Jake Clarke-Salter is also a big miss in their back line, whilst the injury picked up by Fankaty Dabo on Friday leaves him doubtful for Monday's encounter.
Todd Kane would be the likely replacement for Dabo at wing-back, whilst Josh Eccles and Jordan Shipley are further doubts, with the latter missing the last two matches due to COVID-19.
As for the visitors, first-choice left-back Jordan Zemura remains sidelined with a hamstring problem, meaning right-back Adam Smith could well fill in on the left-hand side once more.
David Brooks remains unavailable for the foreseeable future, and he is joined on the list of absentees by Kieffer Moore, Morgan Rogers and Junior Stanislas.
Jaidon Anthony provided a spark off the bench against Middlesbrough, so the winger may well have earned a start in place of Todd Cantwell or Ryan Christie in attack.
Manchester United loanee Ethan Laird is expected to keep his place at right-back after earning his start for the club last time out.
Coventry City possible starting lineup:
Moore; Rose, Hyam, Bidwell; Kane, Allen, Sheaf, Hamer, Maatsen; O'Hare; Gyokeres
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Travers; Laird, Phillips, Kelly, Smith; Lerma, Cook; Christie, Billing, Anthony; Solanke
We say: Coventry City 1-1 Bournemouth
Coventry continue to show plenty of spirit and fight in their surprise push for the playoff places, and they are likely to make this a very difficult afternoon for Bournemouth on Monday.
With the visitors struggling of late, we cannot see them earning the three points once again at a difficult venue, with a draw a likely outcome in a tight encounter.
Top tip
Matthew Tranter
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 Bournemouth win with a probability of 41.03%. A win for Coventry City had a probability of 32.61% and a draw had a probability of 26.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bournemouth win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.42%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.66%) and 0-2 (7.2%). The likeliest Coventry City win was 1-0 (9.07%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.53%). The actual scoreline of 0-3 was predicted with a 3.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Bournemouth would win this match.
