An intriguing League Two clash takes place at St James Park on Tuesday evening, with third-placed Exeter City hosting second-in-the-table Northampton Town.
The hosts exited the FA Cup at the second round stage at the weekend, whilst the visitors head into the midweek clash on the back of a 10-day break from action.
Match preview
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Exeter's hard-fought performance on Saturday was not enough for them to avoid an FA Cup exit at the Abbey Stadium, with Matthew Taylor's side going down 2-1 to League One outfit Cambridge United.
Sam Nombe had initially given the fourth-tier side the lead from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, but after being pegged back midway through the first half, they were harshly beaten by a controversial late goal from Harvey Knibbs, which also saw Cameron Dawson save a penalty in the ninth minute of second-half stoppage time as well.
Despite the disappointment of failing to reach the lucrative third round stage, full focus will return to league action for the Grecians ahead of Tuesday, where Taylor will be hoping his side can send out a statement by achieving victory over their promotion rivals at St James Park.
Exeter head into the vital clash on the back of one point from their last two league outings, which included the defeat to Colchester United that ended their 15-game unbeaten run in the league.
However, it will be a welcome return to home in front of their own supporters in the week, where Exeter boast the only remaining unbeaten record on home soil across the entire division, which could prove crucial in a tie of this magnitude.
Meanwhile, Northampton's exit to Cambridge in round one of the FA Cup last month meant this fixture was not repeated in the space of four days.
The disappointing failure to progress in the cup did at least provide Jon Brady's side with a welcome break from action, with a rest being important in the recovery of the team following a busy schedule across three separate competitions of late.
The Cobblers head into Tuesday's clash at the top of the League One table just a single point above their opponents following a return to form in their last two outings.
Back-to-back wins over Oldham Athletic and Leyton Orient were important in ending a five-game winless streak across all competitions, in what has been an incredibly inconsistent start to the 2021-22 campaign by Brady's men.
Winning runs have often been followed by longer winless spells, before returning back to winning ways in a strange season enjoyed by Northampton so far.
Regardless of the prior inconsistency, Brady and his side will be hoping for a positive result against their promotion rivals on Tuesday in order to put together a longer run of form this time around and keep up their momentum ahead of a potential immediate return to the third tier.
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Team News
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Exeter will be hoping to have Timothee Dieng available for selection again following the midfielder's absence from the defeat on Saturday through a quad injury.
However, in addition to the disappointment of exiting the FA Cup at the weekend, the hosts also look to set to be without star striker Nombe for a period of time after he picked up a hamstring injury in the defeat to Cambridge.
Padraig Amond is the forward likely to deputise, and will join Jevani Brown in attack, with the duo being supported by Matt Jay behind them.
As for the visitors, long-term absentee Sid Nelson remains on the sidelines for the foreseeable future.
The defender is joined by Dominic Revan on the list of absentees, who injured his thigh in his first and only appearance of the season a few weeks ago.
Michael Harriman, Joseph Mills and Kion Etete make up the list, where the remainder of the squad will come into this game fresh after a 10-day break between matches.
Exeter City possible starting lineup:
Dawson; Sweeney, Ray, Hartridge; Key, Collins, Kite, Caprice; Jay, Amond, Brown
Northampton Town possible starting lineup:
Roberts; McGowan, Horsfall, Guthrie, Koiki; McWilliams, Sowerby; Hoskins, Lewis, Pinnock; Rose
We say: Exeter City 1-1 Northampton Town
Based on the unpredictable runs of form and consistency endured by both sides this season so far, it is difficult to predict which way this encounter will be going on Tuesday.
For this reason, and due to the similar levels of quality possessed by both teams, we believe this big clash in League Two will end in a draw, with tight periods played out throughout the contest.
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 Exeter City win with a probability of 48.34%. A draw had a probability of 26.8% and a win for Northampton Town had a probability of 24.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Exeter City win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.24%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.5%) and 2-1 (9%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.55%), while for a Northampton Town win it was 0-1 (8.75%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 5.9% likelihood.
