Forest Green Rovers will be looking to further strengthen their spot at the top of the League Two table when they host Colchester United on Tuesday night.
The home side are seven points clear of second-placed Tranmere Rovers with a game in hand, while Colchester occupy 22nd spot, having picked up just 22 points from their 21 league matches this season.
Match preview
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Forest Green finished sixth in League Two last season, which secured a spot in the playoffs, but they lost to Newport County in the semi-finals, and the club are therefore playing fourth-tier football again this season.
Rovers are in an excellent position to challenge for a spot in League One for next season, though, having picked up 48 points from their opening 22 matches of the 2021-22 campaign to sit clear at the top of the League Two table.
Rob Edwards's side are seven points clear of second-placed Tranmere with a game in hand, while they are unbeaten in the league since October 9, which has allowed them to pull clear at the summit.
Forest Green have picked up eight points from their last four league games, including a 2-0 victory over Stevenage on New Year's Day, but they played out a goalless draw with Exeter City last time out.
The Green Army recorded a 3-0 victory over Colchester in the corresponding match between the two teams last season, and they have won seven of their 11 home league fixtures this term.
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Colchester, though, only just survived relegation from the Football League last season, finishing 20th in League Two, just six points clear of the relegation zone, with Essex rivals Southend United dropping out of the league alongside basement side Grimsby Town.
The U's have again found it difficult for results this season, picking up 22 points from their 21 matches, which has left them in 22nd position in the table, three points clear of 23rd-placed Scunthorpe United.
Colchester have three games in hand on a number of sides around them, though, so it is difficult to look too closely at the bottom of the division considering the amount of matches that have been postponed.
Hayden Mullins's side will enter this match off the back of three straight defeats, having lost their last two in the league two Walsall and Crawley Town, in addition to a 2-1 reverse at Sutton United in the EFL Trophy.
Colchester have picked up points in six of their 11 away league games this term, though, and are certainly capable of making this an uncomfortable 90 minutes for Forest Green.
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Team News
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Forest Green have not been in action since drawing 0-0 with Exeter on January 4, so the League Two leaders will have had a lot of time to prepare for this contest.
Head coach Edwards has no fresh fitness doubts, and there are not expected to be many surprises in the starting XI, with the hosts likely to line up in a 3-4-3 formation.
Jamille Matt and Mathew Stevens have scored 27 league goals between them during the 2021-22 campaign, and the pair are both expected to be in the starting XI for this match.
As for Colchester, Freddie Sears has scored in his last two appearances and will lead the away side's line, with the 32-year-old managing eight League Two goals already this term.
The Essex outfit's next leading goalscorer in their squad is Noah Chilvers with three, which is an indication of their issues when it comes to finding the back of the net.
The lineup is expected to be similar to the one that took to the field against Crawley in the league on New Year's Day, with Cole Skuse operating in midfield.
Forest Green Rovers possible starting lineup:
McGee; Bernard, Moore-Taylor, Cargill; Wilson, Stevenson, Hendry, Cadden; Stevens, Aitchison, Matt
Colchester United possible starting lineup:
Turner; Tchamadeu, Eastman, Smith, Coxe; Skuse, Sarpong-Wiredu; Chilvers, Judge, Dobra; Sears
We say: Forest Green Rovers 2-0 Colchester United
This is a potentially tricky match for Forest Green, as all of the pressure will be on the home side. Sears is an obvious threat for Colchester, but there is so much quality in Rovers attack, and we are expecting them to put another three points on the board here.
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 Forest Green Rovers win with a probability of 60.91%. A draw had a probability of 22.7% and a win for Colchester United had a probability of 16.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Forest Green Rovers win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.28%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.94%) and 2-1 (9.64%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.72%), while for a Colchester United win it was 0-1 (5.96%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with an 11.9% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 2-0 win for Forest Green Rovers in this match and our data analysis correctly predicted the win for Forest Green Rovers.
