Playoff-chasing Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest will square off in the Championship on Friday night with just two points separating the clubs in the standings.
Despite the teams being able to claim that they are on a good run of form, the Blades and Forest are each playing catch-up in the promotion race.
Match preview
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With injuries starting to piling up and a three-day turnaround, Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom took the decision to freshen up his team for the trip to Millwall last weekend.
However, the move backfired on the Blades as they went down by a 1-0 scoreline at The Den, ending a nine-match undefeated streak which had lasted since January 18.
With at least one match in hand on several of the teams above them, the fate of Heckingbottom and his squad remains in their own hands, but they are under pressure to bounce back on Friday night.
Aside from a four-goal burst against Swansea City, the Yorkshire outfit have scored just once in their other four most recent fixtures, a sign that the team is perhaps overly reliant on Billy Sharp.
On a more positive note, Sheffield had kept five clean sheets in succession before conceding a second-half goal to the Lions last time out.
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Nottingham Forest have made the headlines recently with victories over Arsenal and Leicester City in the FA Cup, but Steve Cooper will not be overly satisfied with their form in the Championship.
Although 11 points from six matches is a solid return at this stage of the season, the resurgence of some of their rivals has left Forest as outsiders to secure a playoff spot.
That perception would change with a win at Bramall Lane, but Forest are following a number of wins in succession with inconsistency which could undermine their bid to finally return to the Premier League.
Last time out, Forest posted a 2-0 victory over Bristol City, becoming the first team in 13 attempts to prevent their opponents from scoring, while Brennan Johnson took his tally of goals and assists in the Championship this season to 16.
While Sheffield United only require a point to return to the playoffs, Forest need a maximum return on their visit to Yorkshire.
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Team News
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Morgan Gibbs-White will return to the Sheffield United starting lineup on Friday, potentially taking the place of Oliver McBurnie.
At least one of Sander Berge or John Fleck will also come back into the first XI, with Conor Hourihane dropping out of the side.
Charlie Goode continues to serve a suspension, so Ben Davies is expected to return to the back three in place of Kyron Gordon.
Although Cooper will likely keep changes to his Forest side few and far between, Ryan Yates is likely to replace either Jack Colback or Philip Zinckernagel.
Ethan Horvath will continue between the sticks for Forest as first-choice goalkeeper Brice Samba serves the final game of this suspension.
Sheffield United possible starting lineup:
Foderingham; Davies, Egan, Robinson; Baldock, Norwood, Berge, Norrington-Davies; Ndiaye, Gibbs-White; Sharp
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Horvath; Worrall, Cook, McKenna; Spence, Yates, Colback, Lowe; Garner; Johnson, Davis
We say: Sheffield United 1-1 Nottingham Forest
While this game will feel like a must win for both clubs, they are also aware that they can ill-afford a defeat. With that in mind, do not be surprised if the Blades and Forest cancel each other out in a low-scoring affair, a result which would suit the teams above them.
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 Sheffield United win with a probability of 51.78%. A draw had a probability of 26% and a win for Nottingham Forest had a probability of 22.24%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sheffield United win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.62%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.31%) and 2-1 (9.22%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.18%), while for a Nottingham Forest win it was 0-1 (8.05%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 1-1 draw for this match.
