Saturday's League Two action includes a huge clash between two playoff-hopeful sides in the form of Port Vale and Sutton United at Vale Park.
Sutton leapfrogged Port Vale in the table in midweek after they returned to winning ways, with the latter having to settle for a draw against second-placed Exeter City.
Match preview
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Despite impressing with a solid display against high-flying Exeter on Tuesday evening, Darrell Clarke's side had to make do with a goalless draw.
The stalemate put an end to their three-game winning run, but considering the calibre of their opposition, it was certainly an impressive enough performance and result to maintain their momentum in their quest for a playoff place in League Two.
Having lost just once in their last 14 outings as a result, the Valiants have climbed to ninth in the table, despite being overtaken by their weekend opponents.
With just one point keeping Clarke's men outside of the playoff places, and only four separating third from 10th heading into the closing stages of the season, their position in the league table between now and May could well change drastically.
As Exeter found out in midweek, Vale Park has been a tough venue to visit for many opposing teams this season, and the hosts' seven-match unbeaten run there, in which just three goals have been conceded, means they will be confident of achieving a positive result against another promotion hopeful once again on Saturday.
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As for the visitors, a Ricky Korboa brace, and a penalty from Harry Beautyman 13 minutes from time, helped them to a comfortable 3-1 victory at relegation-threatened Oldham Athletic on Tuesday.
After successive defeats and a draw with Tranmere Rovers immediately prior to it, the win came at a vital time for Sutton to reignite their promotion hopes after dropping out of the playoff spots in recent weeks.
Registering back-to-back victories on the road with another three points at Vale Park on Saturday would likely lift Matt Gray's side back into the top seven, but that is much easier said than done considering the form and quality of their hosts.
The thrilling 4-3 victory over Vale back in October is sure to provide the desired confidence, which saw Will Randall and Coby Rowe dramatically net late on to turn the game on its head.
Gray will be hopeful of his side repeating that result, but will be eager to achieve it in far more comfortable circumstances this time around as they continue their quest to achieve remarkable back-to-back promotions.
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Team News
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Vale will monitor the fitness of attacking duo James Wilson and Jamie Proctor ahead of Saturday's clash, with the duo being forced off in midweek due to recent knocks and fatigue.
The latter's substitution five minutes into the second half is thought to have been largely tactical, so his replacement Kian Harratt will have to settle for a place on the bench once more unless Wilson has fully recovered.
Tom Pett's substitution was also a concern at the time but the midfielder is believed to be fit and available to go again against Sutton, although Joel Cooper could well miss out again after being absent from the squad in midweek due to injury.
As for the visitors, a number of injured players remain unavailable to leave Gray short of options when it comes to Saturday's trip.
Beautyman returned with a goal off the bench in midweek and he will be pushing for a return to the starting 11, with Kenny Davis's and Adam Lovatt's spot up for grabs.
That is likely to be the only change in an otherwise unchanged lineup for the visitors, who should start with Richie Bennett and Omar Bugiel in attack once more.
Port Vale possible starting lineup:
Stone; Smith, Walker, Hall; Worrall, Pett, Charsley, Benning; Garrity; Harratt, Proctor
Sutton United possible starting lineup:
Bouzanis; Boldewijn, Goodliffe, Rowe, Wyatt; Ajiboye, Beautyman, Lovatt, Korboa; Bugiel, Bennett
We say: Port Vale 1-0 Sutton United
Unlike their meeting earlier in the season, this is likely to be a tight encounter between two sides fighting for the same goal come May.
Both have been very impressive for much of this campaign, but the recent form of Port Vale, as well as their home advantage, is swaying us towards a narrow home victory on Saturday.
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 Port Vale win with a probability of 48.98%. A draw had a probability of 26.5% and a win for Sutton United had a probability of 24.53%.
The most likely scoreline for a Port Vale win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.12%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.58%) and 2-1 (9.09%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.45%), while for a Sutton United win it was 0-1 (8.53%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 9.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Port Vale would win this match.
