Preston North End and Sheffield United square off at Deepdale on Tuesday evening with the clubs level on points in the Championship standings.
While the visitors boast a game in hand and marginally superior goal difference, Preston head into this contest in the marginally better form.
Match preview
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Heading into the new year, everything was going swimmingly for Sheffield United under Paul Heckingbottom with three successive wins being recorded in the Championship.
However, the Blades have performed below par during defeats at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Derby County, leaving them out of the FA Cup and in 14th position in the second tier.
With several matches in hand, the situation is retrievable with several players also due to make returns over the coming weeks, but Heckingbottom needs his side to rediscover their previous level sooner rather than later.
They now sit 10 points adrift of in-form Middlesbrough, who sit in sixth position, with 267 minutes having passed since their last goal at leaders Fulham on December 20.
Sheffield United have negative memories of their last meeting with Preston, the visitors twice coming from behind to eventually seal a 2-2 draw at Bramall Lane.
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That game was under different management, but Preston are very much on an upward trajectory under Ryan Lowe who has collected seven points from a possible nine in the Championship.
While the FA Cup exit at Cardiff City came as a considerable disappointment, Lowe will not mind focusing his attention on the league now that they are 13 points clear of the relegation zone.
Like with Sheffield United, a playoff spot currently appears unlikely, but North End may find themselves in the top half of the table with another couple of wins in quick succession.
Preston were denied a third Championship win in succession at the weekend as Birmingham City equalised four minutes from time to earn a 1-1 draw.
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Team News
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Having suggested that he was pleased with Preston's performance against Blues, Lowe may be willing to select the same team for this contest.
However, the quick turnaround could also tempt him into introducing fresh legs, with Tom Barkhuizen, Sean Maguire and Alistair McCann all options for Lowe.
While the injured Morgan Gibbs-White is expected to remain absent for Sheffield United, changes are inevitable after their display at Pride Park.
Conor Hourihane should return in midfield, while Rhian Brewster may be preferred to Billy Sharp who was ineffective versus the Rams.
Ben Osborn could also feature down the left flank, taking the spot of Rhys Norrington-Davies.
Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Iversen; Van den Berg, Bauer, Hughes; Potts, Browne, Whiteman, Cunningham; Johnson; Evans, Riis Jakobsen
Sheffield United possible starting lineup:
Foderingham; Basham, Egan, Robinson; Bogle, Hourihane, Norwood, Osborn; McGoldrick, Ndiaye; Brewster
We say: Preston North End 1-1 Sheffield United
Given the margin to the top six, both teams are aware that a share of the spoils from this contest will do neither of them much good. Nevertheless, it is difficult to split these two clubs, and we feel that a low-scoring draw is the most likely outcome.
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 Preston North End win with a probability of 40.35%. A win for Sheffield United had a probability of 31.27% and a draw had a probability of 28.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Preston North End win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.6%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.13%) and 2-0 (7.76%). The likeliest Sheffield United win was 0-1 (10.73%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.2%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 4.3% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a draw in this match.
