Playoff-chasing Sheffield Wednesday host struggling Gillingham in League One on Saturday afternoon.
The Owls currently sit two points behind the top six in eighth position, while the Gills are one point above the relegation zone in 19th.
Match preview
© Reuters
Wednesday have not lost since October 2, although their unbeaten streak has been made up of plenty of draws; a 3-0 win over Sunderland last week ended a run of four successive draws in League One.
The Owls' FA Cup first round tie against Plymouth Argyle last weekend also ended level, meaning they have a replay to prepare for on Tuesday.
It means it is a busy month for Darren Moore, who made 10 changes for the 4-0 win over Harrogate Town in the EFL Trophy in midweek.
Wednesday have only lost one of their seven league matches at Hillsborough this season and have conceded the fewest home goals in League One this season (four).
Now the Yorkshire-based outfit are targeting back-to-back league wins for the first time since August as they aim to break into the top six.
© Reuters
Gillingham will be trying to make it four league matches unbeaten for the first time this season, after winning one and drawing two of their last three in the third tier.
Steve Evans's side have only won three of 16 league games in 2021-22, with just one of those coming away from home.
Meanwhile, only Crewe Alexandra and Doncaster Rovers have scored fewer goals in League One than the Gills this season (15).
Like the Owls, the Kent side also face an FA Cup first round replay on Tuesday after drawing 1-1 with Cheltenham Town last weekend.
With seven draws each, Wednesday and Gillingham are League One's draw specialists this season; this will be their first meeting since 2003.
- W
- D
- D
- D
- D
- W
- D
- D
- D
- W
- D
- W
- L
- L
- L
- W
- D
- D
- L
- W
- D
- L
- D
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Sheffield Wednesday will be without Bailey Peacock-Farrell who is on international duty with Northern Ireland, meaning Joe Wildsmith should start in goal.
George Byers and Massimo Luongo played 72 minutes in the EFL Trophy in midweek as they returned from injury and should be involved in the matchday squad.
Sam Hutchinson, Dominic Iorfa and Josh Windass all remain sidelined through injury for the Owls.
Gillingham's already extensive injury list was made worse last weekend as Robbie McKenzie, Rhys Bennett and Ryan Jackson all hobbled off in the FA Cup.
Max Ehmer also suffered a knock in that game but was fine to continue and should be able to feature at Hillsborough.
Stuart O'Keefe is also in contention to return, having been forced off with a hamstring strain against Accrington Stanley a fortnight ago.
Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Wildsmith; Palmer, Dunkley, Johnson; Paterson, Adeniran, Wing, Corbeanu; Bannan; Kamberi, Gregory
Gillingham possible starting lineup:
Cumming; Lintott, Ehmer, Tucker, Akehurst; O'Keefe, Reeves, Lloyd; Dempsey; Oliver, Akinde
We say: Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 Gillingham
This is a daunting away day for Gillingham considering their record on the road and current injury crisis. We expect Sheffield Wednesday to emerge as fairly comfortable winners and move back into the top six.
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 Wednesday win with a probability of 58.31%. A draw had a probability of 23.6% and a win for Gillingham had a probability of 18.12%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sheffield Wednesday win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.19%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.39%) and 2-1 (9.63%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.14%), while for a Gillingham win it was 0-1 (6.45%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.1% likelihood.