Something has to give at the bet365 Stadium on Monday afternoon as Stoke City and Millwall both look to extend their winning streaks in the Championship.
Both sides have won back-to-back league matches and are locked on the same number of points in mid-table, with the top six not yet out of reach.
Match preview
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Stoke's wins over Derby County and Bristol City either side of the international break has lifted them up to 11th, eight points adrift of the playoffs.
Goals from Nick Powell and Fletcher in either half earned the Potters a routine victory at Ashton Gate in Friday's clash with Bristol City.
A top-six finish is not entirely out of the question just yet, but Michael O'Neill's men will have to win the vast majority of their remaining seven games for that to happen.
City have kept clean sheets in those two victories and also held Cardiff City 0-0, making it three shutouts on the spin.
At home, meanwhile, they have won four of their last five - the exception being a 2-1 loss to Swansea City - keeping a clean sheet in each of those victories.
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Millwall also enter this game on the back of consecutive wins without conceding, following up victory against Middlesbrough with a win by the same 1-0 scoreline versus Rotherham United.
Jed Wallace fired Gary Rowett's men to victory against Rotherham after Richard Wood was earlier sent off, though Bartosz Bialkowski deserves just as much credit as the goalscorer as he saved a late penalty.
Away from home, Millwall have won only one of their last four and went down 3-2 to London rivals Queens Park Rangers in their most recent away game.
The Lions have found the net in each of their last 10 away league games, however, which is the longest current ongoing such run in the Championship.
If Millwall are to keep their own faint playoff hopes alive then they will have to improve on a return of just one win in their last 11 league meetings with Stoke.
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Team News
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James McClean was back in the matchday squad for Stoke's win at Bristol City after recovering from a foot injury, but he was an unused substitute at Ashton Gate.
The Irishman is in contention to return to the side on Monday, while Joe Allen's season-long layoff will likely see Powell continue to operate in central midfield.
Jacob Brown partnered Steven Fletcher last time out, but Sam Vokes - a second-half substitute at Ashton Gate - is in contention to return to the lineup here.
As for the visitors, Ryan Leonard remains sidelined, but Maikel Kieftenbeld and Kenneth Zohore returned from injury as substitutes against Rotherham.
Shaun Hutchinson left the pitch in the first half on Friday and could be replaced by Alex Pearce here.
Connor Mahoney and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson are two others pushing for inclusion at the bet365 Stadium.
Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Davies; Chester, Souttar, Batth; Smith, Powell, Mikel, Thompson, Norrington-Davies; Vokes, Fletcher
Millwall possible starting lineup:
Bialkowski; Pearce, Wallace, Cooper; McNamara, Evans, Woods, Mitchell, Malone; Bennett, Wallace
We say: Stoke City 0-0 Millwall
Stoke and Millwall have won back-to-back matches and they are level on points in the table, making this one very tough to call.
Both sides have strong defensive records of late, while three of the last four league meetings between Stoke and Millwall have ended goalless, so we are backing a stalemate 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 Stoke City win with a probability of 36.37%. A win for Millwall had a probability of 33.02% and a draw had a probability of 30.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Stoke City win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.79%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (7.2%) and 2-1 (7.06%). The likeliest Millwall win was 0-1 (12.94%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.51%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 6.6% likelihood.
