Newport County will begin the new year with a trip to the Bescot Stadium to face 12th-placed Walsall.
The visitors head into the encounter in the playoff places and will be looking to return to winning ways after losing last time out, while Walsall are aiming to collect consecutive victories.
Match preview
Due to coronavirus-related postponements, Walsall will return to action for the first time since a 3-0 home victory over Colchester United on December 11.
In that encounter, Otis Khan netted a brace in the first half before Jack Earing struck in the second period to guide Walsall to a comfortable win.
The result continued an impressive run of form that has seen Walsall lose just twice in their last 12 league games.
It is a run that has seen Walsall's playoff hopes grow stronger as they enter Saturday's contest six points adrift of the top seven.
If they are to close that gap, they need to start picking up more home wins after winning once in their previous five league matches at the Bescot Stadium.
As for Newport, they will be aiming to bounce back after suffering a heavy 3-0 defeat away to Rochdale on December 18.
Although, that defeat was only Newport's second loss in their last 13 league games, and it is that promising run of results that will see James Rowberry's side enter Saturday's contest in sixth place.
With only four points separating themselves and the automatic promotion places, Newport are firmly in the promotion picture and a victory at the weekend could move them closer to the top three.
Although, collecting three points on Saturday will be a tricky task for the Exiles given the fact that they have failed to win in their last three away fixtures.
They will at least be confident of finding the net at the Bescot Stadium, having scored in six of their last seven matches.
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Team News
Walsall are without the suspended Manny Monthe, while Joss Labadie and Conor Wilkinson are doubts with groin and hamstring injuries respectively.
Khan will keep his place in the side after impressing against Colchester.
Ash Taylor will also retain his position in the starting lineup after playing his part in a backline that kept a clean sheet last time out.
As for Newport, they will be without the services of Kevin Ellison, who sustained facial injuries after being attacked during a night out.
Aaron Lewis is excepted to feature from the off after starting Newport's last two games.
The current League Two topscorer Dominic Telford will pose the biggest threat for the visitors as he looks to add to the 14 goals that he has scored this season.
Walsall possible starting lineup:
Rushworth; White, Taylor, Menayese, Ward; Kinsella, Earing, Osadebe; Khan, Kiernan, Miller
Newport County possible starting lineup:
Day; Clarke, Demetriou, Dolan; Norman, Azaz, Wilmott, Cooper, Lewis; Telford, Baker-Richardson
We say: Walsall 1-1 Newport County
With both teams consistently picking up points, we think that it may be difficult to separate the sides as we expect the contest to end all square.
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 Newport County win with a probability of 41.74%. A win for Walsall had a probability of 30.03% and a draw had a probability of 28.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Newport County win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.83%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.29%) and 0-2 (8.09%). The likeliest Walsall win was 1-0 (10.42%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.14%). The actual scoreline of 3-3 was predicted with a 0.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a draw in this match.
