Aldershot Town head into Monday's National League fixture with Yeovil Town having failed to record a goal or point during their opening two fixtures.
Despite having had an extra week of preparation, the visitors succumbed to a defeat against King's Lynn Town at the weekend.
Match preview
© Reuters
Having finished safely in mid-table during the last campaign, everyone associated with Aldershot would have hoped for a positive start this time around.
However, successive defeats to Chesterfield and Boreham Wood have left the Shots in 22nd spot, only avoiding an even lower place due to alphabetical order.
On both occasions, Danny Searle's side have conceded goals in the 65th minute or later, a frustrating statistic after what had been regarded as a pre-season full of promise.
Life gets no easier for the Hampshire-based outfit, the following game against Notts County continuing a run of matches against opposition who will consider themselves to be promotion contenders.
Nevertheless, Searle will recognise that points need to be accumulated sooner rather than later if the club are to avoid a relegation battle.
For the majority of Saturday's fixture with King's Lynn, it appeared that Yeovil would begin their season with at least a share of the spoils.
Holding a one-goal advantage with 10 men, Darren Sarll would have been satisfied with how his players had coped at a disadvantage heading into the final 20 minutes.
However, Munashe Sundire's winner four minutes from time condemned the Glovers to a 2-1 defeat, fatigue potentially setting in after being forced to wait a week longer to get their fifth-tier campaign underway.
A visit to one of the division's struggling sides gives Sarll's men an immediate opportunity to get back on track, one which is needed if they are to keep pace in a competitive league.
Sarll would have been pleased to see Joe Quigley get on the scoresheet at the weekend after the forward contributed just five goals during his final 25 appearances last season.
- L
- L
- L
Team News
Given the quick turnaround, it would come as no surprise if both managers made the decision to freshen up their respective starting lineups.
Ibby Akanbi should get an opportunity in the Aldershot attack, taking the place of Corie Andrews or Tommy Willard.
Midfield pair Alfy Whittingham and Elis Watts came off the substitutes' bench at the weekend and will surely come into contention for this contest.
Yeovil will have to make do without Matt Worthington after his first-half dismissal versus King's Lynn.
With Mark Little one of a number of long-term absentees, Dan Moss is expected to fill the void at right wing-back.
Sonny Blu Lo-Everton is pushing for a chance on one of the flanks in place of either Charlie Wakefield or Tom Knowles.
Aldershot Town possible starting lineup:
Walker; Phillips, Lokko, Lyons-Foster; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Whittingham, Berkeley-Agyepong, Harris, Kinsella; Andrews, Akanbi
Yeovil Town possible starting lineup:
Smith; Williams, Hunt, Wilkinson; Moss, Gorman, Staunton, Barnett; Lo-Everton, Quigley, Knowles
We say: Aldershot Town 1-2 Yeovil Town
Starting the season with two matches in less than 48 hours is a tough ask of Yeovil, particularly when their hosts have more minutes in their legs. However, we still fancy the away side to edge this contest, further suggesting that the Shots could struggle this campaign.
Top tip
Darren Plant
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 Yeovil Town win with a probability of 47.48%. A win for Aldershot Town had a probability of 27.81% and a draw had a probability of 24.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Yeovil Town win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.98%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.4%) and 0-2 (8.02%). The likeliest Aldershot Town win was 1-0 (7.28%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.69%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 9.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Yeovil Town would win this match.
