Middlesbrough will make the trip to Peterborough United on Saturday afternoon knowing that victory could move the club into the Championship playoff places.
At a time when Boro are pushing for a return to the Premier League, Peterborough are seven points adrift of safety down at the other end of the standings.
Match preview
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After a period of inconsistency in the Championship, Chris Wilder may have welcomed the distraction of the FA Cup ahead of the international break.
Boro ultimately succumbed by a 2-0 scoreline to a strong Chelsea side, bowing out at the quarter-final stage, but Wilder will be equally satisfied that all of his energy can go into trying to take the North-East outfit back into the Premier League.
Having failed to record back-to-back wins since the middle of January, Boro are certainly not in ideal form, although five wins from 11 league outings have kept them in the running for the playoffs.
Although they sit two points outside of the top six, Wilder will instead focus on the four-point gap to fourth-placed Huddersfield Town with two matches in hand, highlighting that their fate currently remains in their own hands.
In league action, successive clean sheets have been kept against Millwall and Birmingham City respectively, while Arsenal loanee Folarin Balogun has netted twice in his last three Championship outings.
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Although Boro are naturally regarded as the favourites to see off Peterborough at the weekend, Wilder and co were no doubt left impressed by the performance of their opponents last time out.
Posh were able to end a 15-match winless Championship streak in style, coming from behind to record a 3-1 victory at Queens Park Rangers.
All three strikes came either side of half time, Jonson Clarke-Harris chipping in with a double before Jack Marriott contributed a third soon after his team had taken the lead.
Still sitting well adrift of safety, Grant McCann is aware that his players have much work ahead, but their win at the Kiyan Prince Foudnation Stadium was reward for the upward trajectory of their recent displays.
A total of eight goals have been scored in four matches, a flurry of strikes which make up exactly a quarter of their total goals in the second tier this season.
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Team News
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Having sustained a knee issue while on international duty with Northern Ireland, Oliver Norburn looks likely to miss this fixture.
However, Clarke-Harris is expected to be fit after a dead leg, while Sammie Szmodics has been able to rest a groin injury.
Boro defenders Dael Fry and Paddy McNair will both be assessed ahead of kickoff after sustaining groin and foot injuries against Chelsea.
Sol Bamba and Lee Peltier are on standby to deputise for the key duo, while Andraz Sporar and Duncan Watmore are pushing to return in attack.
Brighton & Hove Albion loanee Aaron Connolly is likely to be the player to drop out of the team.
Peterborough United possible starting lineup:
Cornell; Edwards, Knight, Kent; Ward, Taylor, Fuchs, Mumba; Szmodics; Marriott, Clarke-Harris
Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Lumley; Dijksteel, Fry, McNair; Jones, Crooks, Howson, Tavernier, Taylor; Connolly, Balogun
We say: Peterborough United 1-2 Middlesbrough
On the back of their surprise success last time out, Peterborough will be full of confidence ahead of a must-win fixture. However, we feel that Boro's extra quality will eventually shine through, potentially collecting all three points during the closing stages when Posh are torn over whether to take risks.
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 Middlesbrough win with a probability of 64.09%. A draw had a probability of 20.3% and a win for Peterborough United had a probability of 15.57%.
The most likely scoreline for a Middlesbrough win was 0-2 with a probability of 11.01%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (10.72%) and 1-2 (9.9%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.64%), while for a Peterborough United win it was 1-0 (4.7%). The actual scoreline of 0-4 was predicted with a 3.9% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Middlesbrough would win this match.
