On Saturday, Accrington Stanley will take to the field for the first time in 2022 when they play host to MK Dons in League One.
The hosts head into the weekend in 10th position, while MK Dons sit in seventh place with five more points than Saturday's opponents.
Match preview
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Accrington Stanley open the new year with a tricky home fixture against MK Dons, and the home side will be aiming to extend their current unbeaten run to four games.
Consecutive 1-0 victories over Bolton Wanderers and Rotherham United was followed by a goalless away draw against Shrewsbury Town last time out.
It is certainly a run of results that will see John Coleman's side enter Saturday's encounter full of confidence, and that belief will only be strengthened by the fact that Stanley have collected 22 of their 34 points on home turf this season.
They have been particularly impressive in front of goal at the Crown Ground, having only failed to score in one home league this term.
A clinical attack combined with a defence that has kept three consecutive clean sheets will be a cause for concern for MK Dons.
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Saturday's visitors have also fared well of late after losing one game in their last five league encounters.
Unlike their hosts, MK Dons have already played two games in the new calendar year, although they are still searching for their first win of 2022 after a goalless draw against Gillingham on New Year's Day was followed by a 1-0 defeat in midweek away to Charlton Athletic.
The narrow defeat at The Valley saw Liam Manning's side eliminated from the EFL Trophy, and the focus for MK Dons now will be on securing a playoff place.
They head into the weekend four points adrift of the top six, but with five fixtures in January, they could close that gap quickly with a run of positive results.
An away contest will not daunt Saturday's visitors as they look to continue an impressive away run that has resulted in MK Dons winning four of their last five away league games.
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Team News
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Accrington Stanley are expected to be without David Morgan, who has recently returned to light training.
Seamus Conneely and Joe Pritchard will also be absent for the hosts due to injury issues.
Meanwhile, Colby Bishop will continue to lead the line as he looks to add to the six league goals that he has scored this term.
As for the visitors, they made a number of changes for their midweek encounter in the EFL Trophy, and Manning is likely to name a lineup similar to the one that played against Gillingham in the league last weekend.
Troy Parrott returned to the starting lineup last weekend, and he is expected to be in from the off once again on Saturday.
The Republic of Ireland international will be joined in the front three by Mo Eisa and Scott Twine.
Accrington Stanley possible starting lineup:
Savin; Clark, Sykes, Nottingham, Hamilton; Butcher, Coyle, Leigh; O'Sullivan, McConville, Bishop
MK Dons possible starting lineup:
Fisher; O'Hora, Darling, Lewington; Kioso, McEachran, O'Riley, Harvie; Parrott, Twine, Eisa
We say: Accrington Stanley 1-0 MK Dons
In the last four meetings between the two teams, the side who has had home advantage has prevailed, and we think that trend will continue on Saturday with Stanley extending their unbeaten run to four games.
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 MK Dons win with a probability of 43.37%. A win for Accrington Stanley had a probability of 31.97% and a draw had a probability of 24.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a MK Dons win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.05%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.81%) and 0-2 (6.9%). The likeliest Accrington Stanley win was 2-1 (7.58%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.55%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.6% likelihood.
