Bolton Wanderers will host Wigan Athletic on Saturday afternoon in what is a derby game, and the home side will seek to close the gap to their opponents with Bolton currently four points adrift of Wigan.
The Trotters enter the weekend in eighth place after accumulating 18 points this season, while Wigan sit in third position with 22 points to their name.
Match preview
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Bolton earned promotion from League Two last term and their return to League One has been encouraging, with The Trotters just a point away from the playoffs.
Ian Evatt's side have collected nine points from their previous six league fixtures and enter Saturday's encounter having won two of their previous three League One matches.
However, they did suffer a loss last weekend losing narrowly to Sheffield Wednesday, with Lee Gregory scoring for The Owls to inflict a 1-0 defeat on Bolton.
Part of Bolton's success this term has been their ability to find the net consistently, demonstrated by the 20 league goals they have scored this season - only MK Dons and Ipswich Town have scored more.
Six of those goals have been scored by Oladapo Afolayan, who has been pivotal for Bolton so far this term, and he could be a potential match-winner for The Trotters on Saturday.
Wigan have been in fine form this season and sit a point off the automatic promotion places, having only suffered two defeats in their 10 league games.
The Latics have won five of their six previous league matches and as a result no other League One team has accumulated more points in the last six games than Wigan.
Leam Richardson's side did not play last weekend due to international call ups, but they did win their previous league fixture on October 2 when goals from Max Power and Will Keane guided Wigan to a 2-0 win over Gillingham.
Wigan's last outing was a 2-0 defeat away to Crewe Alexandra in the EFL Trophy, but that game featured a much-changed Latics team.
A defence that has conceded the fewest goals in League One has played a part in Wigan's success this term, and they will also look to continue their impressive away form at the weekend after winning three of their four league games on the road this season.
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Team News
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Bolton will be without Gethin Jones, who is suspended for the game, but he may also be out for a while after picking up an ankle injury in training.
Jones's absence could mean that Harry Brockbank starts, which would be a first league appearance of the season for the 23-year-old.
Xavier Amaechi is still out injured for the hosts, but he is nearing a return after training on the grass during the week.
Wigan are likely to name the same lineup that started their last league game against Gillingham.
That would mean that Charlie Wyke continues to lead the line after scoring twice in his last three appearances for The Latics.
Bolton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Dixon; Brockbank, Santos, Johnston, John; Williams, Lee, Sarcevic; Kachunga, Afolayan, Doyle
Wigan Athletic possible starting lineup:
Amos; Power, Whatmough, Watts, Darikwa; Naylor, Cousins, Lang, Keane, McClean; Wyke
We say: Bolton Wanderers 1-2 Wigan Athletic
This encounter is a tough one to call and it is a derby so it is likely to be a fierce contest, but we think Wigan may just edge it, especially given their impressive recent form.
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 Bolton Wanderers win with a probability of 41.88%. A win for Wigan Athletic had a probability of 32.33% and a draw had a probability of 25.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bolton Wanderers win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.93%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.83%) and 2-0 (7.15%). The likeliest Wigan Athletic win was 0-1 (8.51%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.25%). The actual scoreline of 0-4 was predicted with a 0.7% likelihood.
