Preview: Burton Albion vs Mansfield Town - prediction, team news, lineups

Both looking to record their third victories of the 2026-27 third-tier campaign, Burton Albion and Mansfield Town clash at the Pirelli Stadium for a League One fixture on Saturday afternoon.

The Brewers suffered a battering at the home of recently-relegated Oxford United last time out, whilst the Stags held on under difficult circumstances to gain a point from a meeting with Huddersfield Town.

Match preview

Following six consecutive bottom-half finishes in League One, relegation-tipped Burton Albion are looking to compete in the top 12 this time around, however, last weekend's result dented the East Midlanders' lofty ambitions.

For the first time in a competitive contest this term, the Brewers failed to find the net and were heavily dispatched at the Kassam Stadium, where second-half goals from Siriki Dembele, Louie Sibley and Gatlin O'Donkor convincingly won the day for Oxford.

After six matches of the third-tier season, Gary Bowyer's troops are sitting in 11th position in the League One standings with eight points, two points behind the playoffs but just three points ahead of the relegation zone.

Missing the defeat at Oxford last weekend, Burton academy graduate Finn Delap is threatening to produce a breakthrough season at this level, with the 21-year-old netting two goals across his opening five league appearances.

Despite failing to keep a clean sheet in their past 10 competitive contests running back into last season, the Brewers should be confident of a positive result on Saturday, with the hosts unbeaten across their past five games with Mansfield (W2 D3).

Since that emphatic 5-2 success over Premier League alumni Luton Town on August 30, Mansfield Town have endured a rotten September schedule, collecting just a single point from three matches, failing to score a goal.

Defeats at Reading (0-5) and Bradford City (0-1) were followed up by a scrappy share of the spoils at One Call Stadium against Huddersfield last weekend, when the Stags were down to 10 men after 47 minutes due to Owen Dodgson's straight red card.

All things considered, Mansfield did exceptionally well to hold onto a draw against the in-form Terriers, but head coach Nigel Clough will be worried that his men have now won just one of their past six competitive matches (D1 L4).

Another cause for concern ahead of Saturday's trip to the Pirelli Stadium, the Stags have lost three straight League One away games at the beginning of this season, conceding an alarming eight goals and scoring only once.

As alluded to earlier, Mansfield have struggled in recent games against Burton, with the Stags' most recent success in this matchup coming in the group stage of the EFL Trophy in November 2019.

Burton Albion League One form:

Mansfield Town League One form:

Mansfield Town form (all competitions):

Team News

Replaced at the interval during the defeat at Oxford last time out, Burton wing-back Jack Armer is unlikely to start at the Pirelli this weekend.

Harvey Araujo was introduced to the Kassam contest for the second half and is pushing to earn his first League One start of the term.

Caylan Vickers has started back-to-back matches in attack without finding the net, meaning that Burton boss might switch the youngster out for Kain Adom on Saturday.

After his reckless challenge and red card last weekend, Mansfield's Dodgson is serving a three-game suspension.

The absence of the 23-year-old is likely to increase the playing opportunities of fellow midfielders Lucas Akins and Luke Bolton.

Burton Albion possible starting lineup:

Addai; Sibbick, Lewis, Tilt; Lofthouse, Collar, Chauke, Araujo; Webster, Rodrigues, Adom

Mansfield Town possible starting lineup:

Roberts; Hewitt, Oshilaja, Sweeney; Moriah-Welsh, Maris, Thompson, Akins; McGoldrick, Smith