Crawley Town and Colchester United look set to play for the first time in three weeks when they go head to head at the Broadfield Stadium in League Two on New Year's Day.
Both have seen their last few matches postponed due to COVID-19 problems, but will be looking to get 2022 off to a bright start by achieving a positive result on Saturday.
Match preview
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The home side head into Saturday's clash having seen their last three fixtures - against Oldham Athletic, Stevenage and Bristol Rovers - all postponed due to COVID-19.
As a result, their 2-1 win at Leyton Orient back on December 11 happened to be their last outing, with goals from George Francomb and Kwesi Appiah earning the three points for John Yems's side that day.
The Reds find themselves in 15th place in League Two heading into the weekend, with six points separating them from Scunthorpe United in the relegation places, whilst Swindon Town in the final playoff spot are nine points away.
Having built up some momentum during a five-game spell that yielded just one defeat, after suffering six consecutive losses in all competitions prior to that, Yems and his side will have been frustrated that they could not continue that in recent weeks due to the postponements.
Instead, the boss will be hopeful that his side can pick up from where they left off three weeks ago and pick up another three points on Saturday in order to lift his side towards the right end of the table in 2022.
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As for the visitors, they have also not played any football since December 11, with their last four fixtures not going ahead due to COVID-19 issues.
Colchester find themselves two places and three points behind Saturday's opponents ahead of their meeting, with a win potentially seeing them leapfrog Crawley in the table depending on the scoreline.
Having failed to do so in their last six league encounters however, boss Hayden Mullins knows his side face a difficult task despite their similar league positions.
With four defeats and no victories coming in their last six League Two games on the road, whilst failing to score any goals in those fixtures as well, the U's will be up against it at the Broadfield Stadium.
Mullins will see that disappointing away form as one of the priorities that needs addressing in the New Year in order to pull away from the relegation places, with a narrow gap of just three points between them and Scunthorpe ahead of Saturday's trip to Crawley.
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Team News
Crawley will be checking on the availability of several players ahead of their return to action on Saturday, with numerous first-team players having tested positive for COVID-19 over the last three weeks.
Yems has admitted that the game is likely to come too soon for several of the recently ruled out players due to the catching up needed in training.
Meanwhile, Colchester will also be assessing the fitness of a number of their players that have been missing due to COVID-19 as of late.
However, the likes of Shamal George, Frank Nouble and Gene Kennedy are all expected to return having missed the previous few games due to injury, with the extended break providing them with a much-needed recovery period.
Crawley Town possible starting lineup:
Morris; Davies, Francillette, Craig, Francomb; Tilley, Hessenthaler, Powell, Ferry; Appiah, Nadesan
Colchester United possible starting lineup:
Turner; Tchamadeu, Chambers, Smith, Daniels; Skuse, Sarpong-Wiredu; Jasper, Judge, Hannant; Sears
We say: Crawley Town 1-0 Colchester United
This game could certainly struggle to get going for large parts after such a long period of time without a game for both of these sides.
Taking that into account, as well as the similar positions in the table, we are expecting a tight game on Saturday, with Crawley just edging out their opponents based on their form prior to the postponements, as well as Colchester's troubles away from home.
Top tip
Matthew Tranter
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 Colchester United win with a probability of 36.4%. A win for Crawley Town had a probability of 34.17% and a draw had a probability of 29.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Colchester United win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.69%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (7.41%) and 0-2 (7%). The likeliest Crawley Town win was 1-0 (12.19%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.44%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 2.5% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that Crawley Town would win this match.
