With both sides looking to bounce back from respective defeats last time out, Fleetwood Town and Lincoln City face off at the Highbury Stadium on Saturday.
The teams are separated by three points and two places in the League One table heading into this weekend's clash, which promises to be an absorbing affair.
Match preview
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In search of a second home win in three matches, Lincoln City fell to a 1-0 defeat against Doncaster Rovers at the Sincil Bank Stadium on Tuesday.
The game was decided half an hour into the second period, when Dan Gardner kept his cool from 12 yards to put Michael Appleton's men to the sword.
With 35 points from 31 league outings so far, the Imps remain 17th in the standings, five points clear of the relegation zone, albeit having played an extra game.
Awaiting Saturday's visitors next is the challenge of an opposing side against whom they have a mixed record with the five previous meetings yielding two wins apiece for either side and a stalemate.
However, Lincoln City did come out on top in the most recent encounter, coming behind from a goal down to claim a 2-1 victory in August's reverse fixture.
Off the back of four consecutive draws, Fleetwood Town were beaten 2-0 by Cheltenham Town when the teams clashed at Whaddon Road on Saturday.
Late first-half goals from Alfie May and Charlie Raglan condemned Stephen Crainey's men to a second league defeat since the turn of the year and a 13th overall.
Managing just two points from their last six matches, the Cod Army are hovering dangerously above the drop zone from which they are currently separated by two points.
Saturday's hosts follow up this weekend's game with a contest versus Sheffield Wednesday, while their visitors lock horns with Bolton Wanderers.
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Team News
Twenty-two-year-old Anthony Scully scored a brace in the reverse fixture and is one to keep an eye on having directly contributed to 15 of his side's 36 goals this term.
Defender Joe Walsh received his marching orders for two bookable offences in as many minutes against Doncaster, making him ineligible to feature for the away side.
Timothy Eyoma sat out the aforementioned game, but he is expected to be named in the starting lineup for this one as a result of Walsh's absence.
Fleetwood's Callum Camps will serve the last of a three-game suspension this weekend following his sending-off in a 1-1 draw versus Shrewsbury two Saturdays ago.
Paddy Lane has found the back of the net in each of his last three home appearances, and the Northern Irishman will be looking to continue his fine form in front of goal.
Fleetwood Town possible starting lineup:
Cairns; Andrew, Jules, Nsiala, Johnson; Biggins, Batty, Lane; Butterworth, Harrison, Pilkington
Lincoln City possible starting lineup:
Griffiths; Bramall, Poole, Eyoma, Norton-Cuffy; McGrandles, Sanders, Maguire; Scully, Marquis, Whittaker
We say: Fleetwood Town 1-1 Lincoln City
Both Fleetwood and Lincoln are involved in a battle for survival, so we expect a keenly-contested affair with a lot of goalmouth action. That said, we fancy a share of the spoils with honours even come the sound of the final whistle.
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 Fleetwood Town win with a probability of 37%. A win for Lincoln City had a probability of 36.28% and a draw had a probability of 26.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Fleetwood Town win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.04%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.14%) and 2-0 (6.43%). The likeliest Lincoln City win was 0-1 (9.92%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.7%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.7% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 1-1 draw for this match.
