Burton Albion shall be hoping to extend their unbeaten run to three games on Saturday when they make the trip to face Gillingham, who are without a win in 13 matches across all competitions.
10 places separate the two teams at the moment, with the hosts currently occupying one of the relegation spots, which they will be keen to escape from.
Match preview
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Gillingham head into Saturday's match in poor form, being without a win in 13 matches, which is something they are desperate to set right as soon as possible.
Steve Evans saw his team defeated comfortably during their most recent outing as Ipswich Town ran away with a 4-0 victory, with a red card to Daniel Phillips adding insult to injury.
The last time the Gills earned three points was in the middle of October when they beat Doncaster Rovers, who currently sit bottom of the league.
Despite their poor form, Gillingham are only seven points away from safety, providing the club with a lifeline to cling onto for the second half of the campaign.
However, Evans needs to address the lack of goals that his team are scoring, with the Gills having only found the back of the net 18 times this season, which is the second-worst record in the division.
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On the other hand, Burton have scored 29 times this season, which is something Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink will be pleased with, as his team sits in mid-table right now.
They are undefeated in their previous two outings, having beaten Crewe Alexandra 4-1 before drawing 1-1 with Cheltenham Town due to a Daniel Jebbison equaliser.
However, there is no doubt that the squad will be wanting more from the second half of the campaign, with just 11 points separating them and the playoff positions.
With a run of momentum, anything is possible with so many games to play, and Burton shall be attempting to continue that journey this Saturday.
Although, they will need to do a little more than they did in the reverse fixture, as Gillingham did manage to take a point from them as they battled out a 1-1 draw in the previous meeting.
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Team News
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After being sent off last weekend, Phillips will be unavailable on Saturday, which will force Evans into making at least one change to his starting XI.
The club will likely stick to the traditional 4-4-2, which is the formation that they have been using throughout the season in order to provide some attacking and defensive abilities within the squad.
Club captain Kyle Dempsey has been injured as of late, but he could be an option for the Gills at the weekend, although he has been linked with a move away within this month.
Louis Moult was on the bench for Burton during their last match, but he could be set to make his debut for the club this time around.
Lucas Akins also returned during the most recent performance from the bench after he dealt with a bout of COVID-19, and his fitness could now be at the point where he might be an option to start.
Gillingham possible starting lineup:
Cumming; Jackson, Ehmer, Bennett, Tutonda; O'Keefe, Reeves, Tucker, Carayol; Oliver, McKenzie
Burton Albion possible starting lineup:
Garratt; Shaughnessy, Brayford, Oshilaja; Borthwick-Jackson, O'Connor, Hamer, Powell; Maddox, Lakin; Jebbison
We say: Gillingham 1-2 Burton Albion
Gillingham have struggled this season, and every game counts for them at the moment due to their position in the league table, adding pressure to this match.
However, Burton Albion have showcased quality on a consistent basis, and that is something that should allow them to pick up all three points.
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 Burton Albion win with a probability of 47.34%. A draw had a probability of 26.8% and a win for Gillingham had a probability of 25.82%.
The most likely scoreline for a Burton Albion win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.96%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.21%) and 1-2 (8.96%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.62%), while for a Gillingham win it was 1-0 (8.88%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 4.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Burton Albion would win this match.
