Two of the early pace setters in League One go head to head at Home Park on Tuesday evening, with Plymouth Argyle hosting Wycombe Wanderers.
The hosts fell to their first league defeat since the opening day on Saturday, whilst the visitors returned to winning ways to close the gap on their opponents to just two points ahead of their meeting on Tuesday.
Match preview
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Despite the 2-0 defeat suffered at Charlton Athletic on Saturday, Plymouth remain top of the table heading into Tuesday's clash with fellow promotion chasers.
The visitors controlled possession at The Valley but were surprisingly ineffective going forward and deserved their defeat against their in-form opponents based on the balance of play and the quality of chances created.
Rotherham United's win, as well as Wycombe's, meant that their lead at the summit was cut to just two points, but Argyle could well have been knocked off the top were it not for Wigan Athletic's fixture being postponed.
However, despite the setback, there remains plenty of positives for manager Ryan Lowe to focus on, particularly considering the position they find themselves in compared to last season.
Losing six of the final seven matches of the 2020-21 campaign left the Pilgrims in 18th place come May, so to have started with 10 victories from the opening 18 league fixtures this time around demonstrates the remarkable turnaround by Lowe and his team.
Ahead of Tuesday's clash with Wycombe at Home Park, Plymouth boast the joint-best home record across the division, whilst remaining the only side to be undefeated in front of their own supporters in the third tier so far, although that record is set to be put to its toughest test yet.
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Meanwhile, Wycombe bounced back from a recent slump in form by defeating Bolton Wanderers 1-0 at Adams Park on Saturday afternoon, thanks to Sam Vokes' fifth goal of the campaign during the second half.
Anis Mehmeti had earlier missed a penalty midway through the first half but Gareth Ainsworth's men edged out their opponents in an entertaining encounter that saw plenty of chances created by both sides.
That victory put an end to a three-match losing streak across three different competitions, as well as a six-match winless run overall.
Thankfully for Wanderers, only three of these fixtures were in League One and meant that their drop from top spot in recent weeks has left them still in a commanding position of fourth ahead of Tuesday's tough trip to top-of-the-table Plymouth.
With just two points separating the Chairboys from Argyle, three vital points could see them regain top spot depending on results from Rotherham and Wigan, whilst also sending out a strong statement to their promotion rivals ahead of the remainder of the season in their quest to gain an immediate promotion back to the Championship.
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Team News
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Plymouth welcomed back George Cooper at the weekend after a three-month absence through injury, but after only earning a few minutes on the pitch in a late substitute appearance, he will likely have to settle for a place on the bench again on Tuesday.
Brendan Galloway and Luke Jephcott also returned to the squad after returning from international duty, and the former could return to the starting lineup in place of Macauley Gillesphey on the left of the back three.
Jephcott may also come into the starting 11, which would likely see Jordan Garrick drop to the bench from the forward line.
In terms of absentees, Niall Ennis and James Bolton will remain out injured for the time being for Plymouth.
As for Wycombe, they welcomed back the influential veteran Garath McCleary against Bolton on Saturday, after the winger had been out of action for a month through injury.
No fresh injury concerns have arisen following the win, so Ainsworth could name an unchanged side, depending on whether he deems McCleary fit enough to be integrated back into the starting 11.
Were he to bring the winger back in, Brandon Hanlan would be the likely candidate to drop out, and a shift in formation from 3-4-1-2 to a 3-4-3 would be required.
Plymouth Argyle possible starting lineup:
Cooper; Wilson, Scarr, Galloway; Edwards, Camara, Houghton, Broom, Grant; Jephcott, Hardie
Wycombe Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Stockdale; Stewart, Tafazolli, Obita; McCarthy, Wheeler, Thompson, Kaikai; Mehmeti, Vokes, McCleary
We say: Plymouth Argyle 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers
With very little between these sides in the early stages of the season, a tight affair could be played out here with both fearful of losing and gifting three points to their promotion rivals.
As a result, we are predicting a low-scoring encounter with Plymouth narrowly edging out Wycombe due to their strong home form, as well as their better results in recent weeks despite their setback on Saturday.
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 Plymouth Argyle win with a probability of 37.8%. A win for Wycombe Wanderers had a probability of 35.39% and a draw had a probability of 26.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Plymouth Argyle win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.27%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.22%) and 2-0 (6.63%). The likeliest Wycombe Wanderers win was 0-1 (9.87%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.74%). The actual scoreline of 0-3 was predicted with a 2.5% likelihood.
