Crisis-hit Southend United are searching for just their second National League win of the season on Tuesday, when they welcome Eastleigh to Roots Hall.
The hosts have not won since the opening day, whilst the visitors are looking to continue their momentum after an initial poor start to the new campaign.
Match preview
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The doom and gloom at Southend continued at the weekend, when United lost 2-0 at Solihull Moors to extend their losing streak to four matches in a row.
As mentioned above, the Shrimpers have managed just one win all season, which arrived on the opening day at King's Lynn Town, and have picked up just two points in seven games since.
As a result, despite dropping down into the National League following relegation from League Two last campaign, Phil Brown's side find themselves in the relegation places heading into Tuesday's fixture.
To add to the misery within the club at the moment, there were further protests and disagreements last time out involving the club chairman and the travelling supporters at King's Lynn, with fans unhappy at the running of the club for a number of years.
The manager will be hoping his troubled side can remain focused on the difficult task at hand when they welcome Eastleigh in midweek, and come away with a victory to play a small part in lifting the dark clouds that have been hanging over the club for a number of years.
Meanwhile, visitors Eastleigh find themselves in the middle of a small revival after a slow start to the new campaign.
The Spitfires began with just two points from their opening four fixtures, but since then have lost just once in their next four, to lift them to 15th in the table.
After missing out on a playoff place by just three points in 2020-21, Ben Strevens's men will be looking for a positive result on Tuesday to continue their climb back up the National League.
Most recently, Eastleigh drew 1-1 at home to promotion-chasing Boreham Wood on Saturday at a rain-soaked Ten Acres.
Harry Pritchard had given the hosts the lead just after the half-hour mark, but they were pegged back just three minutes later after conceding a penalty.
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Team News
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For the hosts, they welcome back Nathan Ralph on Tuesday, after the defender missed out at the weekend through a one-match suspension due to his accumulation of yellow cards.
Charlie Sayers returned to the side in the centre of defence so he may retain his place in the starting 11 for this one too.
New loan signing Benji Kimpioka made his debut up front after arriving on a one-month loan deal from Sunderland so will be hoping to make successive starts, whilst the only player ruled out is long-term absentee Tom Clifford.
As for the visitors, Strevens made one change at the weekend last time out, as Cavanagh Miley dropped out of the lineup for captain Danny Hollands, with no injury concerns to report following that game.
Miley will be pushing to regain his place, as well as Sam Smart, who has been unfortunate to miss out on the starting lineup as of late.
Southend United possible starting lineup:
Arnold; Ogogo, White, Sayers, Ralph; Demetriou, Walsh, Dunne, Bridge; Kimpioka, Murphy
Eastleigh possible starting lineup:
McDonnell; Hare, Boyce, Low; Hill, Hollands, Whelan, Pritchard, Kelly; Barnett, House
We say: Southend United 1-1 Eastleigh
We believe home advantage will help Southend to earn a point against their opponents on Tuesday. Before the season started this would have been a game that the hosts would have expected to win, but the troubles surrounding the club and the awful form, coupled with the decent form of Eastleigh, mean that this could be a tight affair and hard to call so we are predicting a draw.
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 Southend United win with a probability of 51.06%. A draw had a probability of 24.7% and a win for Eastleigh had a probability of 24.24%.
The most likely scoreline for a Southend United win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.28%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.56%) and 2-0 (9.19%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.74%), while for a Eastleigh win it was 0-1 (7.21%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 11.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Southend United in this match.
