Wigan Athletic play host to Cambridge United on Saturday evening knowing that they could move to the brink of promotion with victory at the DW Stadium.
At a time when the Latics sit seven points clear of third position in the League One standings, Cambridge occupy 13th spot after an excellent campaign back at the third tier.
Match preview
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Heading into Tuesday's fixture at Burton Albion, Wigan were aware that collecting another three points at the Pirelli Stadium might prove decisive in the race for promotion.
Although the Latics only left Staffordshire with a point from a goalless draw, Leam Richardson and his squad will feel like it is another point gained with one match still in hand on second-placed MK Dons.
While promotion is the priority, Richardson will be eager to lift the League One crown, and his side now sit four points clear of their nearest rivals.
The North-West outfit are also on a nine-match unbeaten streak in the league, a run of results which has featured six victories and three draws.
The game on Tuesday was the first time since March 1 that Wigan had not found the back of the net, although the positives will be taken from just a second clean sheet in five attempts.
Cambridge head into this fixture with little but pride and position to fight for, but Mark Bonner will be thoroughly delighted with how his team have fared back in this division.
Sitting in 13th spot and 16 points clear of the relegation zone is well above pre-season expectations, at least among the fanbase who probably anticipated a battle for survival.
The U's are making every effort to end the campaign with a flourish having recorded three wins from their last four matches, the most recent coming at home to Morecambe.
Joe Ironside netted the decisive goal during that 2-1 victory, edging back ahead of Sam Smith with his 13th strike in the league.
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Team News
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While Richardson may show priority to naming a settled side, the Wigan boss could still make a couple of alterations to his team.
Graeme Shinnie is an option in the centre of the pitch if Richardson feels that his side could benefit from fresh legs, while Stephen Humphreys could be introduced into the attack.
James McClean faces a battle to return from a knee injury before the end of the season.
On the back of last week's win over Morecambe, Bonner may also show preference to sticking with the majority of the Cambridge players who started that fixture.
However, Sam Sherring has definitely been ruled out through injury, which should lead to a start for Jubril Okedina in defence.
Wigan Athletic possible starting lineup:
Amos; Kerr, Whatmough, Watts; Darikwa, Power, Naylor, Bennett; Keane; Humphreys, Lang
Cambridge United possible starting lineup:
Mitov; Bennett, Okedina, Jones, Iredale; Digby, Simper; Smith, Knibbs, Brophy; Ironside
We say: Wigan Athletic 2-0 Cambridge United
With Cambridge one of the form teams in the division, Wigan will show them respect ahead of and during this fixture. Nevertheless, we still expect the Latics to come through with the three points in what should be a contest of quality in the North-West.
Darren Plant
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 Wigan Athletic win with a probability of 78.29%. A draw had a probability of 14.8% and a win for Cambridge United had a probability of 6.93%.
The most likely scoreline for a Wigan Athletic win was 2-0 with a probability of 14.64%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (12.08%) and 3-0 (11.82%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (6.95%), while for a Cambridge United win it was 0-1 (2.87%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 2% likelihood.
