Finn Harps and Longford Town meet in the League of Ireland Premier Division on Friday evening with both teams having struggled for points in recent weeks.
The home side are without a victory in four outings, while the visitors have been cut adrift at the bottom on the back of four defeats in five fixtures.
Match preview
Having started the season with 10 points from a possible 12, many people associated with Finn Harps felt that they could spend the year competing for European qualification.
However, they have since claimed just two wins from 13 fixtures, leaving the club down in eighth position and at risk of dropping out of contention for mid-table.
A 1-1 draw away at Shamrock Rovers is still fresh in the memory, but Ollie Horgan's men were well beaten by leaders St Patrick's Athletic on Monday.
On a positive note, Adam Foley has now scored in three of his last five outings, taking his tally up to eight for the season.
While Longford would have always expected a tough year after earning promotion back to the top flight, the campaign has been near-disastrous for the minnows of the division.
Over three months have now passed since their one and only victory during 2020-21, the success over Derry City coming on the opening day.
Daire Doyle has been kept in charge at Bishopsgate, but he will acknowledge that results need to pick up to retain his position in the dugout in the long term.
The 2-1 home defeat to nearest rivals Waterford United could prove pivotal at the end of the year, the gap to ninth place having been extended to four points.
Young defender Aaron McNally has netted in each of the last two fixtures, a necessary contribution with none of this squad scoring more than three times.
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Team News
Horgan is expected to make a number of alterations to his Finn Harps starting lineup after the defeat at St Patrick's.
Sean Boyd may be provided with an opportunity ahead of Tunde Owolabi in attack, while Tony McNamee could be recalled in midfield.
Despite making his first outing of the season as a substitute, Joel Bradley Walsh is expected to remain among the replacements.
Longford will be without Michael McDonnell for this contest after the defender was sent off during the latter stages against Waterford.
Joe Manley should deputise in the middle of the backline, with Conor Davis and Aaron Dobbs both alternative options in the final third.
Finn Harps possible starting lineup:
McGinley; Boyle, Sadiki, McEleney, Rainey; Barry, Coyle, Seymore, McNamee; Foley, Boyd
Longford Town possible starting lineup:
Steacy; Chambers, O'Driscoll, J.Manley, Kirk; Dervin, Zambra; Byrne, Grimes, McNally; R.Manley
We say: Finn Harps 2-1 Longford Town
Given the relatively close distance between the two teams, Longford will view this as an opportunity to get their season back on track. Nevertheless, Finn Harps are a win away from being regarded as a mid-table outfit, and they should have enough quality to end this contest with maximum points.
Top tip
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 Finn Harps win with a probability of 44.19%. A draw had a probability of 29.1% and a win for Longford Town had a probability of 26.72%.
The most likely scoreline for a Finn Harps win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.67%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.09%) and 2-1 (8.13%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (13.12%), while for a Longford Town win it was 0-1 (10.59%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 13.1% likelihood.
