Round 25 of the 2023-24 League Two season sees Gillingham and Sutton United go head-to-head against each other on Friday evening at Priestfield.
While the visitors will hope to build momentum after coming out of their last league outing with a win, the hosts will be looking to return to winning ways.
Match preview
Gillingham lost 2-0 at home against Crawley Town in their last league meeting, extending their winless streak to three matches.
Gillingham's recent matches continue to follow a frustrating pattern of dominant spells that fail to yield results, which occurred again in their loss to Crawley as Stephen Clemence's men failed to convert their superiority into goals.
More worrying for Clemence will be the fact that his side are yet to score in their last three matches while conceding four goals in that period.
As a result, the Gills have dropped to 14th place in the League Two table but are only five points adrift of the last playoff place.
But while hope remains for a late push towards the top six, they first face a familiar foe - an opponent they have already beaten this season, and twice in their three league meetings.
However, two consecutive home defeats have gnawed at Gillingham's confidence, creating a burning desire to bounce back in front of their passionate fans.
Sutton recorded their first win under caretaker manager Jason Goodliffe, with Omar Sowunmi's second-half strike securing a 1-0 victory against AFC Wimbledon last time out.
Despite this win, the Yellows remained in the relegation zone with 17 points heading into this trip to Priestfield.
Sutton's road woes continue, as their leaky defence has haunted them throughout the season, which has seen them concede three or more goals in six away league games.
A contributing factor to this is their sloppy giveaways and vulnerability at set pieces, resulting into several goals conceded through self-implosion.
No surprise then that they lead League Two for goals conceded (50), while they have let in 33 of those goals on away grounds.
Attempting to add to their misery will be Gillingham, who have been a thorn in their side, beating them twice in three meetings, with one of those losses coming at Priestfield.
Team News
Clemence could contemplate making some changes to his attacking unit after seeing his side struggle to find the net in recent matches.
After getting dropped to the bench against Crawley, Macauley Bonne and Connor Mahoney could be back in the starting lineup on Friday.
Louis John missed another encounter for Sutton this past weekend as he is struggling to return to full fitness since suffering what appeared to be a minor knock.
Sowunmi came from the bench to score the winner against Wimbledon and also keep a clean sheet, making a strong case for his reinstatement into the starting lineup at the heart of the defense.
Gillingham possible starting lineup:
Turner; Malone, Ehmer, Masterson, McKenzie; Dieng, Coleman; Mahoney, Lapslie, Williams; Bonne
Sutton United possible starting lineup:
Bouzanis; Jackson, Kizzi, Hart, Sowunmi; Pereira, Clay, N'Guessan, Patrick; Beautyman; Smith
We say: Gillingham 1-0 Sutton United
This match is shaping up to be a tighter affair than initially expected, with Gillingham's form nosediving while Sutton seemed to have found their fighting spirit again.
However, this is the perfect opportunity for the home side to find their scoring boots again, as they have been creating enough chances to put teams to bed.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
