Two League One teams in the bottom half of the table meet at Sixfields Stadium on Saturday afternoon, as Northampton Town play host to Cambridge United.
Eight months have passed since these two sides last butted heads in the third tier, sharing the spoils in a 1-1 draw at Abbey Stadium.
Match preview
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Northampton have struggled to find consistency throughout this season, with four wins, five draws and six defeats posted across their 15 League One matches, while they have won three, drawn three and lost three of their last nine games in all competitions.
A 5-2 home defeat to Burton Albion in the EFL Trophy just over a week ago was sandwiched between respectable League One draws away against Birmingham City and Blackpool, playing out a goalless stalemate with the latter last weekend.
Head coach Jon Brady was left pleased and frustrated following Northampton's draw at Bloomfield Road, and he sees his side sitting 16th in the third-tier standings, four points above the relegation zone and nine behind the playoff spots.
Northampton will welcome a return to Sixfields where they have won both of their last two home league games without conceding - beating Leyton Orient (1-0) and Crawley Town (3-0) - after losing three in a row on home soil prior to that.
The Cobblers are also unbeaten across their last three league meetings with Cambridge (W2 D1), including a 2-1 home win in November last year, and they will endeavour to go four home games without defeat against the U's for the first time since April 1996.
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Cambridge's rather peculiar 2024-25 campaign started off with 11 defeats and one draw in their opening 12 matches across all competitions, before putting together a five-game winning streak, including three much-needed League One triumphs in a row without reply against Wigan, Stevenage and Burton.
Two narrow 1-0 wins over non-league Woking (FA Cup) and Chelsea Under-21s (EFL Trophy) followed, before they suffered a heavy 6-1 defeat away against Peterborough United, a game in which they conceded more goals in the first 50 minutes (five) than they shipped in their previous eight matches combined (four).
The U's dusted themselves down and picked up a point in a 1-1 home draw with fifth-placed Barnsley last weekend, leaving Garry Monk's side in 22nd place in the League One table and just three points adrift of safety.
Cambridge head into Saturday's contest with Northampton having already lost six of their seven away league games this season - their joint-most ever from their opening seven matches on the road in a Football League campaign (also six defeats in 1973-74, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1999-00 and 2001-02).
The U's have also suffered defeat in both of their last two visits to Northampton and will be seeking to avoid losing three in a row at Sixfields for the first time in the Football League.
Team News
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Northampton midfielder Jack Sowerby is facing an extended period on the sidelines after being stretchered off with a dislocated knee in last weekend's draw with Blackpool.
Sowerby will join Callum Morton (knee), Patrick Brough (broken leg), Ali Koiki and Luke Mbete (both muscle) in the treatment room, while Aaron McGowan (calf) and Jordan Willis (unspecified) are also facing 'a period of time' on the sidelines.
On a positive note, Cameron McGeehan is available to return after serving a one-match ban last time out and the midfielder is set to play alongside Ben Fox and Samy Chouchane, while either Martyn Waghorn or Tyler Roberts is expected to lead the line.
As for Cambridge, James Gibbons is ruled out for several weeks with a knee injury, while Josh Stokes and Paul Digby remain sidelined with respective knee and calf problems.
Monk is unlikely to make too many changes, if any, to his starting lineup, with Dan Nlundulu - who scored against Barnsley last weekend - set to be joined in the final third by Brandon Njoku and Elias Kachunga.
Northampton Town possible starting lineup:
Burge; Odimayo, Baldwin, Guthrie, Guinness-Walker; Chouchane, McGeehan, Fox; Pinnock, Waghorn, Hoskins
Cambridge United possible starting lineup:
Reyes; Okedina, Morrison, Andrew; Bennett, Cousins, Smith, Brophy; Kachunga; Njoku, Nlundulu
We say: Northampton Town 1-1 Cambridge United
A closely-fought contest between two teams keen to swiftly return to winning ways could be in store on Saturday. Playing at Sixfields may give Northampton a slight psychological edge, but we feel that Cambridge will do just enough to grind out a draw on this occasion.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
