Peterborough United will be hoping to bounce back from their recent defeat against Blackpool on Saturday when they host Bristol Rovers in the third round of the FA Cup.
Meanwhile, the visitors head into this match after a 4-2 victory, but they have not played for almost a month due to COVID-19 postponements.
Match preview
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Peterborough United have only picked up one victory in their previous six matches, in what has been a difficult season for the squad in the Championship.
Darren Ferguson's men are currently inside of the relegation zone, having only won five of their 15 league matches, which is why the FA Cup will be a welcome distraction for the group.
However, the Posh will be able to take confidence from the fact that the club are undefeated in their previous 13 matches against Bristol Rovers, winning eight and drawing five of those.
Peterborough need to improve on their defensive abilities if they are hoping to find themselves in the hat for the next round, as they have conceded 44 times this season, which is more than any other team in the Championship.
The club have only been beaten once by a team in a lower division than them, but Ferguson will be aware that the defeat happened last season against Chorley.
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For the League Two club, Bristol Rovers will head into this match as the underdogs, and they have failed to reach the fourth round since 2007-08, which they will want to set right at the weekend.
Joey Barton's squad were impressive during their most recent outing by beating Rochdale 4-2; however, that victory was one that they had to work hard for.
Despite the fact that they took a two-goal lead, they ended up being pulled back to 2-2 before late goals from Harry Anderson and Aaron Collins secure the result.
Bristol Rovers will now be aiming to bring that same fighting spirit to their upcoming FA Cup clash at the weekend, especially after winning twice in their previous three outings.
The Gas have faced Peterborough United three times in the FA Cup throughout history, and they have come out on top on all of those occasions, but the last time the two teams collided in the competition was 1968.
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Team News
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The Posh are COVID-19 free, which is a major positive for the club heading into this match, and that should allow Ferguson a wide range of players to choose from.
One player they could be without is Joel Randall, as he has been dealing with a hamstring injury which is something that is likely to lead to him missing out on Saturday.
Joshua Grant is now an option for Bristol Rovers this weekend as he continues to rehab from his hamstring injury which he suffered within December.
Meanwhile, Collins will be hoping to continue his form in front of goal after scoring a brace during their most recent outing.
Peterborough United possible starting lineup:
Cornell; Tomlinson, Edwards, Knight, Thompson; Grant, Norburn, Burrows, Taylor; Clarke-Harris, Dembele
Bristol Rovers possible starting lineup:
Belshaw; Hoole, Taylor, Anderton; Anderson, Coutts, Whelan, Clarke, Evans; Collins, Nicholson
We say: Peterborough United 2-1 Bristol Rovers
Both teams have been struggling within their respective leagues, which is why there is a lot to fight for within this particular FA Cup tie.
However, Peterborough United have slightly more quality within their group, and that should be enough to see them into the next round, while it will be a closely-contested match.
Top tip
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 Peterborough United win with a probability of 48.86%. A win for Bristol Rovers had a probability of 26.74% and a draw had a probability of 24.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Peterborough United win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.99%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.51%) and 2-0 (8.23%). The likeliest Bristol Rovers win was 0-1 (7%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.54%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.5% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 2-1 win for Peterborough United in this match and our data analysis correctly predicted the win for Peterborough United.
