Two teams with plenty to play for in the Danish Superliga lock horns at JYSK Park on Friday as bottom side Silkeborg host fifth-place Nordsjaelland.
The visitors were in good form when the division was brought to a halt in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, while Silkeborg gave their survival hopes a boost last time out.
Match preview
© Reuters
It has been a tough first campaign back in the Danish top flight for Silkeborg, who find themselves rock bottom of the division and facing a second relegation in six years.
Kent Nielsen's side beat Aarhus 2-1 last time out, following an impressive 1-1 draw with second-place FC Copenhagen, to kickstart their campaign - albeit at just the wrong time.
Silkeborg are already certain of a place in the relegation round and will be looking to get some points on the board in their final two regular-season matches.
The second of those games comes against SonderjyskE next week, but first they need to take something off high-flying Nordsjaelland on Friday.
The Wild Tigers drew 2-2 with Brondby in their most recent match on March 8, ending a four-game winning streak that saw them climb up the division.
As things stand with two games to go, Nordsjaelland are fifth in the table and five points above Randers in seventh, so they are all but assured of a place in the championship round.
Flemming Pedersen's side are the division's highest scorers with 46 goals to their name, averaging just under two a game so far, with Mohammed Kudus responsible for seven of those.
Somewhat unsurprisingly given that they are bottom of the division, Silkeborg have conceded more goals than any other side, shipping a total of 51 in their 24 matches.
They have won two of their last four matches at JYSK Park, but they still hold claim to the Danish Superliga's worst home record.
Nordsjaelland's away form prior to the shutdown was pretty impressive, meanwhile, as they took eight points from the last 12 on offer.
Silkeborg's league form: WLLDDW
Nordsjaelland's league form: LWWWWD
Head To Head
The sides played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in this season's reverse fixture, with Nordsjaelland battling back from two goals down to rescue a point.
Indeed, Nordsjaelland are unbeaten in their last 15 competitive encounters with Silkeborg since a 1-0 loss in November 2010.
We say: Silkeborg 1-3 Nordsjaelland
Form picked up for Silkeborg before play was brought to a halt in March, but they are still bottom of the table and need to hit the ground running. Friday's return fixture will be a tough one, though, as Nordsjaelland boast a good away record and are on the verge of securing a place in the top six.
Daniel Lewis
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 Nordsjaelland win with a probability of 50.7%. A win for Silkeborg had a probability of 26.38% and a draw had a probability of 22.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Nordsjaelland win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.6%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.37%) and 0-2 (7.63%). The likeliest Silkeborg win was 2-1 (6.62%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.52%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 7.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Nordsjaelland would win this match.
