Mansfield Town will be bidding to make it successive victories at the start of their 2024-25 League One campaign when they host Burton Albion on Saturday afternoon.
The home side beat Barnsley 2-1 in their season opener last Friday, while Burton opened their new campaign with a 3-2 loss to Lincoln City.
Match preview
© Imago
Saturday's match will be a special occasion for Mansfield head coach Nigel Clough, with the 58-year-old preparing to take on the side that he has managed in two separate spells.
Indeed, Clough was in charge of Burton between October 1998 and January 2009, before returning to the club in December 2015 and managing them until May 2020.
Clough has been in charge of the Stags since late 2020, and he managed to lead the team to promotion from League Two last season, finishing third in the table behind Stockport County and Wrexham.
Mansfield are playing in the third tier of English football for the first time since 2003, and they opened their League One season with a 2-1 success over Barnsley last Friday, but their League Cup campaign was ended on Tuesday evening courtesy of a penalty-shootout defeat to Bolton Wanderers.
The Stags have not taken on Burton in the league since January 2015, when they suffered a 2-1 defeat, but the two sides met in the EFL Trophy last term, with Burton also running out 2-1 winners.
© Imago
Burton, meanwhile, only narrowly avoided relegation from League One last season, finishing 20th in the table, just two points above 21st-placed Cheltenham Town.
Brewers appointed ex-Chelsea youth-team coach Mark Robinson as their new manager at the start of June, but it has been a tough start to the new season for the Englishman.
Indeed, Burton opened their 2024-25 League One campaign with a 3-2 home loss to Lincoln, before suffering a 4-0 defeat to Blackpool in the League Cup on Tuesday night.
Robinson's side were on course for a point in their league opener with Lincoln, with Billy Bodin scoring in the 41st minute to leave the two sides level at 2-2.
However, Paudie O'Connor netted the game's fifth goal in the 86th minute to decide the contest, and Burton will be determined to bounce back on Saturday afternoon.
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
Team News
© Imago
Mansfield head coach Clough could name the same side that took to the field for the first whistle against Barnsley last weekend, with new signing Lee Gregory set to continue in the final third of the field.
Keanu Baccus, Deji Oshilaja, Frazer Blake-Tracy and Ben Quinn also made their debuts for the club in the League One opener, and they are set to retain their spots.
Clough made changes for the EFL Cup clash with Bolton on Tuesday, but the team's key players will be back in the side for this weekend's contest.
As for Burton, head coach Robinson is expected to resist the temptation to make changes to the XI that started the league opener against Lincoln.
There were certainly positives during last weekend's contest, and a number of squad players failed to make their mark in the League Cup game against Blackpool.
Bodin, Terence Vancooten and Tomas Kalinauskas were among those to make their Burton debuts against Lincoln, and the trio are set to retain their positions in the side for the clash against Mansfield.
Mansfield Town possible starting lineup:
Pym; Bowery, Flint, Oshilaja, Blake-Tracy; Baccus, Reed, Keillor-Dunn, Quinn; Akins, Gregory
Burton Albion possible starting lineup:
Isted; Vancooten, Sweeney, Williams; Godin-Malife, Gilligan, Watt, Kalinauskas; Bodin, Orsi, Whitfield
We say: Mansfield Town 2-1 Burton Albion
Burton are better than what they have shown early in the season, but Mansfield picked up an excellent three points last weekend, and we are backing Clough's team to make it successive victories at the start of their 2024-25 League One campaign.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
