Playoff-chasing Harrogate Town and Port Vale go head to head in League Two action at the Envirovent Stadium on New Year's Day.
The hosts have not played for 11 days due to recent COVID-19 outbreaks, whilst this will be the visitors' first action since December 11 following numerous postponements in the fourth tier.
Match preview
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Having seen their fixtures against Bradford City and Mansfield Town postponed due to COVID-19 over the past week, Harrogate's 2-1 win at Tranmere Rovers in the EFL Trophy back on December 21 was their last outing.
Jack Muldoon and Alex Pattison secured the goals in a comeback win on that day to see Simon Weaver's side through to the next round.
Fortunes have been different in League Two in recent weeks however, with three consecutive defeats against Forest Green Rovers, Northampton Town and Sutton United being suffered prior to that.
As a result, the Sulphurites have slipped to 11th in the table ahead of Saturday's return to action, with four points between themselves and Swindon Town in the playoff places.
The losing streak is just the latest of a disappointing run of form for Weaver's men, which has seen them win just two of their last 11 league outings, having won six of their first 11 in an excellent start to the campaign.
A top-half finish come May would certainly represent a successful season anyway, but having flown out of the blocks in August, Weaver will be eager to see his side kick start their season again by recording a win in their first game of 2022 on Saturday.
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Meanwhile, visitors Port Vale have held onto their playoff spot despite having seen their last three games postponed due to COVID-19.
Even prior to the cancellations, the Valiants saw their standards and form drop in the weeks leading up to the virus outbreaks, after winning just two of their last six League Two fixtures.
The most recent of their matches came at Newport County three weeks ago, where Darrell Clarke's side fell to a 2-1 defeat at Rodney Parade.
Despite playing far from their best once more, Ben Garrity's goal in the first half had given Vale the lead until the 69th minute, before two goals inside seven minutes, as well as Daniel Jones's late red card, saw the game turned on its head.
With another defeat potentially seeing Vale drop out of the top seven, Clarke will be looking for his side to return to winning ways on Saturday in order to solidify their playoff spot in the table.
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Team News
Harrogate's long-term absentee William Smith has returned to training recently, but after over 12 months out of action, he will have to wait for his return to the squad at the moment.
Aaron Martin also remains sidelined with Smith, and although Rory McArdle should make a return from injury, Simon Power has joined the list of absentees due to a quad injury.
As for Port Vale, they are expecting to have a number of players returning on Saturday, with no players currently suffering from COVID-19 anymore.
Jones will finally serve the first of his three-game suspension, which could see Ryan Johnson deputise in the three-man defence.
Harrogate Town possible starting lineup:
Oxley; Fallowfield, Burrell, Hall, Page; Kerry, Falkingham, Pattison; Thomson, Armstrong, Diamond
Port Vale possible starting lineup:
Covolan; Cass, Smith, Johnson; Worrall, Garrity, Pett, Gibbons; Conlon; Rodney, Amoo
We say: Harrogate Town 1-1 Port Vale
With very little between these sides on paper, a tight affair with few goals looks inevitable on Saturday.
As a result, we are predicting a draw with neither side featuring much recently and both struggling for consistent form prior to the COVID outbreaks.
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 Port Vale win with a probability of 40.91%. A win for Harrogate Town had a probability of 33.36% and a draw had a probability of 25.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Port Vale win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.64%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.74%) and 0-2 (6.9%). The likeliest Harrogate Town win was 1-0 (8.53%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.2%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 1-1 draw for this match.
