Hull City play host to Preston North End on Saturday afternoon looking to extend their winning streak in the Championship to four matches.
Their 13th-placed opponents are also in good form, putting together a three-game unbeaten streak to keep themselves as outsiders for the playoffs.
Match preview
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Having collected just three wins from nine matches in all competitions, it would be easy to say that Ryan Lowe's start at Preston has been somewhat of a mixed bag.
Nevertheless, having collected five points from a possible nine in the Championship of late, North End are seemingly heading in the right direction under the former Plymouth Argyle boss.
There was both frustration and relief having only posted a 2-2 draw at home to inconsistent Bristol City last weekend, but the positives can be taken from the goalless draw at Millwall three days later.
At one stage, Preston had several games in hand, but such has been their relentless schedule of late that they will become one of a handful of teams to reach 30 games at the weekend.
However, victory on Humberside could take them to within four points of the playoffs, ahead of a run of six contests where four of them are staged at Deepdale.
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Despite occupying 18th position, Hull are no longer regarded as potential relegation candidates given their recent run of three successive wins.
On the back of a takeover and a new manager being appointed, albeit to a mixed reaction, there is the perception that the Tigers are very much on an upward trajectory.
Shota Arveladze would have been delighted with the manner of his team's 2-0 victory over Swansea City last weekend, two quick goals being followed by his team collecting a third clean sheet in succession.
A late playoff bid is realistically out of the question this season, but two or three more wins in a row would make future opponents and rivals sit up and take note of what is occurring at the MKM Stadium.
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Team News
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Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, Marcus Forss and Liam Walsh all linked up with Hull on deadline day, and they come into contention for this fixture.
However, barring any fitness issues, Arveladze may feel content to start with the same players that impressed against Swansea.
Preston boss Lowe must decide how to replace the injured Andrew Hughes, with Greg Cunningham or new arrival Bambo Diaby both options on the left-hand side of a back three.
Patrick Bauer or Liam Lindsay are also an alternative in that area with Lowe to give consideration to using the pair alongside Sepp van den Berg.
Midfielder Alan Browne and striker Cameron Archer will also feel like they are in contention to earn a recall to the Preston XI.
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Baxter; Bernard, Greaves, McLoughlin; Longman, Docherty, Smallwood, Fleming; Honeyman; Eaves, Lewis-Potter
Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Iversen; Van den Berg, Lindsay, Cunningham; Potts, Whiteman, Ledson, Earl; Browne; Riis Jakobsen, Archer
We say: Hull City 1-1 Preston North End
With both clubs enjoying some of their best form of the season, this has all the makings of an entertaining fixture. Hull are probably the marginal favourites to collect all three points, but we feel that Preston will do enough to earn a share of the spoils.
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 Hull City win with a probability of 39.85%. A win for Preston North End had a probability of 30.96% and a draw had a probability of 29.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Hull City win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.36%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (7.85%) and 2-1 (7.84%). The likeliest Preston North End win was 0-1 (11.36%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.34%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with an 11.4% likelihood.
