After knocking out higher-tier opponents in the opening round earlier this month, Northampton Town welcome AFC Wimbledon to Sixfields on Tuesday, in the second round of the EFL Cup.
The Cobblers have already seen off Championship side Coventry City, so will anticipate another upset against League One opposition this time around.
Match preview
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Winners against Port Vale on the opening weekend of the League Two season, Northampton went on to seal back-to-back wins by beating second-tier Coventry City at the Coventry Building Society Arena in the EFL Cup's first round.
Though they fell behind to Tyler Walker's early goal - and conceded two-thirds of the possession - Jon Brady's men made it through by virtue of a second-half Kion Etete double, which saw them progress after a 2-1 win.
On loan from Tottenham Hotspur Under-23s, Etete recently signed a new contract with Spurs until 2023 before going out on loan to the Cobblers for the 2021–22 campaign, and the teenage striker made a decisive impact in the West Midlands.
That surely provided a confidence boost for Town, as they had exited at the opening stage in four of the previous five seasons, and they then went on to beat Colchester away from home, before Saturday's 3-1 loss to Rochdale.
Having been level until the 73rd minute, Northampton will be ruing their inability to hold on for at least a point, but now switch their focus back to the cup for the visit of a Wimbledon side that they failed to defeat at home or away last term. In fact, the last time the two clubs met at Sixfields came almost a year ago, when they played out a 2-2 League One draw - with all the goals scored in a frantic first half-hour.
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Wimbledon also come into this second round clash on the back of a league loss, as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland on Saturday - their first reverse after two draws and a win in their opening three games.
Undoubtedly, Mark Robinson's side were up against it before they even travelled to the North-East, as the Mackems had lost just three of their 19 previous home games in 2021 and did just enough to secure the three points once again.
A club with a colourful history in cup competitions, the Dons return to knockout football in midweek, where they hope to replicate an away win in the first round of the EFL Cup. Their opponents earlier this month were Charlton Athletic, as Paul Osew's first-half strike proved enough to seal a 1-0 victory at the Valley.
Always keen to innovate, Wimbledon have been trialling the use of a dedicated substitutions coach so far this season, as Sammy Lander has taken on the new role for games against Charlton, Doncaster and Bolton, in addition to being involved at the training ground during the week.
With Ben Ryan - who coached Fiji to rugby sevens gold at the 2016 Olympics - and former Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew also currently providing consultation for the club, their unorthodox approach could again reap dividends at Sixfields.
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Team News
Northampton brought in a total of 12 new signings following relegation from League One, so manager Jon Brady is still searching for a consistent selection, having tinkered with both four and five-man defensive setups this season.
On-loan Tottenham striker Kion Etete is in line to start again - despite drawing a blank at the weekend - after his heroics in the previous round. He could be joined up front by Danny Rose or Nicke Kabamba, but fellow forward Caleb Chukwuemeka has now departed to join his brother at Aston Villa.
Sam Hoskins - having now fully recovered from COVID-19 - is likely to provide support from the right flank, while Jon Guthrie was on target in the defeat to Rochdale at the weekend and should start at the heart of the home side's defence.
Meanwhile, Wimbledon may revert to a 3-4-1-2 formation, as seen in the last round of the cup, though have been using a four-man back line in the league.
If Mark Robinson plumps for the former, then Henry Lawrence and Paul Osew could operate as wing-backs - with Cheye Alexander providing an alternative option out wide.
Ollie Palmer will continue to battle it out for a place up front with Scottish teenager Aaron Pressley, who has featured regularly so far after making only a handful of appearances for Brentford last season. Another youngster, Ayoub Assal is likely to start in support of the frontman, having recently signed a new contract with the club.
Northampton Town possible starting lineup:
Roberts; McGowan, Guthrie, Horsfall, Koiki; Hoskins, Lewis, Pollock, Connolly; Kabamba, Etete
AFC Wimbledon possible starting lineup:
Tzanev; Kalambayi, Heneghan, Csoka; Lawrence, Hartigan, Marsh, Osew; Assal; Pressley, Mebude
We say: Northampton Town 0-1 AFC Wimbledon
Both teams are looking to bounce back from disappointing defeats at the weekend, but the away side are best placed to do so on Tuesday.
Wimbledon tend to score a little more freely than Northampton have done this term, so some youthful attacking options can make the difference at Sixfields and send the Dons wombling on into the third round.
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 Northampton Town win with a probability of 38.42%. A win for AFC Wimbledon had a probability of 34.6% and a draw had a probability of 27%.
The most likely scoreline for a Northampton Town win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.58%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.27%) and 2-0 (6.83%). The likeliest AFC Wimbledon win was 0-1 (9.93%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.81%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 9.9% likelihood.
