Plymouth Argyle have not lost a match in the league since the opening day of the season, but after consecutive draws in their most recent games, they will be keen to get back to winning ways on Saturday.
Burton Albion will be making the trip to Home Park and they shall be attempting to bounce back from their recent defeat, which they suffered midweek in the EFL Trophy.
Match preview
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Plymouth Argyle have made a brilliant start to the 2021-22 campaign, putting together some fantastic performances following their opening day defeat against Rotherham United.
Since that point, they have only lost in cup football and are actually undefeated at Home Park so far, making their ground a fortress.
The Pilgrims have showcased quality both defensively and in attack, with the current league leaders Wigan Athletic being the one team that boasts a greater goal difference than them.
Ryan Lowe's men are also the only ones in the division to have lost just a single game, and that is a serious improvement to what they managed last season, when they finished 18th.
However, their previous two matches have ended in draws with Plymouth sharing the points with Crewe Alexandra, where they fought from behind, and then again with Lincoln City when they gave away a lead.
The performance on Saturday will have been a frustrating one for the Pilgrims as they had gone ahead twice and then let that slip, with a 90th-minute penalty for the Imps ensuring they shared a point each.
Burton also suffered a similar fate during their most recent League One outing when they visited AFC Wimbledon, with a goal at the end of the game from Luke McCormick leading to the game finishing 1-1.
However they were defeated in their previous match, which took place in the EFL Trophy against Aston Villa's Under-21s team, and once again they let a lead slip.
Burton had taken a 2-0 advantage after just 23 minutes, with goals from Daniel Jebbison and Kane Hemmings, but things quickly unravelled as the game progressed, resulting in a 4-2 defeat.
The Brewers shall be hoping for a quick response to that loss on Saturday, but they have not won a game away from home since the opening day of the season.
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Team News
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Lowe had hoped to have Danny Mayor available for the recent game with Lincoln City, however that was not the case as he could not overcome his current thigh injury.
Considering he was close for that fixture, though, there is a good chance that the midfielder will be an option heading into the match at the weekend.
Conor Grant also missed that 2-2 draw due to a hamstring issue he picked up during the previous fixture and he could be unavailable for Saturday.
Jordan Houghton must be careful throughout the game, as he is only one yellow card away from having to miss a match due to suspension, which Lowe will be keen to avoid.
After scoring from the bench in his last league performance and then doing so again when starting in the EFL Trophy, there is a good chance that Hemmings could have played his way into the Burton starting XI for this fixture.
However, the Brewers are set to be without John Brayford who had to come off almost immediately last weekend due to a hamstring injury that could keep him out for three months.
Plymouth Argyle possible starting lineup:
Cooper; Galloway, Scarr, Gillesphey; Edwards, Camara, Broom, Houghton, Garrick; Hardie, Jephcott
Burton Albion possible starting lineup:
Garratt; Borthwick-Jackson, Leak, Shaughnessy, Hamer; Powell, Morris; Hemmings, Lakin, Smith; Akins
We say: Plymouth Argyle 2-1 Burton Albion
Right now Plymouth Argyle are flying in the league and as they sit just two points off the top, they will not be wanting to drop their chase against a team in mixed form.
While Burton Albion have proven that they will not be easy to defeat this season, it is likely that the hosts will have too much quality in this match.
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 Plymouth Argyle win with a probability of 38.9%. A win for Burton Albion had a probability of 33.93% and a draw had a probability of 27.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Plymouth Argyle win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.9%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.28%) and 2-0 (7.01%). The likeliest Burton Albion win was 0-1 (10.02%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.88%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with an 8.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Plymouth Argyle would win this match.
