Portsmouth are in danger of letting the playoff places run away from them, currently sitting 11th and nine points behind sixth spot, so three points on Saturday is crucial.
Crewe Alexandra are the hosts this weekend, and they face a different challenge to their opponents, as they need to make up a nine-point gap to climb out of the relegation zone.
Match preview
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David Artell's side are currently on a six-game losing run, leaving them rock bottom of League One, with their most recent defeat coming against Wigan Athletic in midweek.
On Tuesday, Crewe kept the promotion-chasing side at bay for the first half, but further pressure from Wigan eventually broke the visitors' defence, and the Railwaymen came away from the DW Stadium suffering a 2-0 loss.
The side have relied heavily on their home form this season, picking up 10 more points on their own patch in two fewer games at the Mornflake Stadium, but they have still shipped a lot of goals in that time.
Crewe have conceded 25 goals in 15 matches on home soil, suggesting that their attacking ability will have to be on point to score at least more than once on Saturday, as the chance of keeping a clean sheet are slim.
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Portsmouth, meanwhile, are looking to continue their revival of form having recorded back-to-back wins ahead of this encounter, after a poor run of form since the turn of the year, which saw them go six games without victory in League One.
Danny Cowley's side secured a comfortable 4-0 win against Doncaster Rovers last weekend, with Recco Hackett-Fairchild, George Hirst, Aiden O'Brien and Sean Raggett getting on the scoresheet.
Not only were Pompey in fine form in front of goal on Saturday, that clean sheet they earned was their 14th of the campaign, with league leaders Rotherham United the only team that can better that stat.
Portsmouth have managed to score just 14 goals, though, on their travels this season, but with Crewe's defensive record, Cowley will back his side to vastly improve that record this weekend.
The visitors will be looking to emulate the 2-0 win which they secured in the last meeting between these two teams, with John Marquis and Marcus Harness firing past Crewe goalkeeper Will Jaaskelainen on that day.
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Team News
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Crewe striker Mikael Mandron has been dealt an injury blow which has ruled him out for the majority of the rest of the season, having been forced off just before half time against Gillingham at the beginning of February.
Right-back Ryan Alebiosu did not complete the first half last weekend against Wigan due to injury, and he is expected to face a period of time on the sidelines also.
Travis Johnson is likely to fill in and operate in the full-back role, while further up the pitch Bassala Sambou, Chris Long and Dan Agyei will make up the front three for Crewe.
Portsmouth midfielder Shaun Williams will continue to be absent from Pompey's squad after he fractured his lower vertebrae in a collision with teammate Clark Robertson at the end of January.
Joe Morrell will finish his three-game suspension after Saturday's encounter, having received a straight red card against Oxford, while since then Pompey lost their appeal against the decision.
The visitors are expected to operate with a defensive trio including Hayden Carter, Raggett and Robertson, while Tyler Walker and Hirst will lead the line at the other end of the pitch.
Crewe Alexandra possible starting lineup:
Richards; Uwakwe, Offord, O'Riordan, Johnson; Griffiths, Murphy, Lowery; Sambou, Long, Agyei
Portsmouth possible starting lineup:
Bazunu; Robertson, Raggett, Carter; Hackett-Fairchild, Jacobs, Thompson, Harness; Curtis; Hirst, Walker
We say: Crewe Alexandra 0-2 Portsmouth
After two positive results and given Crewe's poor run of form, Pompey are strong favourites for this encounter and should come away from the Mornflake Stadium with three points and a clean sheet.
Cowley will need his side to continue this winning run and build momentum towards the back end of the campaign, as they have a lot of points to make up to break into the top six, while Crewe need to focus on beating the teams around them to get out of their situation at the bottom of the table.
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 Portsmouth win with a probability of 59.56%. A draw had a probability of 21.9% and a win for Crewe Alexandra had a probability of 18.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Portsmouth win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.82%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (10.33%) and 1-2 (9.93%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.4%), while for a Crewe Alexandra win it was 1-0 (5.45%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 6.3% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Portsmouth would win this match.
