Two teams that made perfect starts to the New Year will do battle in round 25 of the 2024-25 League Two season as MK Dons entertain the challenge of Salford City on Saturday afternoon.
Having fallen to a narrow 1-0 defeat against the visitors in September's reverse fixture, the hosts will have revenge on their agenda heading into this weekend's encounter.
Match preview
A 3-0 triumph over Chesterfield to kick off December hinted at a fruitful festive period for MK Dons, but they went on to lose their next three matches against Gillingham, Newport and Notts County.
Scott Lindsey's men played out a 1-1 stalemate against Crewe Alexandra in their final outing of 2024 before getting the New Year started on a high courtesy of Wednesday's 2-1 victory over Chesterfield at SMH Group Stadium.
Callum Hendry opened the scoring with his first goal in six games after which Joe White picked up where he left off in 2024 to double the Dons' lead and render Darren Oldaker's strike inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.
A rocky spell in December slowed down MK Dons' push for a place in the playoffs, but they are now 12th in the League Two table, just three points shy of seventh-place Notts County having played one game fewer.
Currently with the joint third-best attacking record in the division, behind only Walsall and Chesterfield, Saturday's hosts have more than enough offensive firepower to aid their quest for promotion, although their defence could really do with some tightening up off the back of just one clean sheet in the last 21 games.
Salford City breezed past the challenge of Harrogate to claim victory number five on the spin and continue their blistering form since October 19 with 11 wins picked up from the subsequent 15 matches.
After having to deal with an early injury to Ben Woodburn, Karl Robinson's men broke the deadlock through Cole Stockton to go into the half time with a narrow advantage, which was doubled by in-form Matthew Lund 10 minutes into the second period.
Not only have the Ammies come out on top in their last five matches, but they have also kept clean sheets in each of them, conceding just once across their last seven outings across all competitions either side of a 1-0 defeat to Gillingham.
That kind of defensive solidity is usually the hallmark of title-winning teams, although Salford have a significant 13-point deficit to make up on current leaders Walsall at the top of the standings despite their recent resurgence.
Nonetheless, Saturday's visitors are well on course to finish in the top three and secure one of the automatic promotion spots to avoid added playoff drama come the end of the current campaign in May.
Team News
Racking up three goals and an assist, Joe White has now been directly involved in four of MK Dons' last six goals, making the midfielder one to keep an eye on here.
Aaron Nemane and Luke Offord are ineligible to play any part for the home side this weekend after receiving their fifth yellow cards of the season last time out.
After returning to the lineup against Harrogate, Haji Mnoga is unavailable for Salford this weekend as he serves a one-game ban for picking up his fifth caution.
Twenty-five-year-old Ben Woodburn came off injured in the aforementioned game, and that has left his availability for Saturday currently hanging in the balance.
MK Dons possible starting lineup:
McGill; Sherring, Lawrence, Maguire; Tomlinson, Kelly, White, Lemonheigh-Evans; Gilbey, Harrison, Hendry
Salford City possible starting lineup:
Young; Garbutt, Shephard, Tilt; Taylor, Ashley, Watson, Luamba; Adelakun, Kouassi, Stockton
We say: MK Dons 1-1 Salford City
Salford are the more in-form side at the moment, but MK Dons will have a point to prove here as they target a first home win in four matches.
That said, we are backing a share of the spoils with both teams settling for a point apiece.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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