Sutton United will welcome Colchester United to Gander Green Lane on Wednesday, and the hosts will enter the fixture in fourth position - only two points off the automatic promotion places.

At the other end of the table, Colchester occupy 20th place with only three points separating themselves and the relegation zone.

Match preview

Sutton United manager Matt Gray as Aldershot's assistant coach in December 2014 © Reuters

Sutton United have exceeded all expectations in their first season in the English Football League after accumulating 36 points from their 22 games this season.

Although their Boxing Day encounter with Bristol Rovers was postponed, Sutton will enter Wednesday's fixture in high spirits having collected four points from their last two matches.

In their last outing at home to Harrogate Town, a first-half strike from Donovan Wilson helped Matt Gray's side to a 1-0 victory.

As a result of that win, the Amber and Chocolates have lost just once in their last five league encounters, while collecting three victories in that period.

Their recent form will fill the hosts with confidence ahead of Wednesday's contest, as will the fact that Sutton have been impressive at home this season, winning seven of their ten league games at Gander Green Lane.

Meanwhile, Colchester are embroiled in a relegation battle, and the visitors will be low on confidence after winning just once in their previous five league matches.

Due to a number of coronavirus-related postponements, Colchester will play for the first time since December 11 when they make the trip to Sutton on Wednesday.

Their last outing against Walsall ended in a disappointing 3-0 defeat as a brace from Otis Khan and Jack Earing guided the Saddlers to victory.

Hayden Mullins will hope that his side can find their goalscoring touch after witnessing his side score twice in their last five league encounters.

Colchester's failure in the final third has hampered their away form this season as they enter Wednesday's fixture winless in their last six away league games after failing to score in all of those fixtures.

Sutton United League Two form:

Sutton United form (all competitions):

Colchester United League Two form:

Colchester United form (all competitions):

Team News

After beating Harrogate last time out, Sutton could name an unchanged lineup for Wednesday's contest.

Wilson will be aiming to score in consecutive games, and he will be joined in the frontline by Omar Bugiel.

David Ajiboye will also pose a goal threat for the hosts as he looks to add to the six league goals that he has scored this season.

As for the visitors, they could bring Armando Dobra back into the starting lineup for the trip to Sutton.

Charlie Daniels has started the last two games for Colchester, and he is expected to keep his place for Wednesday's encounter.

Having top-scored for Colchester this season, Freddie Sears will be the dangerman for the away side as he looks to add to the seven goals that he has already scored in League One this term.

Sutton United possible starting lineup:
Bouzanis; Barden, Goodliffe, John, Wyatt; Randall, Milsom, Smith, Ajiboye; Bugiel, Wilson

Colchester United possible starting lineup:
Turner; Tchamadeu, Chambers, Smith, Daniels; Skuse, Wiredu, Judge; Dobra, Hannant, Sears

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We say: Sutton United 2-1 Colchester United

Sutton prevailed in the reverse fixture back in October, and we think that they will use their impressive home record to their advantage to pick up all three points on Wednesday.

Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

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 Sutton United win with a probability of 51.96%. A draw had a probability of 26.8% and a win for Colchester United had a probability of 21.25%.

The most likely scoreline for a Sutton United win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.98%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.85%) and 2-1 (8.9%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.28%), while for a Colchester United win it was 0-1 (8.48%). The actual scoreline of 3-2 was predicted with a 1.8% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Sutton United would win this match.