Preview: Plymouth Argyle vs. Port Vale - prediction, team news, lineups

The league leaders have only lost one of their previous 20 games in all competitions, while Port Vale have won their last two competitive matches.

Match preview

Plymouth may have only lost one of their last 20 matches, but they saw a 16-game unbeaten run come to an end when they were thrashed 5-1 by Grimsby Town in the first round of the FA Cup.

The consecutive league draws followed that FA Cup defeat, but Plymouth returned to winning ways in their last outing as they claimed a 3-2 win over Charlton Athletic in the EFL Trophy.

After falling behind, Sam Cosgrove, Niall Ennis and Caleb Roberts all found the net to give the Pilgrims a comfortable advantage, and although Charlton pulled a goal back in stoppage time, Plymouth held firm to progress to the third round.

Steven Schumacher's side will now turn their attention to Friday's meeting with Port Vale, where they will be aiming to extend their unbeaten league run to 16 games.

Impressively, Plymouth have won all nine of their League One home matches this season, scoring at least two goals in seven of those games, and they will attempt to maintain their 100% home record on Friday.

Meanwhile, Port Vale will be looking to record three consecutive victories in all competitions after beating Charlton and Barnsley in their last two matches.

A 1-0 victory over the Addicks in the league was followed by a 2-1 against Barnsley where strikes from Dennis Politic and David Worrall helped the Valiants progress to the third round of the EFL Trophy.

Darrell Clarke's side will now focus on league matters, and they will be aiming to reduce the four-gap between them and the playoff places.

Although they have lost only two of their last eight league games, Port Vale have picked up just one point from their previous two away matches.

In their most recent away game, they were thumped 4-0 by Oxford United, and Clarke will know his side face another tough away trip on Friday.

Plymouth Argyle League One form:

W

D

W

W

D

D

Plymouth Argyle form (all competitions):

W

W

L

D

D

W

Port Vale League One form:

W

L

W

D

L

W

Port Vale form (all competitions):

W

D

L

L

W

W

Team News

Plymouth were not in action last weekend, but they made a number of changes to the side for the EFL Trophy victory over Charlton, where Mikael Miller made his first start of the season after recovering from injury.

Despite winning that game, Schumacher is expected to name a side similar to the one that started Plymouth's 1-1 draw against Lincoln nearly two weeks ago.

Ryan Hardie will lead the line for the Pilgrims, and he will be looking to add to the 10 goals he has scored in all competitions this season.

As for the visitors, they named a fairly strong lineup for their EFL Trophy victory against Barnsley, but Clarke could still make a few changes for Friday's contest.

Dan Jones could be brought into the starting XI to feature in a back three alongside Connor Hall and Nathan Smith, while Tom Conlon is also expected to come into the midfield.

Daniel Butterworth and Gavin Massey dropped out of the lineup for the win over Barnsley, but the pair are set to return to the side.

Plymouth Argyle possible starting lineup:

Cooper; Lonwijk, Gillesphey, Galloway; Edwards, Houghton, Butcher, Mumba; Whittaker, Randell; Hardie

Port Vale possible starting lineup:

Stevens; Smith, Hall, Jones; Worrall, Garrity, Conlon, Benning; Butterworth; Massey, Wilson

We say: Plymouth Argyle 3-1 Port Vale

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