Preview: Stevenage vs. Sutton United - prediction, team news, lineups

The home side are looking for their third straight league win, while Sutton will want to bounce back from a defeat at Gillingham on Saturday.

Match preview

With Steve Evans at the helm, Stevenage have made an impressive start this season, currently sitting in third, inside the automatic promotion places and only three points behind league leaders Leyton Orient.

In their last outing, The Boro left it late to win away at Crawley Town, an 85th-minute Luke Norris penalty the difference between the two sides, with summer signing Jordan Roberts also scoring in a game that they could have won by a more comfortable margin, having missed a number of big chances.

In truth, the tale of Stevenage's story so far has been managing to do just enough to get the three points, with all eight of their League Two wins so far being by just one goal, but that is all you need, winning four of their last five league matches.

Steve Evans and his side will also be buoyed by an impeccable home record this season, winning all five matches at the Lamex Stadium so far and conceding just two goals in that time, the lowest amount any team in League Two has conceded at home.

Boro fans will be hoping this run can continue on Tuesday night, knowing that a win could take them seven points clear of the teams outside the automatic promotion places.

Sutton have made a steady start in their second season in the EFL, currently in 14th, on 14 points from 11 games, six points away from the playoffs.

Last season, the U's were League Two's surprise package, missing out on the playoffs by just one point and finishing eighth in their maiden EFL season, but they have so far failed to build on these foundations, losing in their previous two outings.

The most recent of these was a 1-0 loss away at Gillingham on Saturday, which will have been particularly tough to take for Matt Gray's side, with the defeat coming in the 91st minute after it looked like the U's would be good enough for a point.

This weekend's game will be an even more difficult task for Sutton, owing to the fact that they have only gained one point from five away games so far this season, with that coming in a stalemate against Grimsby Town in August.

Stevenage League Two form:

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Stevenage form (all competitions):

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Sutton United League Two form:

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Sutton United form (all competitions):

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Team News

Stevenage have no fresh injury concerns coming into Tuesday's game, but Steve Evans may choose to rotate his side with it being their second game in three days.

One man who may well come into the team is Luke Norris, with the forward scoring the winning goal on Saturday after coming off the bench, his second of the season, while midfielder Jordan Roberts is likely to keep his place in the team after scoring the opener and being rested for the final 25 minutes of the game.

Opposing manager Matt Gray may well want to shake up his attack given their poor return in recent games, and Kwame Thomas could start ahead of Omar Bugiel after being brought on for the final minutes against Gillingham on Saturday.

Likely to keep his place in central midfield is Craig Eastmond, who has been a consistent performer for the U's this season, playing in every possible league game, with left midfielder Will Randall also set to start given the 25-year-old has scored three goals in eight games this season.

Stevenage possible starting lineup:

Ashby-Hall; Piergianni, Vancooten, Smith; Sweeney, Roberts, Gilbey, Read, Earley; Rose, Norris

Sutton United possible starting lineup:

Ward; Milsom, Rowe, John, Kizzi; Neufville, Beautyman, Eastmond, Randall; Thomas, Kouassi

We say: Stevenage 2-1 Sutton United

With Stevenage third in the league and yet to drop a point at the Lamex Stadium this season, we have this one as a narrow victory for the home side.

Sutton will cause the Boro some problems, and have shown they can beat the division's better teams, winning against sixth-placed Barrow and seventh-placed Mansfield, but will just about come up short here.

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