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The Blues face a trip to the West Country and the Memorial Stadium at the weekend, hoping to improve upon an average previous return from this fixture. Of the 12 games played, the Cumbrians have recorded three wins, and the Pirates have made home advantage tell by claiming five victories.
The most recent encounter between these two sides was just last season, in November 2004, when the two sides shared the spoils courtesy of a 1-1 draw in a First Round F.A. Cup tie. Brendan McGill scoring United's equaliser in the 79th minute, just two minutes after hot-shot Richard Walker had put the home side ahead in a tense game, watched by 5,658 spectators. The Blues won the replay ten days later though when they beat Rovers 1-0 after-extra-time at Brunton Park, Magno Vieira's 109th minute goal being enough to set United up for a Third Round tie at Bournemouth.
The last time the two teams met in the league down in Bristol it was the Pirates who won the day with a 1-0 home win, courtesy of a 52nd minute Wayne Carlisle penalty in front of a bumper Memorial Stadium crowd of 8,485. Andy Preece hit the underside of the bar late on with a free-kick for United but it didn't go in and the Blues crashed to their twelfth away defeat out of 14 games in a wretched season that eventually saw them relegated to the Nationwide Conference.
For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here
| Recent encounters between the teams: | |||||
| 2005/2006 | Sat 01 Oct | Carlisle | 1 - 3 | Bristol Rovers | LGE2 |
| 2004/2005 | Tue 23 Nov | Carlisle | 1 - 0 | Bristol Rovers | FAC |
| 2004/2005 | Sat 13 Nov | Bristol Rovers | 1 - 1 | Carlisle | FAC |
| 2003/2004 | Sat 24 Jan | Bristol Rovers | 1 - 0 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
| 2003/2004 | Sat 23 Aug | Carlisle | 0 - 2 | Bristol Rovers | LGE2 |
| 2002/2003 | Sat 01 Feb | Bristol Rovers | 1 - 2 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
| 2002/2003 | Sat 24 Aug | Carlisle | 0 - 0 | Bristol Rovers | LGE2 |
Recent respective form guides
Bristol Rovers have managed to pick up just two wins from their last seven home games, losing three of them along the way. A generous nine goals have been both scored and conceded in this period. The Gas have actually picked up more points away from home than they have at the Memorial Stadium, bagging 30 points on their travels and just 26 out of a possible 60 at home. They are the only side in League Two that can still do the double over United though and Paul Simpson's men will be keen to avoid that statistic at such an important stage of the season.
Carlisle's away form has been excellent on the road as of late, coming away with three points on three occassions, drawing one and losing the two others, although one of those defeats came in the Football League Trophy final. The games have constituted a decent return of 12 goals for the Cumbrians, and seven against.
Bristol Rovers's 56 points from 41 games sees them lie just inside the top half of the table in tenth position, a spot they have more or less occupied, only moving by a place or two, since the Christmas period. The Pirates are currently three points behind Peterborough United in the tightly-fought battle for the last play-off spot and must be looking to win at least four of their last five games to stand a chance of taking part in the end-of-season promotion lottery.
Carlisle are leading the way in League Two as they sit proudly six points clear of second placed Grimsby Town having defeated the Mariners 1-0 at home just seven days ago. United's 40 games have given them a return of 77 points and the Blues now need just six points to guarantee automatic promotion or ten to bring the title back to Brunton Park.
For a detailed analysis of team form guides throughout the leagues, click here
| Current league form guides: | P | W | D | L | F | A | P |
| Bristol Rovers | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Carlisle | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 3 | 18 |
FootyMad's prediction ...
United are in good form away from home coming into this match, and the Footymad panel are quite confident that they should come away with a comfortable victory from this contest. Away win
| Sequence statistics: | |
| Bristol Rovers | Not drawn a match in their last seven. Only two wins in their previous seven home games. |
| Carlisle | Five games since last away draw. Won seven league games in a row. |