|
The Blues prepare to entertain the Red Imps at Brunton Park on Saturday afternoon, holding a marginal advantage on previous meetings between the two teams. Of the 34 games played, United have recorded 16 wins, and City have come away with 14 victories.
The most recent encounter between these two sides in Cumbria was two seasons ago, in April 2004 in front of a bumper attendance of 7,875. The visitors running out cosy 2-0 winners in a Division Three match with second-half goals from Peter Gain and Mark Bailey as Carlisle found themselves heading for relegation and the Conference.
Infact the last time United defeated the men from Sincil Bank at home in the league was way back in the 1999-2000 campaign. A 59th minute Richard Tracey goal securing all three points in a 1-0 victory, with only 3,254 spectators in attendance due to the continuing protest against then-club owner Michael Knighton. The Blues did taste victory on their own turf in 2002-03 however in a first round FA Cup tie, although they had to do it with ten men for the majority of the game after an early sending-off for Cumbrians centre-half Darren Kelly. Richie Foran and Craig Farrell scored in the 56th and 67th minute respectively for United before Ben Futcher bagged an 87th minute goal for the Red Imps to set up a grandstand finish, Carlisle eventually holding out for a 2-1 win.
For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here
| Recent encounters between the teams: | |||||
| 2005/2006 | Mon 29 Aug | Lincoln | 0 - 0 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
| 2003/2004 | Sat 17 Apr | Carlisle | 0 - 2 | Lincoln | LGE2 |
| 2003/2004 | Sat 01 Nov | Lincoln | 2 - 0 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
| 2002/2003 | Tue 04 Feb | Carlisle | 1 - 4 | Lincoln | LGE2 |
| 2002/2003 | Sat 16 Nov | Carlisle | 2 - 1 | Lincoln | FAC |
| 2002/2003 | Sat 17 Aug | Lincoln | 0 - 1 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
| 2001/2002 | Sat 02 Mar | Lincoln | 3 - 1 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
Recent respective form guides
United are in excellent form at home, having won four and drawn two of their last six games, and infact are unbeaten in their last ten matches at Brunton Park since losing 1-0 to a late Wycombe goal in late November. In that run without defeat the Cumbrians have rattled up an impressive 25 goals, and conceded only seven.
The Red Imps are also in cracking form away from home recently though, unbeaten in the last six, but with four of them resulting in draws, scoring nine goals and letting in seven in the process. The Lincolnshire outfit have actually only lost four games on their travels but, conversely, have only won four as well, with a bumper ten of their 18 league away games resulting in draws. City are unbeaten in their last 11 games and have actually only lost once in their last 17 outings, that being a 3-0 defeat at high-flying Grimsby Town on the 28th of December.
Carlisle are leading the way in the League Two table, with their 35 games giving them a return of 62 points. It's certainly tight going in behind the Blues though with five clubs going for three automatic promotion places whilst only being seperated by three points.
Lincoln's total of 52 points from their 35 games sees them sitting in seventh place in League Two as their good recent run has propelled them up the table. The Red Imps are clinging on to the last play-off place however with Cheltenham Town only one point behind City with a game in hand.
For a detailed analysis of team form guides throughout the leagues, click here
| Current form guides: | P | W | D | L | F | A | P |
| Carlisle | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 14 |
| Lincoln | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 16 |
FootyMad's prediction ...
United may be coming up against a decent side in Lincoln City, but I do believe that its going to result in a narrow home win for the Cumbrians. Home Win
| Sequence statistics: | |
| Carlisle | Unbeaten in the last ten home games. Won their latest three matches. |
| Lincoln | Undefeated in last six away games. Eleven games since last defeat. |