|
The Blues pack their bags to visit Rochdale at Spotland on Tuesday evening, hoping to improve upon an average previous return from this fixture. Of the 45 games played, the Cumbrians have recorded only 12 wins, and Rochdale have made home advantage tell with with 22 victories.
The most recent encounter between these two sides at the 'Dale was just over two years ago, in March 2004, with Rochdale running out comfortable 2-0 winners in a Division Three match. The United contingent made up pretty much half of the 4,775 crowd at Spotland that day but it counted for nothing in the end as it was just another away defeat in Carlisle's horrendous relegation season. It was certainly a game full of incident though with Matt Glennon sent off after 32 minutes for a professional foul on that man Grant Holt. 'Dale's Gary Jones coolly stepping up to slot home the penalty as United faced playing the next 68 minutes with ten men. It was Holt who rubbed salt into Cumbrian wounds just after the hour mark when he made it 2-0 to the home side and all but condemned the Blues to life in 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 31 Dec | Carlisle | 2 - 1 | Rochdale | LGE2 |
| 2003/2004 | Sat 20 Mar | Rochdale | 2 - 0 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
| 2003/2004 | Tue 14 Oct | Carlisle | 2 - 0 | Rochdale | ASSM |
| 2003/2004 | Sat 13 Sep | Carlisle | 3 - 2 | Rochdale | LGE2 |
| 2002/2003 | Sat 22 Feb | Rochdale | 0 - 1 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
| 2002/2003 | Fri 06 Sep | Carlisle | 0 - 2 | Rochdale | LGE2 |
| 2001/2002 | Tue 29 Jan | Rochdale | 1 - 1 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
Recent respective form guides
Rochdale need to improve on their recent home record of just three draws and three defeats from their last six games on home turf. While 'Dale have scored only four goals, a worringly large eight have been leaked at the other end. The 'Dale haven't won a home game in the league since the 26th of Novemeber either, co-incidentally the same date that United are unbeaten in the league at Brunton Park from.
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.
Rochdale find themselves struggling down in 17th position in an amazingly tight botton half of the league table having picked up 46 points from their 39 matches. The 'Dale must look to make the most of their games in hand on teams around them as they currently sit just two points above the relegation trapdoor.
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 two 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 |
| Rochdale | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 5 |
| Carlisle | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 3 | 18 |
FootyMad's prediction ...
United are in reasonable 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: | |
| Rochdale | Failed to win in previous eight home matches. Not won in the five most recent games. |
| Carlisle | Five games since last away draw. Won seven league games in a row. |