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The Blues travel to the Wirral on Friday evening, needing to turn around their fortunes at Prenton Park. The Cumbrians will be hoping to improve upon a record which has seen them only win nine times there in 35 attempts.
The most recent encounter between these two sides was the memorable match last season, in December 2005, when they played out a goalless draw in an LDV Trophy second round tie, United eventually winning a mammoth penalty shooutout by 11 spot-kicks to 10 in front of 3,464 spectators at Prenton Park.
Carlisle have endured some heavy defeats on the Wirral over the years, the Blues having been hammered 6-1 on three occasions. The last time United were thumped by that scoreline was in the 2001-02 season in the second round of the FA Cup. Tranmere were already 3-0 up on 17 minutes through a Jason Koumas brace and a goal from Jason Price before Ian Stevens missed a penalty and Will McDonagh was sent off on his debut for two bookings as the Blues compounded their own misery.
That was rubbed in even further bang on the half-time whistle when Koumas completed his hat-trick with a long-range rasper. Stuart Barlow's penalty for Rovers on 70 minutes made the score 5-0 before Richie Foran grabbed what could loosely be called a consolation goal for Carlisle just sixty seconds later. In front of an attendance of 7,428 fans though the home side had the final word in the 76th minute when Stephen Yates completed the 6-1 rout.
United's best margin of victory at Prenton Park has twice been by a scoreline of 3-0, once in Division Four in 1961-62 and once in Division Three North in 1947-48. The most memorable of those seasons was the promotion campaign in the early 60's as the Blues finished fourth in the old Division Four. Carlisle's win away to Rovers in early October coming thanks to a George Walker brace and a goal from Samuel Taylor as 10,050 spectators looked on.
For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here
| Recent encounters between the teams: | |||||
| 2006/2007 | Sat 21 Oct | Carlisle | 1 - 0 | Tranmere | LGE1 |
| 2005/2006 | Tue 20 Dec | Tranmere | 0 - 0 | Carlisle | LDVT |
| 2001/2002 | Sat 08 Dec | Tranmere | 6 - 1 | Carlisle | FAC |
| 1998/1999 | Tue 18 Aug | Carlisle | 0 - 1 | Tranmere | LGEC |
| 1998/1999 | Tue 11 Aug | Tranmere | 3 - 0 | Carlisle | LGEC |
| 1996/1997 | Tue 14 Jan | Carlisle | 1 - 0 | Tranmere | FAC |
| 1988/1989 | Fri 17 Mar | Tranmere | 0 - 0 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
Recent respective form guides
Tranmere have been playing quite well at home recently, winning three, drawing two, and losing just one of their last six games at Prenton Park. The goals for column just outweighs the goals against over this period at seven to five.
Carlisle have an average recent record on the road, with two wins, two draws, and two defeats, although that is an improvement from their early season form. The Cumbrians have scored six goals in these games and have conceded seven.
Tranmere lie just outside the play-off positions, in eighth, in League One, picking up 59 points from their 39 games so far, Rovers currently three points behind sixth-placed Blackpool.
Carlisle's 56 points from 39 games sees them sitting just one place, but three points, behind Tranmere. United needing a five goal margin of victory tomorrow to leapfrog the Wirral club in the table.
For a detailed analysis of team form guides throughout the leagues, click here
| Current home/away form guides: | P | W | D | L | F | A | P |
| Tranmere | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 7 |
| Carlisle | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 9 |
FootyMad's prediction ...
With Carlisle only showing average form on the road, Footymad are of the opinion that a draw at Prenton Park will be a good result. Score draw
| Sequence statistics: | |
| Tranmere | Not drawn a match in their last five games. |
| Carlisle | No sequences of note |