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The Blues face a trip to the Wirral on Monday afternoon, looking to improve on an average record at Prenton Park. United having won eleven, drawn six and lost 21 games at the home of Tranmere Rovers over the years.
Last season in League One the Cumbrians crashed to a 4-1 defeat at Prenton Park with all the goals coming in the second-half. Ian Thomas-Moore and Gareth Edds putting the home side 2-0 up before Danny Graham pulled a goal back for United. Further Rovers goals from Steve Jennings and Thomas-Moore again condemning the Blues to a disappointing result as 5,924 spectators looked on.
Carlisle have endured some other 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 Sammy 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 | |||||
| 2009/2010 | Sat 05 Sep | Carlisle | 3 - 0 | Tranmere | LGE1 |
| 2008/2009 | Sat 24 Jan | Tranmere | 4 - 1 | Carlisle | LGE1 |
| 2008/2009 | Sat 04 Oct | Carlisle | 1 - 2 | Tranmere | LGE1 |
| 2007/2008 | We 26 Dec | Tranmere | 2 - 0 | Carlisle | LGE1 |
| 2007/2008 | Sat 08 Sep | Carlisle | 0 - 1 | Tranmere | LGE1 |
| 2006/2007 | Fri 30 Mar | Tranmere | 0 - 2 | Carlisle | LGE1 |
| 2006/2007 | Sat 21 Oct | Carlisle | 1 - 0 | Tranmere | LGE1 |
Recent respective form guides
Tranmere have been playing quite well at home, 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 had a decent run of form away from home recently, coming away with three points on three occasions, but drawing one and losing two. The Cumbrians have a narrow positive goal difference over these high scoring games, with 11 goals for and 10 against.
Tranmere are stuck down in the relegation zone of League One, in 22nd place, with a return of just 20 points from their 22 games played thus far. Carlisle manwhile find themselves in 15th position in the table, showing a record of 27 points from their 21 games contested to date.
For a detailed analysis of team form guides throughout the leagues, click here
| Last six games form guide | P | W | D | L | F | A | P |
| Tranmere | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 11 |
| Carlisle | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 16 |
FootyMad's prediction ...
Carlisle are in reasonable form away from home coming into this match, and the Madmen are quite confident that they should come away with a comfortable victory from this contest. Away win
| Sequence statistics | |
| Tranmere | Not drawn a match in their last four. Unbeaten in the last five home matches. |
| Carlisle | Seven games since last defeat. |