Score predictions - Lincoln away

It's easy to forget we have a game this weekend, with all the drama that has unfolded this week at the club. After the humbling at Valley Parade on Tuesday, we travel to Sincil Bank, aka the LNER Stadium to take on 9th place Lincoln City. Maybe slightly surprisingly despite our close proximity in terms of league position, but the bookies have us as 13/10 favourites to win the game, with the hosts priced at 2/1. Just 1 point separates us in the table, albeit we have 2 games in hand.

Lincoln have the 12th best home form in the division so far this season, with 14 points from 8 games. They had the 12th best home form last season also, as generally they took points off the teams above them in the league, and dropped them against the teams below them at the LNER Stadium. They have lost just 2 of their home games so far this season, highlighting the general importance of good home form in particular this season, losing only to Oxford and Burton. All of their home victories have been by at least 2 goals, and with the exception of a 3-1 win over Charlton, all have been to nil. So they're a fairly solid home side. It's their away side which has prevented them from making the jump into the top 6 so far.

Our historical record at Lincoln is reasonably mixed. We did win our last 2 visits there (prior to last seasons goalless draw), both in the league cup, most recently via a Daniel Bogdanovic winner in 2009, shortly after Adam Hammill had signed permanently for the club. The other was a 4-2 victory early in Dave Bassett's tenure. Prior to that, our last league meeting with the Imps was 1975. Our post 2nd world war record is won 5, drawn 4 lost 6.

In 15 games this season, referee Ross Joyce has issued 67 yellows and 6 red cards already. He issued 6 yellow cards during Lincoln's 1-0 away win at Shrewsbury back in August (4 for the Imps), so will be taking charge of one of their games for the second time this season. He last took charge of a reds game back in April, when Luca Connell was the only reds player booked in our 2-0 victory over Oxford at Oakwell; a game notable for a Slobodan Tedic brace. Oddly, he took charge of another reds game just a month before that too; strange to have the same ref twice in quick succession. He was in charge of our 4-2 home win over Wednesday, a game where 5 of the 8 bookings were for reds players, Connell once again being one of them.

It's difficult to predict how we'll fair at the minute, because despite our second string being hammered by Bradford, and our first team making hard work of Horsham, we have only lost 1 in 6 in the league, and lie 6th with games in hand over 2 of the sides above us. Hopefully Connell is fit enough to at least start the game, as that gives us a lift. I think it will become clear how much we've missed him once he's played half a dozen games. I'm going for 2-1 reds with Cole and Phillips on the scoresheet.

 

Boring 0-0

 

4-1 Lincoln. Chants of ‘we want Collins out’ and ‘sack the board’… away end emptying after 65 mins’.

Can’t wait…..

 

0-0 bore draw

 

Close game with us trying to provide a lift of sorts following recent events on and off the field. 0-0 or 1-1,

 

Collins has taken stock - casting off the tan shoes for a pair of more masculine oxblood - and will set up the team up in attacking "FU" formation resulting in a nine nil away victory with Devante missing a last minute penalty. Talk after the game will centre on correct number of buttons the head coach should close on his merino wool shirt.

 

Lincoln 3 - 1 Barnsley Amateurs

 

Lincoln City 176-1 Barnsley

 

We'll win 4-2.

Miserable sh1ts.

 

You'll look daft if you're singing it on your own.

 

Disaster of a week will end with us losing 3- 1 and being overtaken in the league by Lincoln.

 

Not confident at all the way things are right now. I’ll be there in hope more than expectation.

 

Really, if I felt that way, I simply wouldn’t bother going saving money in the process

 

2-0 Imps

 

A draw, albeit vaguely more interesting than last season. We'll go 1-0 up early on and then go into our shells. Lincoln to deservedly equalise late on from a penalty, following a high ball into the box and circus-like defending. 1-1.

 

Ross Joyce took charge of us in three games in just over two months at Oakwell last season - he was also the one who (rightly) sent Watters off for the elbow against Cambridge. He got assigned to us after the complaint made over the horrific decision against us at Portsmouth and duly 'delivered' three wins. Indeed he must be Oakwell's favourite ref as he's been to Oakwell seven times in total and we've won all seven! To me he was streets ahead of any other ref we had in normal league games last season.

Having said all that let's hope he's not just a 'homer'! We've only ever had him away from home once which was a 0-0 draw at Doncaster under Stendel memorable mainly for the awful injury to Kenny Dougall that forced him out for many months (although he did try to play on with it on the night, the dope). Joyce has been to Lincoln for eight games in EFL competitions and has overseen three draws and five home defeats!

If Lincoln are as bad as some of their supporters seem to think and/or they play the disruptive time-wasting stymying game they did against us in April I can see us getting a 0-0, 0-1 or even a 1-0. If they go all out, attack us and go for the jugular against our defence then it'll be 3-0 or 3-1.

 

That's a ridiculous prediction Kane takes the penalties !

 

New manager, so quite hard to predict how they'll play. My mate said despite winning at Leyton Orient in the week, they were still absolutely painful to watch.

 

2-0 Lincoln