Lincoln City are aiming to continue their undefeated start to 2022 on Saturday when they welcome Cambridge United to Sincil Bank.
There is just one point separating the two teams in League One, with the visitors hoping to continue riding their momentum after defeating Newcastle United in the FA Cup.
Match preview
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Lincoln City have had a hit and miss season so far, with seven victories and draws, while they have also been defeated 10 times so far.
The Imps sit 16th in the table, but a victory has the ability to see them climb as high as 13th depending on other results, which the club will be aiming to achieve.
They have started 2022 perfectly with two victories, defeating Oxford United 2-0, before earning an impressive win against second-placed Sunderland.
A hat-trick from Chris Maguire was enough to earn the three points in order to keep their run going, which the squad shall now be hoping to extend this weekend.
The recent victories were needed though as Lincoln had gone eight games in a row without one prior to that, which is how they slipped down the table.
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The visitors will be able to leapfrog their opponents if they earn three points on Saturday, and the club are in fine form right now, with a lot of momentum behind them.
Cambridge head into Saturday on the back of three games without a loss, including two important cup victories, one of which was against Premier League opposition.
Mark Bonner's side kickstarted the year with a goalless draw to Portsmouth, but they then followed that up with a 1-0 victory against Newcastle United in the FA Cup.
Joe Ironside's goal was enough to knock out the Magpies, creating a historic result in the process, and they have ridden that momentum with another win following that.
Harvey Knibbs scored a brace against Pompey in the Football League Trophy to earn progress in another tournament, and now they are hoping to bring that form into their League One encounters.
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Team News
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Fresh from scoring three goals at the weekend, Maguire will be set to lead the line for Lincoln once again as he aims to continue his goalscoring form.
Max Melbourne will likely start on Saturday as well after he was recalled by the club, ending his loan with Stevenage early due to the defensive injuries that the Imps have.
Joe Walsh and Adam Jackson are both out of action at the moment, and during their most recent match Lewis Montsma ended up joining them, adding to Lincoln's woes.
Cambridge have several long-term injuries to deal with as Greg Taylor, Shilow Tracey and Lloyd Jones are all missing for the club heading into this one.
Sam Smith was brought straight back into the team following his suspension, and he will likely lead the line again this weekend.
Lincoln City possible starting lineup:
Griffiths; Bishop, Melbourne, Poole, Bramall; Sanders, McGrandles, Fiorini; Whittaker, Adelakun; Maguire
Cambridge United possible starting lineup:
Mitov; Bennett, Okedina, Iredale, Dunk; O'Neil, May; Lankester, Hoolahan, Knibbs; Smith
We say: Lincoln City 1-2 Cambridge United
Both teams are enjoying some great form at the moment, which is something that they will be hoping to continue this weekend, especially against opponents so close to them in the league.
However, after two impressive cup victories, Cambridge United should be able to continue riding that momentum this weekend in order to secure an important win.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Lincoln City win with a probability of 55.81%. A draw had a probability of 23.6% and a win for Cambridge United had a probability of 20.55%.
The most likely scoreline for a Lincoln City win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.8%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.24%) and 2-1 (9.76%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.24%), while for a Cambridge United win it was 0-1 (6.48%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 6.5% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that Cambridge United would win this match.
