Lincoln City will play their final home match of 2021 on Sunday when they host MK Dons at Sincil Bank Stadium.
The Imps are winless in seven consecutive games played in all competitions, two points above the League One relegation line, while the Dons have won two of their previous four league fixtures played away from home.
Match preview
© Reuters
It has been a difficult couple of months for Lincoln City, collecting only three points in their third tier encounters since October 30 as they find themselves hovering dangerously close to dropping into League Two.
After making some great strides in 2020-21, finishing in fifth with 77 points, Michael Appleton and his team have suffered a backslide in this campaign, winning only five of their 21 matches played to this point.
While times have been demanding of late for the club located in the East Midlands of England, there are some encouraging signs that this team could snap out of their current skid, fighting hard to draw Cheltenham 2-2 in their previous fixture.
Following that result, Appleton said that there is plenty of belief in this group, as his players created several dangerous opportunities versus the Robins, collecting a point for the first time since November 20.
They have been especially poor at home to this point of the campaign, having failed to win a league fixture in Lincolnshire since August 14 when they edged Fleetwood Town 2-1, and they have not scored a goal at Sincil Bank Stadium in three consecutive matches played in all competitions.
On the defensive side of things, Lincoln have had issues when it comes to preventing goals on their home turf, conceding at least once in every one of their League One games played this season at the venue known to fans as the "Sinny Bank".
© Reuters
The Dons have been in their share of tight matches of late but only have one point to show for it in their league affairs this month.
Maintaining their early momentum has proven difficult for this group, going into half time with the lead in six consecutive domestic encounters but coming away victorious in only one of their previous four games played in League One.
Manager Liam Manning has always favoured a high possession, high pressing style of football with his team, and his message following their defeat to Oxford United was for his players to be braver with the ball, particularly in the second half of their matches.
Continuing to play on the front foot when they have the lead has been a tricky thing for them as well, with Manning believing that his side have invited too much pressure in the final 45 minutes of their matches this month, and as he put it, delivering far too many backward passes.
They have been particularly aggressive and sharp in the final third away from home recently, outscoring their opponents 11-4 in four successive road matches, winning three of those encounters.
MK Dons are safely positioned in the table at the moment, sitting in ninth with 35 points, and could get themselves right back in the race for a League One playoff spot with a pair of victories to end the year, currently trailing Oxford for sixth by four points.
- D
- D
- L
- L
- L
- D
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- D
- W
- W
- L
- W
- D
- L
- W
- L
- W
- W
- D
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Teddy Bishop notched a pair of goals for his side in their draw with Cheltenham, his first two of this campaign, moving him into third on the team, one back of Lewis Fiorini for second, with the 19-year-old assisting on Bishop's second goal scored in stoppage time.
Fiorini was one of the two new faces to the Lincoln City starting 11 from the team who started in their defeat versus Crewe Alexandra, as the man on loan from Manchester City replaced Freddie Draper in attack and Lewis Montsma was inserted on the defence instead of Adam Jackson.
TJ Eyoma missed their previous match through suspension after the 21-year-old was red-carded five minutes into the second half against the Railwaymen.
Hiram Boateng put The Dons ahead 11 minutes into their previous contest against Oxford, his third strike this season before Matt Taylor and Mark Sykes tallied for the U's in the second half.
Scott Twine leads them in scoring with nine goals, which is tied for fifth in the league, although he has become more of a playmaker lately, setting up The Dons only goal scored by Tennai Watson versus Plymouth Argyle and feeding Matt O'Riley and Harry Darling in a 4-0 win against Morecambe.
Twine was one of the three changes made by Manning in their previous match as the 22-year-old was replaced in attack by Boateng, Aden Baldwin started at the back instead of Darling and Troy Parrott played as a centre forward with Mohamed Eisa sitting out.
Lincoln City possible starting lineup:
Griffiths; Bramall, Montsma, Poole, Bishop; McGrandles, Sorensen, Nlundulu; Maguire, Adelakun, Fiorini
MK Dons possible starting lineup:
Fisher; Baldwin, O'Hora, Lewington; Watson, McEachran, Twine, Harvie; O'Riley, Eisa, Boateng
We say: Lincoln City 1-3 MK Dons
Their previous match may have been a step in the right direction, but there is still plenty of work for Lincoln City to do, and they have allowed far too many quality scoring opportunities to their opponents at home, which we expect MK Dons to take advantage of, seeing as they have scored the third-most goals (39) in the league thus far.
Joel Lefevre
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 39.35%. A win for MK Dons had a probability of 33.45% and a draw had a probability of 27.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Lincoln City win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.03%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.33%) and 2-0 (7.13%). The likeliest MK Dons win was 0-1 (9.98%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.89%). The actual scoreline of 2-3 was predicted with a 1.9% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that MK Dons would win this match.
