Lincoln City host West Ham at Sincil Bank in a huge Third Round tie in 2023-24 Carabao Cup.
Victory would see the Imps reach the Fourth Round for a second consecutive season, whilst West Ham are seeking to advance beyond this round for a fourth straight campaign.
Team News
Danny Mandroiu is a doubt for Lincoln City after struggling with a toe injury, which forced him to miss the Imps’ last three matches.
Tyler Walker, Jack Vale (both hamstring), Ben House (hip) and Lewis Montsma (knee) remain absent.
West Ham have no fresh injury concerns to report following their Premier League loss at Liverpool last weekend but manager, David Moyes could rotate his squad and hand fringe players like Lukasz Fabianski, Angelo Ogbonna and Danny Ings a start.
Aaron Cresswell (hamstring) remains absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Lincoln City host West Ham at Sincil Bank on Wednesday 27 September in a 7:45pm BST kick-off, untelevised in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Lincoln are winless in two previous League Cup meetings against West Ham (D1, L1), having drew 1-1 here at this stage in 1982-83 season but lost the replay 2-1 at Upton Park.
- West Ham are winless in two visits to Lincoln City in all cup competitions (D1, L1), having drawn 1-1 in this competition in November 1982 and lost 2-0 in FA Cup in December 1902.
- This is the first cup tie between Lincoln and West Ham to not be played in a year ending in ‘2’.
- Lincoln are yet to beat a Premier League team without a penalty shootout since their return to the EFL in 2017 (D1, L3).
- West Ham have lost just one of their last five away trips to lower league opposition in this competition (W4, L1), which saw them lose 4-0 at Oxford United in September 2019.
Prediction
Despite failing to win any of their last four matches in all competitions, there is one thing certain about this Lincoln City team – which is that they will definitely score goals and have a resilient defence that is bound to throw up a few issues if they play their best line-up.
West Ham meanwhile might feel disappointed with their defeat at Liverpool but Anfield has often been a tricky ground for them, so this is the perfect chance to banish any away day blues quickly if Moyes rotate his squad such is their depth and quality available.
Sincil Bank however hasn’t been kind to the Hammers in previous cup visits but you can’t help but feel that West Ham should win this, even though Lincoln will ensure that it is a difficult contest given their own attacking threat and defensive tightness.
Prediction: Lincoln City 1-2 West Ham
Result: Lincoln City 0-1 West Ham