Lincoln City meet Bradford City in a blockbuster Sky Bet League One showdown in the race for promotion.
Victory would see Michael Skubala’s Imps stay second and potentially move to within one point of league leaders, Cardiff if the Bluebirds lose at home to Barnsley.
Bradford can go third with a win if Bolton and Stockport both slip up elsewhere.
Team News
Deji Elerewe is set to make his debut for Lincoln City following his move from Bromley.
Adam Jackson (unspecified) and Ben House (knee) are nearing a first-team return but are unlikely to be available, with manager – Michael Skubala not keen to rush either player back into the matchday squad until they are fit enough for selection.
James Collins (ACL), Oscar Thorn (ankle), Josh Honohan (muscle) and Tom Bayliss (unspecified) remain absent.
Bradford have no fresh injury concerns to report after their 1-0 defeat at Huddersfield.
Nick Powell (hamstring) remains absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Lincoln City host Bradford at LNER Stadium on Tuesday 27 January at 7:45pm GMT, live on Sky Sports+ in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Lincoln City have lost one of their last seven league meetings against Bradford (W3, D3, L1).
- Bradford have avoided defeat in five of their last six league trips to Lincoln City (W4, D1, L1).
- Three of Lincoln City’s last four home games against Bradford have ended in 2-1 results – of which Bradford won two of those three particular results, whilst they drew 0-0 in December 2008.
- No Lincoln City player this season has produced more shots on target than Freddie Draper (16).
- Bradford have won just one of their last four league matches (W1, L3).
Prediction
With a six-point gap to the Bantams in the race for second, Lincoln City know that this is a big opportunity to extend that advantage if can play as clinically as they did in the win over Burton Albion which otherwise was evenly matched, where they rode their luck defensively on occasions.
Bradford meanwhile failed to properly estimate Huddersfield’s bounce under their new manager – Liam Manning because the Bantams were just outclassed attack wise, so to lose 1-0 is a small positive as it could of been worse if not for their defensive graft.
I however do expect them to deliver a serious response here to get their automatic promotion bid back on track – especially given their recent form at the LNER Stadium, but Lincoln City have the advantage of having played Thursday night so I expect a strong game from them.
Bradford though should be able to grind out a draw given Lincoln City’s current defensive issues keeping clean sheets.
Prediction: Lincoln City 1-1 Bradford
Result: Lincoln City 3-0 Bradford
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