Preview: Lincoln City v Wycombe Wanderers

Wycombe Wanderers travel to Lincoln City on Saturday for their 24th league game of the season.


The league table currently shows Wycombe in 3rd place with 40 points from 23 games and Lincoln in 23rd spot with 19 points from 20 games

Lincoln's Home Record........Won 3 - Drawn 3 - Lost 5 - Pts 12 (Rank 21)

Wycombe's Away Record....Won 5 - Drawn 4 - Lost 2 - Pts 19 (Rank 3)


Having just been turfed out of the FA Cup by bottom of the table Hereford, Wycombe take on second-bottom Lincoln hoping to return to winning ways after two consecutive defeats.

The last time they lost two in a row, the Blues responded by winning their next five in all competitions and manager Gary Waddock will be keen to start another run against a struggling Imps' side who haven't won since the middle of November.

Sincil Bank used to be a happy hunting ground for Wycombe but in recent years it's been a graveyard. Following their promotion to the football league, the Blues won there four times in a row, but on each of their last three visits the Imps have triumphed 1-0.

Team selection is anybody's guess this week. Waddock experimented with a 4-3-3 formation on Tuesday and may well persist with the system in order to accommodate loanee Scott Donnelly without softening the centre of midfield.

On the other hand, Wycombe have failed to find the net in their last two outings having scored for nineteen games in a row using a 4-4-2 formation.

Here are all the stats....



Lincoln's last five games (All Competitions)

LG2: Bury (H)................Lost 0-5

FAC: Hereford (A).........Drew 2-2

LG2: Bradford (H)...........Lost 1-2

LG2: Northampton (A).....Lost 1-2

FAC: Hereford (H)...........Lost 3-4



Wycombe's last five games (All Competitions)

LG2: Hereford (H)............Won 2-1

LG2: Cheltenham (A).......Won 2-1

LG2: Gillingham (H).........Won 1-0

LG2: Crewe (A)................Lost 0-3

FAC: Hereford (H).............Lost 0-1



Lincoln Goal Stats (25 games in all Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total)..........Lg: 16...Cups: 6.....Total: 22

Goals Conceded (Total)......Lg: 30...Cups: 11...Total: 41

Goals Scored (Home).........Lg: 8.....Cups: 4.....Total: 12

Goals Conceded (Home).....Lg: 15...Cups: 4.....Total: 19

Clean Sheets.....................Lg: 4.....Cups: 1.....Total: 5



Wycombe Goal Stats (29 games in all Competitions)

Goals Scored (Total)...........Lg: 33...Cups: 11...Total: 44

Goals Conceded (Total).......Lg: 26...Cups: 11...Total: 37

Goals Scored (Away)..........Lg: 15...Cups: 4.....Total: 19

Goals Conceded (Away)......Lg: 12...Cups: 1.....Total: 13

Clean Sheets......................Lg: 9....Cups: 1.....Total: 10



Lincoln's Top Goal Scorers - (All Competitions)

Mustapha Carayol......4

Ashley Grimes...........4 (inc 1 pen)

Ben Hutchinson..........4 (inc 1 pen)

Four other player have each scored two goals.

Two other players have each scored one goal.



Wycombe's Top Goal Scorers - (All Competitions)

Scott Rendell............9 (inc 4 pens)

Kevin Betsy..............6

Gareth Ainsworth......5

Stuart Beavon..........5

Andy Sandell............5

Ben Strevens...........4

Matt Bloomfield........3

Three other players have each scored two goals.

One other player has scored one goal



Lincoln Shooting (Top-3) - All Competitions

Mustapha Carayol..16 on-target...23 off-target...2 against woodwork

Ben Hutchinson......16 on-target...22 off-target...4 against woodwork

Albert Jarrett...........8 on-target...15 off-target...1 against woodwork



Wycombe Shooting (Top-3) - All Competitions

Kevin Betsy............16 on-target...30 off-target...1 against woodwork

Gareth Ainsworth....13 on-target...21 off-target...3 against woodwork

Stuart Beavon.........14 on-target...14 off-target...1 against woodwork



Shooting (Club) - League Games Only

Lincoln.........67 on target...131 off target...7 against w'work (Rank-22)

Wycombe.....93 on target...124 off target...8 against w'work (Rank-17)



Most Assists

Wycombe....Kevin Betsy: 5

Lincoln.......Albert Jarrett: 3



League Form Guide

All Season

Lincoln.......Pld: 20...W: 5.....D: 4...L: 11...Pts: 19...Pts per game: 0.95

Wycombe...Pld: 23...W: 11...D: 7...L: 5.....Pts: 40...Pts per game: 1.74



Last Five league Games

Lincoln............WWLLL - 6 points (Rank-17)

Wycombe....WWWWL - 12 points (Rank-3)



Last Five League Games (Home)

Lincoln............DLWLL - 4 points (Rank-22)



Last Five League Games (Away)

Wycombe.....WWLWL - 9 points (Rank-6)



Against Top Half Opposition

Lincoln...........Pld: 9.....Pts: 5.....Pts per game: 0.56...(Rank-24)

Wycombe.......Pld: 12...Pts: 20...Pts per game: 1.67...(Rank-3)



Against Bottom Half Opposition

Lincoln..........Pld: 11...Pts: 14...Pts per game: 1.27...(Rank-17)

Wycombe......Pld: 11...Pts: 20...Pts per game: 1.82...(Rank-9)



Previous Meetings


In 15 previous league meetings there have been 8 wins for Wycombe, 6 for Lincoln and 1 draw.

At Sincil Bank Wycombe have won 4 times and Lincoln 3.

1993/94: Lg2 Lincoln 1 Wycombe 3

1998/99: Lg1 Lincoln 0 Wycombe 1

2004/05: Lg2 Lincoln 2 Wycombe 3

2005/06: Lg2 Lincoln 1 Wycombe 2

2006/07: Lg2 Lincoln 1 Wycombe 0

2007/08: Lg2 Lincoln 1 Wycombe 0

2008/09: Lg2 Lincoln 1 Wycombe 0



The Man In The Middle

Saturday's referee is Graham Salisbury from Lancashire who was promoted to the National List of Referees in 2001. His most recent Wycombe game was a 1-0 win over Lincoln at Adams Park in November 2007. During the current campaign he's issued 3 red and 66 yellow cards in 18 games.



Prediction

Lincoln City 1 Wycombe Wanderers 1

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