Burton Albion vs Lincoln City: Prediction, Preview, Betting Tips

This is an opening game fixture between two teams who endured very contrasting campaigns last season. Lincoln City finished just outside the play-off places, whilst Burton Albion barely survived relegation. The visitors will come into this game as the favourites as a result, but the final score will likely be closer than expected.

Lincoln won this fixture 1-0 last season, and this has been the score in the last three meetings between the two, so goals should be hard to come by. In three pre-season games, Lincoln are unbeaten, scoring five and conceding zero. This comes off the back of a strong defensive season, which they aim to continue.

Reeco Hackett-Fairchild netted seven times for Lincoln last season, with an average of 1.4 shots per game and 0.5 on target, so look to him to record at least one shot on target in this one. Burton scored eight goals in five pre-season games, but face a tougher test in a strong Lincoln defence – Burton Albion 0-1 Lincoln City

Burton Albion open up their League One season by hosting Lincoln City, with both teams looking to get off to the perfect start.

• Date: 10/08/24
• Kick-off time: 17:30
• Venue: Pirelli Stadium

Only two points separated Burton Albion and the relegation zone as they survived on the final day of the season in 20th place. Things could have gone very differently had results not gone their way, as they left their fate in the hands of others following a disastrous 3-0 defeat against already relegated Fleetwood.

It was a dreadful campaign which the club will want to put behind them, and they will do so under new leadership as ex-AFC Wimbledon manager Mark Robinson takes charge, replacing Martin Paterson who left after just one season. He takes over a team who scored 39 goals last season, the second worst in the division. To help boost their chances, they have added over 10 players to bolster their squad.

Joe Powell and Mark Helm were the Brewers’ top scorers with five apiece, but the pair both left the club over the summer. They have brought in Rumarn Burrell from Cove Rangers to rebuild their frontline. The striker scored 21 goals in 34 games last year.

They take on a Lincoln City side who will hope to be a threat to the playoff places. They disappointingly missed out on the top six on the final day as they were defeated 2-0 by champions Portsmouth. They ultimately finished in seventh place, two points away. This will be their sixth consecutive season in the third tier, and last year was the Imps’ best finish since 2021 when they placed fifth.

Manager Michael Skubala will be in charge for a first full season after joining midway through last. He will have to make do without top scorer Joseph Taylor, who was on loan from Luton. Daniel Mandroiu also contributed eight goals. Their 65 goals scored was the joint-lowest in the top eight. Defensively they are in great shape, last season they conceded 40 goals, which was the least in the entire division. Should they make strides offensively, they could be a very tough outfit.

These two sides have met just 14 times in history, dating back to 2009. Their last 10 fixtures have been in League One and it is a matchup that has been largely dominated by Burton in recent years. In the last five meetings, they have won four of them. However, Lincoln won five consecutive games before that. They also won the most recent meeting last season, beating Burton 1-0 away from home. Despite playing the majority of the game with 10 men, Reeco Hackett-Fairchild’s winner was enough to take all three points. The previous two games also finished 1-0 in the favour of Burton Albion.

Burton Albion vs Lincoln City will be available to watch on Sky Sports+.

Burton Albion

Burton will hope to have a fully fit squad to choose from after coming through their final pre-season game unscathed. New signings Rumarn Burrell, Tomas Kalinauskas and Ben Whitfield are among those looking to make an immediate impact.

Lincoln City

New signing Rob Street will be heavily involved after finding the net in pre-season. Other signings including Tom Bayliss and JJ McKiernan should also get playing time.

Burton Albion:

In their last five games, Burton Albion have won two, lost two and drawn one. It has been a mixed run of results for Burton Albion, which stretch back to the end of last season, but they ended their preparations for the upcoming campaign with a 2-2 draw against Morecambe. Burton came from two goals down to take a draw, equalising deep into stoppage time through new signing Rumarn Burrell.

This run started with a loss, 2-1 against Cheltenham towards to end of last season. They took the lead through Steve Seddon on the stroke of half-time, but their visitors turned it around in the second half. They fell to a 3-2 loss in their penultimate fixture, as they went two goals ahead on two occasions. Reading cut into the deficit each time, but could not find an equaliser.

Albion ended their season with a 3-0 loss to Fleetwood. Attention shifted to pre-season following a break as they took on Port Vale. They won 2-0 thanks to goals from Billy Bodin and Udoka Godwin-Malife.

Lincoln City:

In their last five games, Lincoln City have won three, drawn one and lost one. They have enjoyed a good pre-season as they build up to the new campaign. The first two games in this run actually came at the back end of last season. The first of these was a 2-1 win over Cheltenham in which they came from behind thanks to goals from Joe Taylor and Freddie Draper. They then lost 2-0 on the final day to Portsmouth with both goals coming very late on.

Pre-season began with an away game in Spain against Preston, and they got off to the perfect start with a 1-0 victory. Jovon Makama’s second minute goal proved the difference between the two sides. A goalless draw against Oldham followed before they thrashed Harrogate 4-0. The Imps were largely dominant throughout and were rewarded with four strikes courtesy of Dylan Duffy, Sean Roughan, Draper and Rob Street.

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